Comments on: Feline nutrition a hot topic at ACVIM

By: Fiona MacMillan

Fiona MacMillan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:44:34 +0000

Thank you for the information. I find it a little strange that raw feeding is being called a “novel diet” because raw food is what cats are meant to be fed and is their species appropriate diet and I think the real “novel diet” is feeding them pet food or any kind of cooked food since cats were never meant to be fed cooked food. Cats have been domesticated for at least 138,000 years and in almost all of those years they would have eaten raw food. I agree that we need research as long as it is not invasive research but even without research logic should tell Vets that raw food is what Mother Nature meant cats to be fed. Here in Britain a Vet who is head of a Government Animal Welfare Group has told me in a letter that he wants an investigation into the funding of veterinary schools by pet food companies and into them being allowed to teach nutrition to veterinary students and I think that this too is vital research since the veterinary research that shows that pet food is causing cancer, kidney failure, diabetes, obesity, dilated cardiomyopathy, cystitis, struvite crystals, calcium oxalate stones etc. is being completely ignored by veterinary schools.

By: Carol V

Carol V — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:38:06 +0000

and I say…when is a golden retriever NOT hungry…lol…

Jack…get off my computer….

wink wink

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:20:13 +0000

Humans are the only animals that eat when they are not hungry

Gina got there first, but it’s not just Labs, beagles or our friends the Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Cats eat when they’re not hungry, many zoo animals eat when they’re not hungry, and in fact, many species benefit from gorging themselves to create fat deposits that they can live on later.

There is an increasing body of evidence that in obese humans, too, the problem is not one of overeating or gluttony, but that the biochemical feedback system that lets the body “see” stored fat as a source of energy and fuel malfunctions. Our stored fat is kind of like a biochemical lipoma — fat that’s contained in our body, but walled off from it, so that the body just plain doesn’t see it’s there and doesn’t/can’t use it.

These kinds of messages are not based in science, and they’re not helpful in dealing with the problem of obesity in dogs, cats OR people. And in this case, as Gina pointed out, it’s not even an accurate observation.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:11:21 +0000

Steve, you clearly don’t live with beagles or Labradors.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:02:04 +0000

Humans are the only animals that eat when they are not hungry, drink when they are not thirsty.

By: The OTHER Pat

The OTHER Pat — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:47:23 +0000

Well of course - they knew they had Ms. PetConnection HERSELF coming in to check up on them!!!!

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:05:42 +0000

Interesting note: When I took the puppies in for the vet checks Friday, every exam room in the practice had the recall information prominently displayed, including pictures of the labels.

By: Carol V

Carol V — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:14:56 +0000

Kind of ironic (and good) this conference was happening with another pet food recall going on..I sure hope all the vets had already known about it…Reading blog posts at various places that pet owners are still the ones to be notifying vet clinics…over 2 weeks after recall announced..

By: Ingrid King

Ingrid King — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:20:28 +0000

I love that the veterinary community is finally starting to look at the potential benefits of raw diets. While the concept of raw feeding makes sense to me, I haven’t been able to embrace it for my cat due to the health risks veterinarians keep warning against. I am, however, seeing the benefits of it in some of my clients’ animals, and I’m encouraged to see that the veterinary community seems to be more willing to look at that side of things. Please keep us updated on this topic!

By: Lis

Lis — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:18:04 +0000

There may be only 4% to 5% of cat owners feeding a raw diet to their cats, but a much, much larger percentage of cats eat raw as all or part of their diet. Not just ferals, and not just barn cats, either, but also a lot of ordinary indoor/outdoor cats with ample access to kibble or canned supplement their own diets with their own fresh-caught raw.

I’ve never bought the argument that raw is the natural diet for dogs (wolves evolved eating raw; dogs evolved from wolves eating human leftovers), but what we cheerily call the domestic cat has had a large percentage of raw in its diet for the entire history of its domestication.

Are these conferences on cat nutrition being run by twenty-somethings who really believe that kibble is a “traditional” diet for cats, or by people who never had any cats, not even any cats anywhere in the neighborhood, when they were kids?