Hi Friend,

A cheery Good Morning to you this Monday in March..it's supposed to be spring, but there is still SNOW everywhere.

Here is a happy pic to start your day...  :-)

Questions about food?

I encourage you to see what I have to say, and look at my list of advised dry kibble, along with some of the balanced home diets.

You can get them here:

http://www.theonlinevet.com

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This comes from a reader...
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I am so confused for the most part.

I have a vet that tells me to feed my cat nothing but Royal Canin (thankfully first ingredient is chicken) and I have my holistic/natural pet food people telling me to go high protein and to Wellness or something instead. They are generally of the thinking that the foods needs to be grain free/wheat gluten free, byproduct free.

My vet says that those foods like Wellness are over supplementing.

Do you have an opinion?

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Dr Andrew J responds
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Yes I do have an opinion...and that has got me into trouble in the past, but hopefully not this time. :-)

My short answer is that your cat is an obligate carnivore, NOT designed to consume ANY carbohydrates, yet even the so called 'quality' veterinary food of Royal Canin has substantial carbohydrates.. Especially the dry kibble.

Relating from my own experience as a practicing veterinarian, I once firmly believed that dry, veterinary approved kibble was best. But this belief came from my lack of further nutritional education, AND misinformation supplied by the food reps..

Your vet may be in the same boat.

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Here is more specific info on pet food:
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The pet food industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a market for animal fat, grains considered "unfit for human consumption," and similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes intestines, udders, etc., and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts.

Then consider grains which are so prevalent; they are the least expensive food ingredient, far less costly than animal protein. Grains help in binding the kibble together; think of them as a form of glue. Glue is good if you’re trying to make something stick, but it’s not something I advise feeding to your pets.

These high carbohydrate diets negatively impact our dogs and cats.
Carnivores cannot maintain long term production of the quantity of amylase enzyme necessary to properly digest and utilize the carbohydrates. This contributes to some of the negative effects.

From Susan Wynn, DVM, on the canine diet:  "Dogs evolved from Canis lupis – the wolf. Wolves eat caribou or the like, but if they are forced, they will eat smaller game (rarely). They have been observed to graze on grass, eat berries, etc, but only when they need to. This is our lesson in canine nutrition – they are omnivores who do well with fresh meat, the vegetation they get in a caribou stomach (which is mostly green, unless the beast is eating from baited fields), and a smattering of other stuff if they are hungry.”

Cats lack an enzyme called salivary amylase; further evidence that they are not designed to digest carbohydrates. They have only 5% of the pancreatic amylase activity and 10% of intestinal amylase activity of dogs.

Cats lack the liver enzyme glucokinase.  This is used to breakdown sugar (glucose). Glucose becomes markedy elevated after a large carbohydrate meal, but cats lack the ability to rapidly break it down.

This has implications for the increased incidence of diabetes in cats. By flooding your cat’s blood with glucose they can’t break down, we are likely overwhelming the pancreas- and ultimately seeing a decrease in insulin production, and subsequent diabetes.

P.S. Ultimately it's up to YOU to decide- NOT your vet or anyone else.

Get educated.

Learn the real facts about animal nutrition.

If I were to have a kitten tomorrow, ( which my daughter would LOVE), then he or she would ONLY be fed canned natural food, plus raw.

Here is the best way to get ALL the nutritional education you need:

http://www.theonlinevet.com

P.P.S. Plus you'll get a wonderful new video called 'How to Start With Healing Your Pet Naturally'!!

P.P.P.S.  Another pic...

Heal Your Pets At Home!

Best Wishes,

Dr Andrew Jones

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DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own veterinarian. Dr Andrew Jones resigned from the College of Veterinarians of B.C. effective December 1 2010, meaning he cannot answer specific questions about your pet's medical issues or make specific medical recommendations for your pet.

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