Feeding Our FELINE Friends

I recently spoke with my mother-in-law about one of her cats who is not eating well and losing weight and so my thoughts today are to write about feeding our cat companions. There is an ideal approach to cat nutrition, however, there is also a very important exception to this ideal approach.

I have written about and spoken to many clients about our purring feline companions being "obligate carnivores." In other words, they are creatures designed and obligated to eat meat. A feline in the wild will have little, if any, direct ingestion of plant material. The analogy I often use is that of a cat living in a corn field. If there are no mice, voles, birds or other small prey to eat the cat would not turn to eat an ear of corn to survive. The cat would starve to death without meat. A cat's anatomy and physiology is designed to consume a diet rich in protein and fat with little to no carbohydrates (grain).

The teeth of a cat are sharp and designed to puncture and cut through meat and to do very little chewing. In fact, a cat's jaw can only move up and down and has no ability to make a lateral chewing motion. Dry food is typically swallowed whole and so the notion that dry food has dental benefits is a myth. Cats also have a relatively short small intestine and stomach designed for digesting small, protein rich meals.

Evolution of the cat has enhanced and eliminated certain biochemical functions because they are meat eaters. For example, a dog can convert the carotenes found in fruits and vegetables into vitamin A. But the cat cannot derive vitamin A from plant sources and must rely on animal sources, such as organ meat (liver), to get the essential nutrient need of vitamin A met.

Cats simply do not have a dietary requirement for carbohydrates (grain) and yet most cat food is made with corn and rice and other grains very similar to the diets made for dogs. A high protein diet is ideal. It is extremely important to note, however, that essential nutrients are missing from feeding just canned tuna, canned chicken or chicken livers and significant disease can be the result of feeding such a limited diet.

The good news is that there are formulated cat diets, both canned and dry, that are high protein and grain free. Innova EVO cat food is one such diet. All the essential nutrients are met with this diet and are ideal for our carnivore cats. It is my suggestion to try this diet to enhance the health and well-being of your cat. However, this is where I get to the big exception to this ideal feeding approach.

Domesticated cats often start life on a grain based kibble diet which accounts for the great majority of cat food available and this leads some cats to becoming what I refer to as "carbohydrate junkies". These cats likely crave the sugar high that comes with digesting corn and rice and other grains in their meal. And although they are obligate carnivores some of our domesticated cats will refuse to eat a high protein diet. While many cats make the diet transition from a grain based diet to a meat protein based diet smoothly, others will not. And while a high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet is an ideal approach to feeding our carnivore cats, it is even more important that a cat eat every day even if it means feeding a carbohydrate based diet. If you have a "carbohydrate junkie" try to find food with meat listed as the first one or two ingredients rather than corn. Try a high protein diet, like Innove EVO for your cat, but more importantly, make sure your cat eats every day.

Kindest wishes,
Dr. Jacquie

What is Holistic?

ho·lis·tic

Pronunciation:

\hō-ˈlis-tik\

Function:

adjective

Date:

1926

What does holistic mean? Webster's dictionary defines holistic as relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts. Holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body. I like to take the definition one step further and add that holistic medicine is a health care approach that harmonizes and balances the body by using gentle and natural medicine.

As a holistic veterinarian I rely on Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) to help guide my physical exam findings and to determine how acupuncture, herbal medicine, and nutrition might best help an individual patient. One of my favorite aspects of the TCVM approach is how emotions can directly influence the health of our animal companions. When emotions are overwhelming and left unchecked the health of a patient is compromised.

Overwhelming and prolonged grief can create disease in the large intestine and lungs, anger and frustration can lead to disease of the liver and gall bladder, excessive worry can take a toll on the stomach and spleen while fear and anxiety can adversely effect the health and functions of the kidney and bladder. The heart and small intestine can become imbalanced and diseased with a patient who experiences overpowering, persistent joy. By knowing the emotional health and personality type of a patient I am given additional insight into the health and well-being of my animal patients.

Rommel is a 6 year old Rottweiller who is strong willed but gentle and takes his role as the number one dog in the household quite seriously. Rommel came to me for red eyes and for vomiting yellow bile. He had been doing this for several weeks but seemed fine in every other way. A Western approach to Rommel's healthcare might have been to treat his eyes with an antibiotic ointment and his tummy upset with Pepcid AC to decrease gastric acid.

However, in TCVM eyes reflect the health of the liver. In addition, a look at Rommel's tongue while he pants in the exam room, shows that the area on his tongue which reflects the liver and gall bladder were bright red and dry. I ask when he vomits to which the owner states that it is always in the middle of the night. In TCVM the twelve major organs in the body follow a 24 hour circadian rhythm. Each organ is most active for 2 hours of the day and the liver and gall bladder are most active between 11pm and 3am. So now I feel comfortable that this isn't just an eye and digestive problem, it looks as if the liver needs some care.
With further questioning about Rommel's emotional state I find that anger and frustration may be an overwhelming emotion for him. Rommel's family has been fostering a 3 year old dog for about 2 months. This younger dog, Koda, jumps on Rommel, steals Rommel's toys and barrels out of the dog door first while pushing Rommel aside. Rommel snapped at Koda once when he first joined the family but was severely reprimanded by his people. Now I suspect his anger and frustration are the underlying cause of his red eyes and vomiting.

The owners and I decide that Rommel will always go out the dog door first while Koda is made to wait and Rommel's toys are off limits to Koda. Rommel will be given his food to eat before Koda and Rommel will be allowed on the sofa while Koda lays in the dog bed on the floor. All of these things will help re-establish that Rommel is the "top dog". The owners are going to add milk thistle and aloe vera to his daily diet for a month to help ease the stress the liver has had. These simple things should help his emotional well-being and liver balance while resolving his red eyes and vomiting and without the use of pharmaceuticals.

One month later, Rommel is much happier. His eyes haven't been red and he hasn't vomited in 3 weeks. In fact, he is playing with Koda now that Koda is showing the appropriate respect for the "top dog". Rommel is his strong-willed, gentle self again.

Kindest wishes,
Dr. Jacquie