Carnivores (cats) and omnivores at the carnivore end of the scale (dogs) have evolved, from the very start of life, on a diet of raw meat and bones. They are hunters. They are predators.

Wild cats only eat freshly killed prey, which means they need very fresh food. With the exception of lions, all cats hunt alone. This means they have developed strategies that support this, as well as anatomical differences to other mammals, which is little understood by the veterinary industry.

Dogs hunt in packs so they have support. They don’t need the same strategies cats need. Dogs are also carrion feeders in scare times, unlike cats.

Cooked food is not natural, alters the nutritional value and kills vitamins and enzymes. Additionally, processed pet foods often contain harmful additives, such as preservatives, colours, flavours, etc which are not in a pet’s long term interest. The synthesised vitamins and minerals which are added are often in a form unavailable to the body.

Processed pet food often contains diseased meat, some of it cancerous, along with other rejects for human consumption, giving the overall balance of very low quality protein.

There are no laws governing the quality of commercial pet foods. This means anything can, and usually does, go.

Generally, only about 40% (often much less) of commercial pet food is meat, usually by-products which can be anything from ‘waste’ meat from human meat processing plants, to diseased carcasses, to hair, to feet. (Different proteins have varying digestibility. Much of the protein used in commercial pet food is difficult to digest.)

The other 60% is made up of grain (usually discarded as unfit for human consumption) or any other cheap plant based food such as tapioca, now that grain gets a bad rap. It is often in a form that is not nutritional to the cat. Then come the additives, to preserve, improve the flavour, make it look better, redress the lack of mineral and vitamin content, etc.

“Nutritionally complete” or “scientifically proven” processed pet foods which are advocated not only by the pet food manufacturers, but also by many vets may contain harmful substances.

Examples include:

• sodium nitrite gives a nice rosy colour to food and can produce powerful carcinogenic substances known as nitrosamines
• ethoxyquin was originally developed for the rubber industry and is suspected of causing severe health problems, especially organ failure
• propyl gallate used as a preservative is now suspected of causing liver damage
• propylene glycol used to maintain the right texture and moisture content is now known to cause health problems in dogs
• salt, up to 1000 times more than in natural food is believed to cause hypertension and heart disease
• sugar, in a refined and unnatural form is believed to contribute to hypoglycaemia and various mental problems

and so it goes on

Cats on a raw, quality, balanced, natural diet are less prone to disease and live healthier lives. They are more resistant to fleas and worms. Vet bills can be drastically cut, because your cat just doesn’t get ill.

Dr Edward Bach (1920s) and Dr Pottenger (1930s) both found huge improvements in health in people and animals on a raw food diet.

Dr Bach discovered that the bowels of those people who ate mainly raw food, processed the food easily, with little held up in various pockets. The smell of the resulting faeces was inoffensive.

Those people on a mainly cooked diet digested the food more slowly and the resulting smell of the faeces was more foul. They had more gas and a greater tendency to digestive disorders.

Dr Pottenger headed a research project showing the offspring of cats fed only cooked food, even though the diet was supposedly ‘perfectly balanced’, would be born with immune deficiencies and that within three generations, if little or no raw food was fed, the immune system deteriorated to virtual uselessness.

It took another four generations to build the immune system back up to an optimum level of efficiency where the cat was capable of fighting off severe chronic disease.

In many parts of the world, pet food manufacturers are actively involved with the financial assistance of supporting veterinary colleges. Unfortunately, this does not ensure freedom from bias. Whilst vets should be the best people to talk to about animal nutrition, if they have a vested interest, such as profit from the diet they recommend, they cannot be considered impartial.

Those vets who do promote a natural diet are, almost exclusively, those who embrace holistic health care.

“When the moist foods came out, we figured they must have a very strong preservative because they needed no refrigeration. Many of them do have a very strong preservative - formalin. Formalin is such a good preservative, in fact, undertakers use quite a lot of it.”

Thomas A Newland DVM

“Almost all - if not indeed all - cases of hypertension can be traced, I believe, to the commercial foods. I virtually never have to use digitalis or digitoxin anymore.”

S Allen Price DVM

“Do you know what is in most meal, the major constituent of dry dog (and cat - Ed) food? Urine, faecal matter, hair, pus, meat from animals afflicted with cancer, TB, etc.
”
Wendell O Belfield DVM

“We just seldom see the so-called inevitable diseases in our patients, when we can get the owners to raise their pets on the natural foods.”

Robert S Goldstein VMD
, Marty Goldstein DVM
Richard J Kearns DVM
,H H Robertson DVM

“Diet seems to be at the base of about 90% of the cases of cystitis that I see. When my clients observe the proper diet after initial treatment, there are rarely any of the ‘normal’ relapses. If they put the pet back on commercial food, then the cystitis comes back.”

Nino Aloro DVM

“Dead mothers and dead babies; we seldom see them anymore if the mother is fed a natural diet with supplements.”

John E Craigie DVM
H H Robertson DVM
, Richard J Kearns DVM

“I’ve had cases of heart disease that were absolutely given up on by other veterinarians, because the cardiograms indicated there was no hope. Nutritional therapy improved the animals health greatly and has given them years more of life.”

Michael W Lemmon DVM

“What you have to do is to bring the body chemistry back to normal. Once you’ve done that, you can just get rid of the tumours without any problem. I don’t cure the cancer; all I do is put the animal’s body into the shape so it can do the job.”

H H Robertson DVM

“Popular flea collars often contain powerful nerve gases. They can kill some fleas. They can also kill some pets and can do damage to children and adults handling the pet wearing the poisonous flea collar.”

Michael W Lemmon DVM

“I haven’t had a single case of hip dysplasia since I started using vitamin C for prevention five years ago. Before that, I used to do one or two dysplasia operations every week.”

R Geoffrey Broderick DVM

“I suppose we veterinarians who do a lot of work with skin and hair problems ought to thank the commercial pet food manufacturers for all the business they create for us.”

J Keith Benedict DVM

“We can get most of our animals with heart problems off drugs, when people go along with me in using natural foods and natural supplements.”

Richard J Kearns DVM

“Bladder stones and kidney stones are completely a nutritional problem. We have never seen a recurrence once the animal is put on a natural diet. Never.”

Richard J Kearns DVM
, Norman C Ralston DVM

“I believe all cases of spinal myelopathy are caused by poor nutrition, sometimes going back to the mother’s nutrition during pregnancy.”

Richard J Kearns DVM

“I’ve been dealing with feline leukaemia for years; and I get disgusted with most veterinarians who advocate test and slaughter - that is, if the cat tests positive, it’s best to kill it. We’ve had cats who have been able to climb trees and look normal in less than ten weeks. And I’m talking about cats who were brought in to us too weak even to stand up.”

S Allen Price DVM

“Foods are so complex, we still don’t understand them. For example, researchers discovered that cats need taurine, an amino acids only found in animal tissue, which is lost through cooking. Now it is added to cat foods and supplements. Rather than wait for more such discoveries, it is better to provide animals with the diet that most closely resembles their evolutionary history.”

Richard Pitcairn DVM, PhD

Instead of relying on maybe questionable raw cat food brands, I feel it's better to make your own. Some problems in brands include: 

• the inclusion of plant based food
• the inclusion of synthetic supplements

Not only is making your own cat food healthier (if you do it right) for your cat, you can take into consideration their preferences and fads. You are in control of the ingredients.

Making your own is always more financially rewarding.

The biggest hurdle is for you to get your head around the idea!

It’s no more difficult to take food from the fridge than it is to open a packet or can.

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