Acetylene

Hi Kirk,

Some would say this is a little extreme but in a lot of ways it is true, especially for cats. Dogs are essentially omnivores, able to survive on all kinds of junk, but cats are true carnivores. They would naturally eat the ENTIRE animal including stomach contents, which the animal had digested for them. They are not able to synthesize vitamins the way mice (for example) are able to do, nor are their systems equipped to digest startches properly on their own. A cat would never, ever eat grain in its natural state.

This being said, all extruded dry kibble must be at least 40% starch for the machine to be able to make it (some baked "fancy" foods have more meat), which means it is 40% unsuitable for cats. We, as humans, should not fall into the trap of thinking that what is healthy for us is also healthy for our cats: No matter how proudly a pet food will say it has "healthful whole grains" no grain is healthful for a cat.

When meat is cooked until it turns brown and dry, the most delicate of the amino acids are denatured. This results in chronic amino acid imbalance which can cause degenerative disease later in life. This shows up as kidney failure sometimes and afflicted one of my cats, too.

Other organ failure is caused by vitamin deficiency. Antioxidant vitamins are volatile and easily destroyed in cooking and processing; Vitamin C in particular is not present in high enough levels in processed cat foods. Cats normally consume vitamin C "factories" in the mice they catch and eat (most rodents produce their own vitamin c) and consequently require quite a bit of the vitamin. This can only be supplied by fresh foods and organ meats.

All of this is true for dogs as well, but to a lesser extent because of their omnivorous nature. All the same, it is undeniable the improvement in coat, energy, and longevity that one will see in a dog given liberal supplements of "real" food. My last dog survived autoimmune disorders and eventual kidney failure for 5 years because of the special food I made for her every day.

Table scraps have a bad name for dogs because they are usually exactly that--the "scraps" that humans did not want to eat. This is meat gristle, bones, crusts, skin. What they need is meat, organs (can't over-emphasize the necessity of organ meats!), and, believe it or not, vegetables. Dogs graze on leaves and grass and love vegetables when given a chance. My dog picks cherry tomatoes off my vines and eats them with great gusto, and I did not teach her to do it--it was a natural and healthy impulse. Dogs DO NOT neet more fat and starch added to their diet because kibbles already have plenty!

I give my dog some kibble, because I do not have faith in my ability to properly balance her vitamins, but I also supplement her diet extensively with chicken giblets, beef liver, and vegetables. She eats some of my lunch and dinner every day--not the scraps, but the healthy stuff. Every week I buy a cheap roast (she doesn't mind if it's tough), slice it, and fry it really rare--just barely enough to kill the germs--and give her one of these a day.

To expect a dog to live off of nothing but kibble is like to expect a human to live off of nothing but jerky, bread, and vitamin pills: you can SURVIVE on it, but no one would say it was ideal!

And don't get me started on dog "treats"--those chicken-flavored wheat biscuits devoid of nutrition! Just give your dog what he REALLY wants as a treat: MEAT!

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