What veterinarians should know about 3 unconventional cat diets

Unconventional diets and feeding practices for cats are becoming more common. Results from a 2020 study show that while 90% of domestic cats are offered a conventional commercial diet, only 32% of these felines are exclusively fed a conventional diet. Like the most popular unconventional diets, 53% of cats were offered raw food and 46% of cats were offered home-prepared food.¹

That’s why Martha G. Cline, DVM, DACVIM (Nutrition), argued that veterinary professionals need to understand the risks and benefits associated with unconventional diets. She examined the nutritional adequacy of 3 popular diets and provided clinical recommendations in her session presented at the 2022 Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.^two

1. Vegan and vegetarian diets

Cline began her review of vegan and vegetarian diets by referring to a study whose results showed that all commercially available vegetarian diets for cats are deficient in at least 1 amino acid, and all were deficient in taurine.³ He added that this same study found that 13 of 24 dog diets and foods did not meet the current labeling requirements of the American Association of Feed Control Officials, raising questions about the accuracy of the label.³

Examining what it would take to formulate a nutritionally adequate vegan or vegetarian diet, Cline said, “So is it possible to formulate a diet that is vegan or vegetarian for a cat? Yes, you absolutely can. Getting eaten could be another problem.” She later added: “…in the rare chance that I have a client who comes in and is interested in this…I would communicate this to them…emphasizing that They are obligate carnivores [and] really, the literature doesn’t support that we actually have good quality products available for these cats.”

2. Homemade diets

Cline said the desire for home-prepared diets (HPDs) can be driven by customer sentiment, such as avoiding additives and preservatives, improving the human-animal bond by cooking for your pet, or simply wanting full control over your pet’s nutrition. pet. A veterinarian may also recommend an HPD due to patient comorbidities, such as chronic kidney disease or inflammatory bowel disease.

“A home-prepared diet can absolutely provide complete and balanced nutrition when properly formulated and prepared,” Cline said. The problem, she said, is that customers have many resources available for HBD recipes (eg, online, books, magazines) that vary wildly in safety and nutritional adequacy. “They can be written by people who don’t have any training in nutrition,” Cline said. “My favorite is the big Georgia animal breeder who worked as a … secretary at a law firm, but in her spare time she wrote diets for Great Danes.”^two He also cited a study that looked at 114 homemade diets available online and all contained nutrient deficiencies, including those written by veterinarians.⁴

Cline recommended that general practitioners consult with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist when formulating diets for their clients. Follow-up visits should assess adherence to the diet and check for nutrient imbalances.

3. Diets based on raw meat

Cline explained that raw meat-based diets (RMBDs), both commercial and homemade, can be nutritionally adequate when properly formulated. She said the danger in RMBDs comes from antibiotic resistance and the potential presence of zoonotic pathogens that result in disease in both humans and animals.

Regarding antibiotic resistance, he referred to a CDC study of 14 commercially available raw food products in Europe, the results of which found that 100% of the samples contained enterococci resistant to erythromycin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol and the tetracycline.⁵ “The big concern, and the reason this study was done, is that these CDC researchers concluded that raw pet food could be a sentinel for emerging antibiotic resistance,” Cline said.

Another study looking at 35 frozen RMBDs for cats and dogs found the presence of the following zoonotic pathogens, by percentage of affected products⁶:

1. Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7: 23%
2. extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producers E. coli: 80%
3. Listeria monocytogenes 54%
4. other listeria species: 43%
5. Salmonella species: 20%
6. Sarcocystis cruzi: 11%p
7. Estenella: 11%
8. Toxoplasma gondii: 6%

Cline advises that in addition to evaluating the nutritional suitability of RMBDs, they should also educate pet owners about these potential risks. Potential vectors for pathogen exposure include eating utensils and bowls, litter boxes, feces, the diet itself, and cats with bacteria present in their mouths or on their fur. The elderly, the young, pregnant and lactating women and the immunocompromised are at particular risk, she said.

References

1. Dodd S, Cave N, Abood S, Shoveller AK, Adolphe J, Verbrugghe A. An observational study of pet feeding practices and how they have changed between 2008 and 2018. vet rec. 2020;186(19):643. doi:10.1136/vr.105828
2. Cline, MG. Unconventional diets… for cats! Presented at: Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference; October 10-12, 2022: Atlantic City, New Jersey. www.dvm360.com/2022-acvc-proceedings
3. Kanakubo K, Fascetti AJ, Larsen JA. Evaluation of protein and amino acid concentrations and adequacy of labeling of commercial vegetarian diets formulated for dogs and cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2015;247(4):385-392. doi:10.2460/javma.247.4.385
4. Wilson SA, Villaverde C, Fascetti AJ, Larsen JA. Evaluation of the nutritional adequacy of homemade maintenance diet recipes for cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2019;254(10):1172-1179. doi:10.2460/javma.254.10.1172
5. Freitas AR, Finisterra L, Tedim AP, et al. Linezolid- and multidrug-resistant enterococci in commercial raw dog food, Europe, 2019-2020. emerging infections. 2021;27(8):2221-2224. doi:10.3201/eid2708.204933
6. van Bree FPJ, Bokken GCAM, Mineur R, et al. Zoonotic bacteria and parasites found in raw meat-based diets for cats and dogs. vet rec. 2018;182(2):50. doi:10.1136/vr.104535