Feeding Your Pet (Cat) Update

When I last wrote about my cat food troubles, I promised to post an update when my research had progressed further. I have continued to read and research the pros and cons of various brands and types of food. After reading Ann Martin's book Foods Pets Die For, I felt I needed to try some of the "natural", "healthier" brands. However, Kia did not take well to several brands that I tried. In fact, she had trouble keeping her meals down.

I then heard about a book that had just come out by Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim, entitled Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat (2010). Marion Nestle is very well-known for her work on human nutrition and the food industry, so I knew that she would have done her research. According to these authors, unless you make your own pet food, there is not a significant difference in the quality of the food in the major brands, even the ones labeled "natural".

However, I did read in both sources that feeding your cat a diet of too much fish can be detrimental because, historically, this is not a source of food in the wild. Therefore, cats may not get all the nutrients they need from fish. In addition, the mercury content in certain fish can be harmful, as it is to humans. I was giving Kia mainly canned food with fish flavors, and therefore, I have switched to beef and poultry. I have stayed with Fancy Feast wet food and Science Diet dry food, though, because she seems to react well to those brands.

I still maintain hope to one day switch Kia to homemade food, but additional research is still needed to make that transition.