For ten years I have secretly been telling my cat owners to avoid dry cat food. The reason I never went public is that the veterinary community has offered little in the way of research, evidence, or opinion to support this viewpoint. Not wanting to go on record was purely a defensive stand and in my book I have pretty much promulgated the veterinary and pet food industry party line on this issue. I am hereby retracting those recommendations.

     My private recommendations were originially directed at cat owners with obesity management issues. The commercially recommended, cereal based weight loss diets (Purina OM and Science Diet R/D and W/D, among others) never worked very well and, frankly, just didn't make sense to me from a nutritional standpoint. After having some dramatic successes with some really fat cats, I had something of an epiphany. I eventually expanded my recommendations to also include those cats with diabetes and those with urinary tract illness. I have now decided to make my recommendations across the board for those cat owners who are willing to go the extra distance. Dry cat food, regardless of any brand stipulation, is garbage. It is loaded with carbohydrates which are not at all a natural part of a feline diet and which physiologically tax the cat's digestive and metabolic capacity. They are the kitty equivalent of breakfast cereal or high carbohydrate junk food. Go to http://www.all-about-cats.com/long-life.htm by Elizabeth Hodgkins, D.V.M. and read what she has to say about feeding a cat. Also you should visit www.catnutrition.org for a plethora of healthy feeding recommendations. Just get your cat off the dry food as soon as you can.

     My version of this diet that I have recommended in the past was to buy all-meat canned cat food and feed that. I feel that commercial pet food is inherently poor in quality but the dramatic effect of feeding an all canned food diet compared to the results obtained when cats are fed dry cat food (any brand), which is loaded with high-carbohydrate cereal, can be amazing. If you have a diabetic cat or a cat with a significant weight problem or with urinary tract pathology, consider an all meat diet. The Foods and Feeding chapter has been completely overhauled in the latest revision of. Dr. Hodgkins is something of a revolutionary on this subject but has some admirable credentials to back her up and has become quite vocal in her stand on this issue.

     What to do in feeding your pet? Check out the food recipes in the appendix to my book, or better yet, check out the home pet food book by Donald R. Strombeck, Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative, available at Amazon.com.