Good afternoon, cat lovers! We get questions all the time about what the best diet for your cat is. We are always looking for the best thing for our kitties, and Michelle wanted to write about what she had read up on this past week! It is a long post, but settle in! *It is worth taking the time to read!*
A quick update about nutrition and potential threats to your pets’ health from feeding grain free and boutique diets. I regularly read Clinicians Brief, a journal for veterinarians. The May issue has an article by Dr Pierce, DVM, DACVIM at Colorado State university Veterinary teaching hospital reviewing the case of a very well cared for pet, Nora, with diet associated dilated cardiomyopathy, DCM (heart failure). She was in respiratory distress and had a cough with poor appetite, loss of muscle, and avoiding exercise.
Dr Pierce reports that the US FDA released a notice in July of 2018 and has since updated their investigation into diets of concern including diets containing peas, lentils, fava beans, tapioca, barley, chickpeas, other legume seeds, and potatoes and/or exotic ingredients like kangaroo, bison, venison, etc. The FDA warns that pet foods from boutique companies and small manufacturers with these ingredients or claims to be grain free are suspected to be linked to hundreds of cases of diet associated DCM. Furthermore, studies of pets with heart failure demonstrate poorer outcomes when fed grain free diets.
Kittens and cats will only reach their full potential if they eat great, fresh food. The analysis on pet food labels is a calculated estimate. Only feeding trials really establish that a food is suitable. Your cats require specific nutrients, not particular ingredients or a certain percent dietary protein or fat.
We feed Purina because Purina carefully sources and stores their ingredients, maintains a cat colony for real world food testing, does cutting edge research, and has control over their manufacturing process. In contrast, many so called premium brands actually are produced by another manufacturer whose profit depends only on fast production. This leads to poor quality and recalls in spite of premium sounding ingredients.
Fortunately, the veterinary cardiologist was able to treat Nora, and after transitioning to a commercial , non-boutique, non-exotic protein diet, Nora did recover and is leading her normal life! Way to go Dr. Pierce! ~ Michelle
We hope this helps all our fellow kitty loving friends! What do you think about this health post? What does your furry friend eat at each meal? We would love to hear feed-back! *WINK WINK*
Please see our recommendations for our current foods here: Kittentanz Store
See you soon!
Catman!