Feline Nutrition

Ask a Cat Vet: How Do I Transition My Cat to a Healthy Diet?

Feline Nutrition| 27 Comments

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Guest post by Fern Slack, DVM

You have done your research. You know that cats are obligate carnivores who need meat in their diet not just to survive, but to thrive. You understand why cats should never eat dry food. You’ve found the right premium grain-free canned or raw diet.

Now you have a case or a frozen bag of this great new food – and your cat “won’t eat it.” He puts up his nose and walks away, and you are left with a stack of useless cans or bags and a strong sense of annoyance. You feel frustration, because you are now acutely aware of what you should be feeding, but just exactly how are you supposed to convince your “finicky” cat that it’s good for him and that he needs to eat it?Continue Reading

Ask a Cat Vet: What Should I Feed My Cat?

Feline Nutrition| 39 Comments

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Guest post by Fern Slack, DVM

In veterinary school, I was taught to feed cats breakfast cereal.

This is not a joke. It is hard to imagine anything further removed from a cat’s evolutionary diet (small animals of the feathered and furred varieties) than a diet consisting of corn, wheat, rice, squash, peas, tapioca, carrots, apples, sage, oregano…. The list goes on. Many trendy cat foods today have ingredient lists that look just like this. Sounds like the makings of a wonderful Thanksgiving feast – but not for a cat.Continue Reading

The Best Food for Cats: Is There Only One Right Choice?

Feline Nutrition| 18 Comments

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Guest post by Jodi Ziskin

Cats are like snowflakes – no two are exactly alike. And no two households are exactly alike, either. These are important factors I have to take into consideration when helping cat guardians discover the best diet for their cats – and for their lifestyle.

There is a dizzying amount of information out there. There is also a great deal of misinformation. Some of the tips and protocols shared by well-meaning advocates of one type of diet or another may not be based on facts, but rather on interpretation. Think about how many times you have read articles on the “one, perfect diet for humans.” Biological facts about our bodies are often twisted to meet the ideals of the author.Continue Reading

Mercury in Fish-Based Cat Food: What You Should Know

Feline Nutrition| 44 Comments

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A lot of cats love fish, but feeding it as more than a very occasional treat could is not a good idea and could be harmful to your cat’s health. The primary fish used in cat food are salmon, tilefish (usually identifed as ocean whitefish on the label) and tuna. Each of them presents health issues, because fish can contain toxic doses of common water pollutants, heavy metals, and other contaminants. Mercury is considered one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern by the World Health Organization.Continue Reading

Bravo Recalls Select Chicken and Turkey Pet Foods

Feline Nutrition| 0 comments

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Per an FDA advisory issued yesterday, Bravo is recalling select lots of Bravo Turkey and Chicken pet foods for dogs and cats because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The recalled product was distributed nationwide beginning on November 14, 2013 to distributors, retail stores, internet retailers and directly to consumers. The product can be identified by the batch ID code (best used by date) printed on the side of the plastic tube.Continue Reading

Tiki Cat Launches New Gourmet Carnivore Line

Feline Nutrition, Products| 22 Comments

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Tiki Cat has long been one of our recommended brands. They use quality ingredients, and their foods contain mostly protein with no fillers or vegetables added. They’re also high in moisture, and you can actually recognize the ingredients when you look at the food.

Tiki Cat recently launched a new line of foods. The Gourmet Carnivore selections feature 100 percent human USDA Grade products that are grain-free, carb-free, whole shredded meats cooked in natural consommé juices, not gravy. These new varieties nicely complement the existing 17 varieties of Tiki Cat Gourmet Whole Foods.Continue Reading

GMO in Cat Food: What You Should Know

Feline Nutrition| 13 Comments

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I’ve written extensively about feline nutrition on this site. You’ll find information ranging from how to choose the best food for your cat to how to get finicky cats to eat. One topic I haven’t covered in the past is the issue of GMO.

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism and refers to an organism or crop that is altered at the DNA level to strengthen certain qualities. GMOs are created for many reasons: to make crops more resistant to pests, to thrive even in challenging environmental conditions such as droughts, and to improve the nutritional value of a food. GMO crops have been sold commercially since the mid 1990’s. Genetic modification has been focused on cash crops such as corn and soy, but more and more GMO foods are making their way onto our grocery and pet store shelves.Continue Reading

Life Stages and Lifestyle Diets: Does Your Cat Really Need Them?

Feline Nutrition| 26 Comments

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Last updated June 2019

Feeding your cat a species-appropriate diet is the most important thing  you can do for her lifelong health. You can’t control your cat’s genetics, but you can control what you feed her. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need meat not only to survive, but to thrive. Even though cat food manufacturers would have you believe differently, a cat’s diet needs don’t change all that much over the course of her life.Continue Reading

Review: Dave’s Grain-Free Canned Cat Food

Feline Nutrition, Products| 30 Comments

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If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I’m passionate about species-appropriate nutrition for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, and they need meat not only to survive, but to thrive. The optimal diet for a cat is a properly formulated raw, home-cooked or grain-free canned diet.

When we were approached by Dave’s Pet Food to review some of their foods, I didn’t hesitate to accept. I had already occasionally been feeding some of these diets to Allegra and Ruby. I also met Dave Ratner himself at Global Pet Expo, and was impressed with his passion for pet nutrition.Continue Reading