Catkins Diet As a Basis For a Healthy Homemade Cat Diet
The cat food recall in 2007 has sent many cat owners scrambling to the net in search of a homemade cat diet. However, it is important to check the nutritional content of this so-called homemade cat diet because of the cat’s nutritional needs. For one, a cat needs more protein than a dog. Facts such as this should be taken into consideration when preparing cat food at home.
One of the popular homemade cat diets is based on the Catkins diet which is based on the equally popular Atkins diet for humans. This Catkins diet is based on the amount of macronutrients absorbed into the cat’s body. These macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. A cat’s diet has to have the right amount of all three.
Let us take a look at it this way. In the wild, a cat loves to eat mice. So, what is the nutritional content of a mouse? It has 3 percent carbohydrates, 40 percent protein, and 50 percent fats. By eating this prey for some time, the cat has been able to maintain its healthy body from ancient times to the present.
But many of the commercial foods that are available for cats in pet stores do not carefully consider the nutritional needs of the cat. So many of the illnesses that cat suffer from today is a result of the diet we feed them.
This Catkins diet is based on the nutritional need of the cat as if it is in the wild. So if a nutritional food pyramid can be created for the cat it will have three components. The base which represents the amount of food that should be eaten more will be loaded with fats.
The center portion will be loaded with protein rich food such as meat. And the portion on the top will be taken by the food rich in carbohydrates. This means that our cat will have to eat fewer carbohydrates compared to protein and fats.
Having said that, imagine what happens to a cat if it is fed with a lot of carbohydrates. This results in cats that are obese. It is now common to find cats that are too fat for their health. It is known that there are 35-40 percent obese cats in the general popular population of domestic cats. An obese cat has a four times greater risk to develop diabetes millets than a non-obese cat.
They also become too lazy to move because of their size. Also, they develop non-allergic skin diseases because they have difficulty cleaning their bodies due to their heavy weight.
But if a cat has little intake of carbs, what does it use for energy?
It must be kept in mind that a cat can develop glucose from protein while it cannot process carbs. So it obtains its energy from the glucose it produces from the protein. Lastly, unlike other diets meant to prevent plaque in cat teeth, a diet based on the Catkins diet prefers a wet diet than the dry type. Since a cat’s teeth naturally tear through meat then its teeth must not eat dry food because dry and hard has a way of ending up in between the teeth.
