Fat is Important to That Diet!

 An article written by Dr. Truda M.Straede

The correct diet for a cat is a matter of contention - and every economic competition! Every brand of pet food trumpets its value with many claiming to be complete or balanced. This may be true - but I have yet to meet a cat that doesn't become unutterably bored by the same flavoured can every day, and most are not interested in the second half of a tin opened the day before.

If biscuits are the dietary mainstay, more sustained enthusiasm is likely - some seem to be addictive.

 The protein to fat ratio

The content of these prepared foods is generally given as crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and natural sodium chloride. The protein to fat ratio is between 2:1 and 3:1, values well worth committing to memory when planning a non processed, more natural, and cheaper diet for your breeding colony or companion.

The most common mistake made by fussy cat owners and breeders is not providing sufficient fat in the diet.

Proteins consist of amino acids made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur which can be used as building blocks to make cat proteins, or the excess can be used as an energy source. In this case the proteins are deanimated - nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur are stripped away, leaving the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen portions to be utilised in respiration.

This is wasteful as it takes a lot of energy to make proteins and is an extra strain on the kidneys, which have to excrete the unused material.

 The secret

The secret is to provide only the growth and repair requirements as proteins, and the energy source as some less complex form of carbon hydrogen and oxygen. Carbohydrates immediately spring to mind, but cats are carnivores so their guts are not able to utilise complex carbohydrates such as cereal and bread with any efficiency - they are designed to use the carbon hydrogen oxygen complex which naturally accompanies protein - fat.

How best to provide this fat?

How to provide this fat may cause a bit of head scratching - but don't despair, there are some simple and very palatable answers.

Don't buy best mince because it has a low fat content. Cheaper human consumption mince or pet lines are a better and cheaper proposition.

Chicken mince is sometimes fatty, but it is hard to tell by looking. Ask about the source, or boil a small amount until well cooked, then allow to cool overnight in the fridge - the fat content will quickly be revealed.

Kangaroo mince is extremely low in fat, and is unsuitable as a foundation diet unless adequately fat enhanced. Fat from the dripping from your roast, from cheap fatty lamb breasts - which can then be sliced into rib sections and served with bone to entranced cats - or butchers' lard can be used.

I cut a portion of set fat off the block, then chop it up finely on my board, and mix it through a mince mixture. Don't forget that the fat should be stored in the fridge, and roast dripping should be used with its jelly within a few days.

Other fat sources are on pieces of meat themselves, particularly hearts, which can be chopped up so that most sections have some fat on them. Anything trimmed off your own meat should not be wasted. A fatty but cheap cut of lamb is more economic if you give the fat trimmings to the cats.

If you have a food processor you can buy fresh suet. Shred and store it in small quantities in the freezer for up to three months.

Cheese is excellent, but a bit of a treat and is perhaps more suited to the weanling kitten than adults. Plain yoghurt can be added to a mince mixture but no more than a level teaspoon per cat. Yoghurt makes the mixture a bit odd by the third night and cats won't eat it - so don't add it if you are making up a mince mixture for a few days ahead.

Older cats

Older cats and those with dicey kidneys, need a lower protein diet. White meat - fish, chicken, pork - with bulk, such as cooked rice or oats can be mixed when cold, with fat prepared as suggested. Offer a saucer of cream, or a cheese snack, and those fatty sliced roasted lamb breasts are all very acceptable. These make the cat feel full, lively and maintain its condition, but do not overtax its kidneys.

Cats in poor condition

A cat in poor condition, perhaps recovering from a long illness, or simply having reared a large litter kittens, will benefit from having as much as it likes to eat with about half of this being some form of fat. Unless the cat has lost muscle mass, it really needs to lay down fat reserves it used up in its recent endeavours. To supply this as primarily protein is not only energy inefficient, and expensive, but also works kidneys very hard. As the causes of the poor condition probably also put extra strain on the kidneys, this recovery time is an opportunity to allow them to recuperate.

Cats with a skin condition

A cat which suffers from skin conditions, such as dry and scaly patches in the fur, or cracked skin on noses and paw pads may have some kind bacterial or fungal infection which will respond to suitable medication. The underlying cause of such a problem, however, may lie in the skin itself, so that medication only clears up the secondary infections.

To maintain the restored health of the skin and to improve the coat's lustre, examine the diet for its fat content, and amend if necessary.

I find that a fatty diet, in combination with the addition of heavy metals, particularly zinc (in the form Keylomin Organic) reduces allergy type skin problems among my cats by about 90%. In a sample of more than 100, where about 20% showed some skin allergy problems, I now have only three cats with a remnant problem. In these it is reduced in extent, and in one cat it only recurs in the hottest and most humid times of the year.

Summary

So remember, fat for cats for energy will save your pocket, is good for their skin and c

onserves their kidneys.