By Michelle Nelson

Michelle Nelson is the owner of The Pet Authority.

Is your cat thriving, growing vigorously, or surviving, just simply staying alive? You may be shocked to hear that the majority of felines are just surviving.

In order to answer this question, you need to understand what it takes for your cats to thrive. First of all, cats are obligate carnivores. That means they need to eat meat, fresh-raw meat that is full of moisture. Cats lack the necessary enzymes (amylase and cellulase) to break down plant matter. Cats, unlike dogs, also do not make their own Taurine, an essential amino acid, naturally found in fresh meat. Cats even lack the intestinal enzyme necessary to convert B-Carotene in plants to Vitamin A — it needs to come from a fresh meat source. Vitamin A promotes healthy vision, growth of bone and muscle, and reproduction. Yes, Taurine and Vitamin A can be added synthetically back into a cat’s dry diet, but did you know that Taurine in dry food depletes as it ages, or what about just their inability to digest plant proteins typically found in dry food? The entire anatomy of a cat is structured for a raw diet, not a highly processed kibble diet.

Cats do not have a natural desire to drink when thirsty like their K-9 counterparts. Seventy percent of their daily water intake needs to come from their food. If you are strictly feeding a dry diet (10% moisture) to your feline friend, most likely she is in a chronically dehydrated state. Feeding a raw diet or canned food daily will remedy the dehydration issue. Even using a fresh flowing water fountain will encourage cats to drink more. A cat’s sense of smell is six times more sensitive than yours, making stagnant water in a bowl become undesirable quickly, thus further reducing their water intake. If you have a cat that has ever had an UTI, stones or crystals, feeding a proper wet diet daily, along with changing out your waterer will be very beneficial.

Arthritis, cancer, kidney disease and diabetes are all on the rise. The highest contributing factor to these diseases is obesity. As a pet owner, keeping your cats slim and trim is often challenging. The two biggest mistakes owners make are free feeding and feeding an improper diet. Cats are not grazers like omnivores (horses, cattle); they are hunters. When cats are in the hunting mode, they produce an acid in their stomach that helps to break down their prey for proper digestion. If there is food in front of them all the time, they don’t go through this cycle, making their ability to digest much less effective. I recommend feeding two to three times a day and have some fun. Hide their food around the house and satisfy their natural hunting instinct.

Now let’s look at No. 2, an improper diet. We already know that cats are obligate carnivores, and biologically they require a fresh-raw diet, not a highly processed dry kibble diet. Cats require a high protein, moderate fat and very low carbohydrate diet. If you look at an average dry kibble diet, you are going to see these diets are highest in carbohydrates, followed by protein, then fat. This is completely opposite of what it should be. Cats do not have the ability to convert all of those carbs into energy, and what happens to carbs when they are not consumed? They turn into sugar which makes felines fat.

As pet owners, you are responsible for the health of your furry felines. Are they going to thrive or just simply survive? The choice is yours.