Food Politics

[...] Marion wrote an interesting post today on Canine Nutrition: Q and AHere’s a quick excerptAs I’ve mentioned before, I’m working on a book about pet food with Cornell professor Malden Nesheim. We are the new nutrition editors of BARK magazine, which has just printed our first answers to Nutrition Perspectives questions. … [...]

[...] Here is an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWe are the new nutrition editors of BARK magazine, which has just printed our first answers to Nutrition Perspectives questions. We will be answering questions for BARK occasionally so if you have some, send them along. [...]

[...] You can read the full story here [...]

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I had always thought that the protein requirement for cats was higher than for dogs. I feed my cats raw food which I supplement with a very low carb kibble, as I always thought that cats were obligate carnivores. When we got our dog, I looked for recipes for homemade dog foods, and was surprized to see that dogs are also considered obligate carnivores (descended form wolves), rather than omnivores. Try to tell my dog that, while she raids moldy kitchen scraps from the compost pile, eats overripe melons in the garden, and finds tasty morsels in the cats’ litter box.

My question is, is the obligate carnivore/omnivore controversy simply a matter of opinion or is there some health issue that I should be paying attention to? In my dog’s case, she’s middle aged for her breed, and I’ve noticed that packaged kibbles for older dogs have lower protein levels, perhaps out of concern for kidney problems? If too much protein is a concern for older dogs, I can’t see how older dogs could remain healthy on a raw diet.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

[...] Marion placed an observative post today on Canine Nutrition: Q and A.Here’s a quick excerpt:We are the new nutrition editors of BARK magazine, which has just printed our first answers to Nutrition Perspectives questions. We will be answering questions for BARK occasionally so if you have some, send them along. [...]

Will you be writing as well for MEOW magazine (if there is such a thing)? Not only are cats more frequently pets in the US than dogs, cats are more finicky eaters and thus their nutrition is of greater interest—certainly to cat owners, at least.

Hi Marion,

I used to feed my older cat kibble (that’s what I’d always fed cats, without incident or health problems, but something was different with this cat). At five years he was really overweight no matter what we tried and he began to slowly decline in appearance and behaviour for no apparent reason (but didn’t lose weight). Switching to premium kibbles and different formulas made no difference. Then I thought about the carbs for an obligate carnivore and switched to high protein/no grain kibble with no change. Took him off all kibble and tried a year of quality canned cat food which seemed ok for a while, but by a year he hobbled down the stairs. At 9 years, the vet just said he was fat and old and probably wouldn’t live a long life though there were some things we could do (Rx kibble, ongoing medical therapies, etc.).

He was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure based on blood and urine tests just before I switched him (against vet’s advice) to raw homemade food and he was a different cat in a week, apparent to everyone. His blood tests were normal two months later and again a year later. He has had not medical treatment except ear drops. That reminds me, I need to take him in for a two year blood draw and when it is again normal, ask the vet again why she advises against a homemade raw diet for cats?

She also said I would poison my family because the cats would infect us if they ate raw food. Hasn’t happened.

He’s now 11 and just raced down the stairs, through the house and then stopped to catch his tail. If he is put back on commercial food for even two days he is hobbling on the stairs again.

Have you taken a look at http://www.catnutrition.org? Very well done and so complete with lots of references and further resource suggestions. That is the basic recipe I use for my two cats. It now takes about a hour or so to make/clean up a 10 day supply for two cats and costs less than the premium canned food I had been buying (3 cans/day at $1/can). Basic ingredients available anywhere (bone-in whole chicken or chicken legs, egg yolks, liver, salmon oil & some vitamin supplements to balance, heart muscle if I can get it/or taurine amino acid). No grain or veggies. I now also add carnitine and glucosomine for the older cat.

I think there are more cats in the US than dogs, and cats are highly specialized eaters whereas dogs are scavengers (like people, rats and pigeons), so doesn’t it make more sense to focus on cats?

Regardless, I recommend going to the experts…
UC Davis analyzes foods for vets
Dr Pitcairns book

I’ve tried to find studies of cat nutrition and they’re scarce and hard to digest (ha ha). Here’s a good one from D. Zoran in JAVMA

Ellen, I believe from research and experience that there are a few problems with the obligate carnivore, carnivore and omnivore classifications, and that this is a problem of our human taxonomy: an obligate carnivore is an animal that must eat meat–although not necessarily all of the time. Carnivores are animals that have evolved to eat meat–and may be more healthy doing so. Omnivores are animals that have evolved to eat a range of foods.

The dog debate is usually believed to be a carnivore-omnivore debate–not an obligate carnivore-omnivore debate.

But here’s where our taxonomic decisions get strange: many obligate carnivores and carnivores eat a lot of plant food, even if it is only the plant food found in the intestines of prey.

Further, part of this debate exists because in thinking about evolution, there is a tendency to liken our dogs to wolves. But this ignores a lot of evolution–mainly the tens of thousands of years we have greatly influenced the evolution of dogs, not wolves.

Whether one considers a dog a carnivore or an omnivore taxonomically (based on teeth, digestive tract features, etc.) In the end, dogs can, do and probably need to eat plant material (true even of wolves). What is at issue is proportion. Puppies and active, working dogs in their prime need more protein–easily supplied by meat.

This may help:
“There is some debate as to whether domestic dogs should be classified as omnivores or carnivores, by diet. The classification in the Order Carnivora does not necessarily mean that a dog’s diet must be restricted to meat; unlike an obligate carnivore, such as the cat family with its shorter small intestine, a dog is neither dependent on meat-specific protein nor a very high level of protein in order to fulfill its basic dietary requirements. Dogs are able to healthily digest a variety of foods including vegetables and grains, and in fact dogs can consume a large proportion of these in their diet. Wild canines not only eat available plants to obtain essential amino acids, but also obtain nutrients from vegetable matter from the stomach and intestinal contents of their herbivorous prey, which they usually consume. Domestic dogs can survive healthily on a reasonable and carefully designed vegetarian diet, particularly if eggs and milk products are included. Some sources suggest that a dog fed on a strict vegetarian diet without L-carnitine may develop dilated cardiomyopathy,[41] however, L-carnitine is found in many nuts, seeds, beans, vegetables, fruits and whole grains. In the wild, dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet when animal prey is not available. Observation of extremely stressful conditions such as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and scientific studies of similar conditions has shown that high-protein (approximately 40%) diets including meat help prevent damage to muscle tissue in dogs and some other mammals. This level of protein corresponds to the percentage of protein found in the wild dog’s diet when prey is abundant; higher levels of protein seem to confer no added benefit.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

can cats with crf eat rice