Question:
I have an ndoor/outdoor male cat, 9 years old. He has been eating the Hill's Science Diet cat food
as recommended by our vet when he was little. The label shows that the main ingredient is chicken byproduct meal, followed by grains. This does not seem healthy.
Could you please recommend a food for a healthy adult cat? I have a bad feeling we followed advice that may be harmful to our cat. He is healthy except for a cyst on his back.
J.B., Winston-Salem, NC Jan 24, 2012
Answer:
You are right to be concerned about what the veterinarian sold you to feed to your cat.
Even though your cat's health seems OK, I would transition him gradually over a five- to seven-day period to a healthier diet containing whole foods and, ideally, organically certified, fresh ingredients. For my preferred list of dog and cat foods, please visit my website. There, you can access the archives, which have my syndicated newspaper answers to many pet health and behavioral questions like yours.
Some cats, dogs and humans adapt to certain diets that cause no health problems, while others don't do so well, succumbing to various diet-linked illnesses such as diabetes and arthritis. Genetics plays a significant role, which should mean that good breeding and good nutrition go hand in hand. Some pet food "experts" contend that it's simply a process of natural selection -- those cats who do OK on a manufactured non-carnivorous, high-cereal or even vegetarian diet will eventually become the majority in the population through survival of the fittest.
But it's not that simple now that there is a majority population of neutered animals being fed manufactured pet foods that may not provide optimal nutrition. Some will do fine and others, sooner or later, won't. But those who happen to do fine will not pass on their genetic attributes, however, because they have been neutered. So the natural selection process argument for adaptation is null and void!
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