| Cats are carnivores, which means they have evolved | | | | BVMS, FRCVS. 1986. |
| to eat meat. They have claws and sharp teeth for | | | | The 4th Edition of ‘Small Animal Clinical |
| hunting and catching their prey. However, this is not | | | | Nutrition’ By Hand, Thatcher, Remillard and |
| to say that a complete cat food should not have | | | | Roudebush. 2000. |
| carbohydrates included. | | | | ‘Dry foods containing 40% or more dietary |
| Cats were originally domesticated in Egypt where | | | | carbohydrates with an average digestibility of 85% |
| they were used in granaries for vermin control. The | | | | are well tolerated by cats.’ |
| stomach of their prey (mice and rats) would contain | | | | ‘Although no requirement for dietary |
| partially digested grains. Cooking grains at a high | | | | carbohydrates has been demonstrated for adult cats, |
| temperature mimics the action of the stomach, | | | | carbohydrates are a good source of energy and |
| therefore an extruded cat food should contain easily | | | | appear necessary for adequate lactation in |
| digested carbohydrates. | | | | queens.’ |
| It is also important to note that pet cats are not the | | | | ‘Strombeck’s Small Animal |
| same as wild cats. Pet cats do not need as much | | | | Gastroenterology’3rd Edition. Guilford, Center, |
| energy from their diet. They are kept in centrally | | | | Strombeck, Williams and Meyer. 1996. |
| heated houses, they do not have to hunt for food | | | | ‘It is perhaps surprising that cats can efficiently |
| and have been fed on ‘left-overs’ of human | | | | digest carbohydrate considering the low carbohydrate |
| diets which will be cooked food (they would eat raw | | | | of their ancestral diet.’ |
| food in the wild), including meat and carbohydrates | | | | There is also a huge difference between simple |
| (whether they are from grains, cheese, milk or other | | | | carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple |
| sources). Even feeding your cat a raw food diet will | | | | carbohydrates are the ones more likely to cause |
| not be equal to a diet in the wild. The food is not | | | | diabetes and weight gain. |
| freshly killed, the meat will not be at body | | | | Complex carbohydrates can be divided in to two |
| temperature and the organs and contents of organs | | | | groups: (1) digestible ones, known as starch and (b) |
| will be missing. | | | | indigestible ones, known as fibre. |
| Looking at the recent evolution of cats and their | | | | Digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer |
| anatomy and physiology, we can see several | | | | than simple carbohydrates. This means that there is a |
| adaptations which allow them to successfully digest | | | | slow absorption of food and thus a steady supply of |
| carbohydrates: | | | | energy rather than sudden sugar surges that you can |
| • Kittens naturally eat carbohydrates. They ingest | | | | get from simple carbohydrates. Rapid absorption of |
| lactose (the sugar found in milk) from their mother. | | | | sugar also increases the likelihood that it will be |
| • The pancreas of a cat secretes the enzyme | | | | converted in to body fat. |
| Amylase. Amylase is used to break down | | | | The starch available in cooked and extruded pet |
| carbohydrates (starch). If cats could not eat | | | | foods are easily digested. The extrusion process |
| carbohydrates then they would not have the ability | | | | (cooking with heat and pressure) increases the |
| to produce amylase. | | | | digestibility of starch by causing it to gelatinize |
| • The intestinal length of a carnivore (cat) is much | | | | (canning food also does this). |
| shorter than that of an omnivore (e.g. dog) because | | | | The reason we use brown rice as the main ingredient |
| of the way food is metabolised. However, domestic | | | | in our cat food is to keep the protein and fat |
| cats have been shown to have a longer intestinal | | | | quantity at controlled levels. Although cats need |
| tract than wild cats, thus proving dietary evolution. | | | | higher amounts of protein and fat than dogs, excess |
| Source: ‘You & Your Cat’ By David Taylor | | | | dietary fat and protein may cause health problems. |