Feeding Cats

FEEDING CATS

FEEDING CATS



 Sections of this presentation are based

on information from:

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FEEDING CATS



 Cat Food Ingredients & Nutrient

Requirements

 Diets for Diseases and Conditions

 Vitamins - Minerals - Supplements

 Newborn Kitten Care

 Weight Loss & Control

FEEDING CATS



 Cat Food Ingredients & Nutrient

Requirements

 Diets for Diseases and Conditions

 Vitamins - Minerals - Supplements

 Newborn Kitten Care

 Weight Loss & Control

FEEDING YOUR CAT



 To assure that cats or kitten are properly

nourished, you need to understand:

 Pet food ingredients,

 Pet food labeling



 Nutritional requirements for fats, proteins,

and carbohydrates.

Cat Food Ingredients & Nutrition



 Nutritional requirements for fats, proteins,

and carbohydrates in cats

 Pet food ingredients



 Labeling

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



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Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Fats are very important in cat diets:

 2 - 4 times more energy than CHO or

proteins.

 Economical: Abundant in both plants and

animals.

 Can be synthesized in the body from fatty

acids or CHO in the diet and from

metabolites of protein.

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Fats are very important in animal diets:

 Functions of Fat:

 Supply energy

 Contribute to palatability,



 Influence the texture of foods



 Carry fat soluble vitamins.



 Animals require Essential Fatty Acids

Nutritional Requirements - Fat



 Type and quantity of fats are important.

They influence:

 Appetite and food intake

 Ability to perform muscular work,



 Hair coat condition



 Type of fat deposited in the body

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Sources of Fat

 Commercially used fats:

 Lard, tallow, poultry fat, cottonseed oil, hydrogenated

vegetable oils.

 Not used:

 Fish Oil (highly unsaturated, may produce Vitamin E

deficiency at high levels).

 Hydrogenated coconut oil: poorly digested; can lead to

hepatic lipidosis

 Fats in commercial cat foods are 80% - 90%

digestible.

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

 Required: linoleic, alpha-linolenic, and arachidonic.

 Cats can’t synthesize arachidonic from linoleic. It must be

in the diet,

 EFAs should constitute at least 2% of the daily

caloric intake to prevent deficiencies.

 Linoleic acid should be at least 1% of the diet

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



EFA Content of Feeds

Nutritional Requirements - FAT

 The actual requirement for fat is lower than the

actual level in most commercial foods:

 Fat it is a good source of calories

 It increases palatability.

 Some low-fat (weight-reducing) or homemade

diets can be deficient in linoleic acid.

 Foods should not be stored in hot and humid

places: rancidity and breakdown of fatty acids.

Nutritional Requirements - FAT

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Fat Deficiency:

 Impaired reproductive efficiency.

 Impaired wound healing



 Dry dull coat and scaly skin



 Increase in skin infections.



 Developmental problems and growth

deformities in kittens.

Nutritional Requirements - FAT



 Fat Excess:

 Over consumption and obesity:

 Up to half of all pets in the US are obese.

 Control: feed low fat high fiber diets with EFA

supplement.

 Pancreatitis: Cats are less susceptible than

dogs

Nutritional Requirements - Protein



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Nutritional Requirements - Protein



 Importance:

 Necessary for of growth and development

 Structural component



 Needed for the immune system.



 Burned as calories and can be converted to

and stored as fat.

Nutritional Requirements - Protein



 Cats do not need protein, they need

amino acids.

 22 required amino acids.

 11 essential amino acids for cats: arginine,

histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine,

phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, and

taurine.

 Dogs can eat cat food but cats can’t eat dog

food

 A deficiency in any of the Essential AA can

cause health problems

Nutritional Requirements - Protein



 Protein Quality

 Each protein source provides different levels of

amino acids

 The ease with which the protein is broken down

into AA by an animal and how well the animal uses

these AA is a measure of the protein’s quality

(biological value or BV).

 Egg BV = 100. Standard for comparison.

 Fish meal and milk = 92,

 Beef = 78,

 Soybean meal = 67,

 Meat and bone meal and wheat = 50

 Corn = 45.

Nutritional Requirements - Protein



Protein Requirements of Cats









Pregnant and lactating cats: need higher protein - feed kitten food.

Sick, weak, and debilitated animals need extra protein.

Animals with kidney disease need a protein-restricted, but high

biological value diet to lessen the effects of the kidney disease.

Nutritional Requirements - Protein



 Can you feed too much protein?

 NO: If a healthy cat eats too much protein, some

gets excreted in the urine and the rest gets used as

calories or is converted to fat

 YES: If you cat has a kidney problem, high protein

diets are not recommended.

 Next to marketing, protein is the most expensive

cost component in the food. Most pet food

companies meet the minimum recommended

requirements and add a little extra to be safe.

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



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Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Most commercial dry foods contain between

30% and 70% carbohydrates

 Wild felines do eat some CHO (berries and

intestinal contents of the prey). However, it

would rarely be even 5% of their diet.

 Why do we feed our domestic pets so much

carbohydrate, when it appears to be an

unnatural food source?

Nutritional Requirements - CHO

 Why feed carbohydrates?

 Felines can consume large quantities of protein and convert it

to muscle and energy.

 They can also convert carbohydrate sources into energy.

 This ability to utilize both CHO and proteins as an

energy source allows us to feed cats a high CHO diet:

 We first feed enough meat to meet the cat's protein requirement

 We then meet their energy and fiber requirements with

carbohydrates (and fats)

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Benefits of using carbohydrates:

 Less expensive and more readily available as an

energy source than proteins.

 Essential in the formation of dry pet food. The

starchy carbohydrates are used to add structure,

texture, and form to kibbled food helping to create a

product that is stable and easy to feed.

 Canned foods could be composed without the

addition of carbohydrates, but dry kibble could not

exist in its current form without carbohydrates.

Nutritional Requirements - CHO

 Soluble CHO

 The starchy portion of a plant: easily broken down

in the digestive tract of the cat.

 In cereal grains: rice, wheat, corn, barley, oats.

 The cooked or extruded forms of soluble CHOs

found in most pet foods are easily and rapidly

digested.

 Raw cereal grains are digested much more slowly

in the intestine and some starchy carbohydrates,

including raw potatoes and bananas, are

completely resistant to digestion in pets.

Health Problems - CHO



 Obesity

 The cat’s energy needs are exceeded: the

extra glucose created by the digestion of the

carbohydrates is stored as fat.

 An excess of carbohydrates, fats, or

proteins can all lead to obesity, but

carbohydrates are often the most common

energy source and are easily converted to

glucose.

Health Problems



 Maldigestion:

 Symptoms: excessive gas, bloating, and diarrhea.

 As carbohydrates pass through the digestive tract,

enzymes such as amylase, lactase, maltase, sucrase, and

disaccharidase break them down into usable forms.

 Animals that have deficiencies in these enzymes can’t

break down these carbohydrates and they will ferment and

create bacterial overgrowth resulting in the production of

gas and excess water.

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



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Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Fiber

 Made up of several different compounds all

of which are carbohydrates.

 The term fiber describes the insoluble

carbohydrates that resist enzymatic

digestion in the small intestine: cellulose,

hemicellulose, pectin and gums

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Fiber Sources

 In pet foods: from the cell walls of plants

and grains present in the food.

 Most common sources: rice hulls, corn and

corn by-products, soybean hulls, beet pulp,

bran, peanut hulls, and pectin.

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Fiber Requirements

 Not an essential nutrient. Cats don’t derive energy from fiber

 Fiber Functions:

 Increases bulk and water in the intestinal contents.

 Absorbs extra water in diarrheic stools, and it helps hold onto

water, preventing constipation.

 Improves colon health:

 Some fiber is broken down in the intestine into fatty acids which

aid in preventing the overgrowth of harmful bacteria.

 Helps control obesity and diabetes

Nutritional Requirements - CHO



 Fiber Fermentation – Rate

 Slowly fermented fibers:

 Stool bulking agents: they maintain their

structure longer and hold more water.

 Rapidly fermenting fibers:

 Lose their shape and hold less water and bulk.

 Feeding large amounts of rapidly fermenting

fibers produces a laxative effect and diarrhea.

 A mix of both rapidly fermenting and slowly

fermenting fiber sources is the most desirable.

Nutritional Requirements - CHO

Rate of Fiber Fermentation

Fiber and Weight Management

 The addition of slowly fermented fiber in the diet, is

useful in reducing and preventing obesity.

 These slowly fermentable fibers help to increase bulk

and promote a feeling of satiety (fullness) without

adding calories. The animal eats a satisfying meal, but

consumes fewer calories and thus loses weight.

 If rapidly fermented fiber sources are used at too high

of a level, then loose stools or excessive gas may

result; so if problems arise using weight management

pet foods, the source of the fiber should be examined.

Fiber and Diabetes Mellitus



 Feeding a diet high in fiber to dogs with

diabetes helps control the swings in

blood sugar and minimizes the peaks

and valleys in blood glucose that often

accompany this disease.

 Fiber does not have the same effect on

cats. They do better on diets high in

protein and fat

Special Nutritional Needs of Cats



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Special Nutritional Needs of Cats



 Cats and dogs have different dietary

needs.

 Many of the special needs are due to a

difference in liver and digestive enzymes

between the two species.

 Dog food should NOT be fed to cats.

Special feline nutritional needs include:

Special Nutritional Needs of Cats



 Special needs:

 Cats need a higher protein level than dogs.

 Cats are unable to regulate the rate at which

liver enzymes break down protein. If dietary

protein is in low quantities or not available, the

cat's body will soon start breaking down the

protein in its own muscle.

Special Nutritional Needs of Cats



 Special needs:

 Taurine.

 Taurine is necessary for proper bile formation, health of

the eye, and functioning of the heart muscle.

 Cats require a high amount of taurine for their body

functions, but have limited enzymes to produce taurine

from other amino acids such as methionine and cysteine.

 If taurine is deficient, signs such as a heart condition

called dilated cardiomyopathy, retinal degeneration,

reproductive failure, and abnormal kitten development can

occur

Special Nutritional Needs of Cats

 Special needs:

 Arginine.

 Most animals manufacture ornithine through various

processes, some of which require arginine.

 Ornithine is necessary because it binds ammonia produced

from the breakdown of protein.

 In cats, the only method to produce ornithine is to convert

it from arginine.

 If cats are deficient in arginine, there will not be enough

ornithine to bind the ammonia, and severe signs such as

salivation, vocalization, ataxia, and even death can result

from the high ammonia levels.

 Arginine deficiency is rare, but can occur in cats who are not

eating or have certain liver diseases such as hepatic

lipidosis

Special Nutritional Needs of Cats



 Special needs:

 Arachidonic Acid

 Dogs can manufacture arachidonic acid from linoleic acid

or gamma-linolenic acid. Cats can not.

 Functions:

 Helps produce body’s inflammatory response.

 Helps to regulate skin growth

 Necessary for proper blood clotting, and the functioning of

the reproductive and gastrointestinal systems.

 Arachidonic acid is found in animal fats which must

therefore be included as part of the diet.

Cat Food Ingredients & Nutrition



 Nutritional requirements for fats, proteins,

and carbohydrates in cats

 Pet food ingredients



 Labeling

PET FOOD INGREDIENTS

Pet Food Ingredients



 Portions of this presentation are from:

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399&articleid=667

 Pictures and details of feed ingredients

can be found at:

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Pet Food Ingredients



 What is really in pet foods?

 Plump whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fresh

grains? Hmmmm…

 What you think you are buying and what you are

actually getting may be a little different

 The pet food industry is an extension of the human

food and agriculture industries. It is an outlet for:

 Slaughterhouse offal and waste: intestines, udders, lungs,

esophagi, etc.

 Grains not suitable for human consumption

Pet Food Ingredients

 5 major pet food companies owned by

multinationals:

 Nestlé: Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog,

and Ralston Purina

 Heinz: 9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits,

Nature's Recipe

 Colgate-Palmolive: Hill's Science Diet Pet Food.

 Procter & Gamble: Eukanuba and Iams

 Mars: Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba,

Waltham's

 Nutro.

Pet Food Ingredients



 From a business standpoint, multinational

companies owning pet food manufacturing

companies is an ideal relationship:

 The multinationals that make human food products

have a captive market in which to capitalize on their

waste products

 The pet food divisions have a more reliable capital

base and a convenient source of ingredients.

Pet Food Ingredients



 The purchase price of a pet food does

not always determine if a pet food is

good or bad but is a good indicator of

quality:

 It would be hard for a company that sells a

generic brand of dog food at $9.95 for a 40-

lb. bag to use quality protein and grain in its

food.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Animal Digest: material which results

from the chemical and/or enzymatic

hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed

animal tissue. The animal tissues used

shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth,

hooves and feathers, except in such

trace amounts as might occur

unavoidably in good factory practice and

shall be suitable for animal feed.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Animal Fat: Obtained from the tissues of

mammals and/or poultry in the commercial

processes of rendering or extracting. It

consists predominantly of glyceride esters of

fatty acids and contains no additions of free

fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the

common name or names must be indicated,

followed by the words "used as a

preservative".

Pet Food Ingredients



 Barley: consists of at least 80 percent

sound barley and must not contain more

than 3 percent heat-damaged kernels, 6

percent foreign material, 20 percent

other grains or 10 percent wild oats.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Beef (meat): is the clean flesh derived from

slaughtered cattle, and is limited to that part of

the striate muscle which is skeletal or that

which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm,

in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or

without the accompanying and overlying fat

and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and

blood vessels which normally accompany the

flesh.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Beet Pulp ("beet pulp, dried

molasses" and "beet pulp, dried,

plain"): the dried residue from sugar

beets.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Brewer's Rice: the dried extracted

residue of rice resulting from the

manufacture of wort (liquid portion of

malted grain) or beer and may contain

pulverized dried spent hops in an

amount not to exceed 3 percent.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Chicken: the clean combination of flesh

and skin with or without accompanying

bone, derived from the parts or whole

carcasses of chicken or a combination

thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads,

feet and entrails.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Chicken By-Product Meal: consists of

the ground, rendered, clean parts of the

carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as

necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and

intestines, exclusive of feathers, except

in such amounts as might occur

unavoidable in good processing practice.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Chicken Liver Meal: chicken livers

which have been ground or otherwise

reduced in particle size.

 Chicken Meal: chicken which has been

ground or otherwise reduced in particle

size.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Corn: unspecified corn product. Not a

complete AAFCO definition.

 Corn Bran: the outer coating of the corn

kernel, with little or none of the starchy

part of the germ.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Corn Gluten Meal: the dried residue

from corn after the removal of the larger

part of the starch and germ, and the

separation of the bran by the process

employed in the wet milling manufacture

of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic

treatment of the endosperm.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Dehydrated Eggs: dried whole poultry

eggs freed of moisture by thermal

means.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Dried Whey: the product obtained by

removing water from the whey. It

contains not less than 11 percent protein

nor less than 61 percent lactose.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Lamb Meal: the rendered product from

lamb tissues, exclusive of blood, hair,

hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure,

stomach and rumen contents except in

such amounts as may occur unavoidably

in good processing practices.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Peas: peas.

 Potatoes: potatoes.

Pet Food Ingredients

 Poultry By-Product Meal: consists of the

ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of

slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet,

undeveloped eggs, intestines, exclusive of

feathers, except in such amounts as might

occur unavoidably in good processing

practices.

 Poultry Digest: material which results from

chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean

and undecomposed poultry tissue.

Pet Food Ingredients

 Poultry Fat (feed grade): primarily obtained from the

tissue of poultry in the commercial process of

rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty

matter natural to the product produced under good

manufacturing practices and shall contain no added

free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat. It

must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids

and not more than 3 percent of unsaponifiables and

impurities. It shall have a minimum titer of 33 degrees

Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the common name

or names must be indicated, followed by the word

"preservative(s)".

Pet Food Ingredients



 Rice Bran: the pericarp or bran layer

and germ of the rice, with only such

quantity of hull fragments, chipped,

broken, or brewer's rice, and calcium

carbonate as is unavoidable in the

regular milling of edible rice.

 Soybean Hulls: consist primarily of the

outer covering of the soybean.

Pet Food Ingredients

 Soybean Meal (Dehulled, solvent

Extracted): obtained by grinding the flakes

remaining after removal of most of the oil from

dehulled soybeans by a solvent extraction

process.

 Soybean Meal (Mechanical Extracted):

obtained by grinding the cake or chips which

remain after removal of most of the oil from the

soybeans by a mechanical extraction process.

Pet Food Ingredients

 Wheat Bran: the coarse outer covering of the

wheat kernel as separated from cleaned and

scoured wheat in the usual process of

commercial milling.

 Wheat Flour: wheat flour together with fine

particles of wheat bran, wheat germ and the

offal from the "tail of the mill". This product

must be obtained in the usual process of

commercial milling and must not contain more

than 1.5 percent crude fiber. "Tail of the mill" is

the sweepings of leftovers after a week or so

of processing.

Pet Food Ingredients



 Wheat Germ Meal: consists chiefly of

wheat germ together with some bran and

middlings or short. It must contain not

less than 25 percent crude protein and 7

percent crude fat.

Additives and Preservatives

 Chemicals added to pet foods to improve the taste,

stability, characteristics, or appearance.

 Additives:

 Provide no nutritional value.

 Emulsifiers to prevent water and fat from separating,

 Antioxidants to prevent fat from turning rancid

 Artificial colors and flavors to make the product more

attractive to consumers and more palatable to the animals.

 Adding chemicals to food originated thousands of

years ago: spices, natural preservatives

Additives and Preservatives

 Preservatives: Commercial pet foods must be

preserved so they stay fresh and appealing.

 Canning is a preserving process itself, so canned

foods contain less preservatives than dry foods.

 Some preservatives are added to ingredients or

raw materials by the suppliers, and others may be

added by the manufacturer.

 To ensure that dry foods have a long shelf life to

remain edible after shipping and prolonged storage,

fats used in pet foods are preserved with either

synthetic or "natural" preservatives.

 Synthetic preservatives: butylated hydroxyanisole

(BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl

gallate, propylene glycol and ethoxyquin.

Additives and Preservatives

 Antioxidants in Cat foods

 Antioxidants: substances that help to keep fats and

fat-soluble ingredients from becoming oxidized.

 Oxidized fat is tastes rancid and loses nutritional value.

 Cat foods with high levels of fat, are especially susceptible to

oxidation and need to have antioxidants added to preserve

them.

 Classes of Antioxidants

 Natural: tocopherols, ascorbic acid, citric acid, and rosemary

 Artificial antioxidants: ethoxyquin, butylated hydroxytoluene

(BHT), and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA).

Additives in Pet Foods

 Anticaking agents  Lubricants

 Antimicrobial agents  Nonnutritive sweeteners

 Antioxidants  Nutritive sweeteners

 Coloring agents  Oxidizing and reducing agents

 Curing agents  pH control agents

 Drying agents  Processing aids

 Emulsifiers  Sequestrants

 Firming agents  Solvents, vehicles

 Flavor enhancers  Stabilizers, thickeners

 Flavoring agents  Surface active agents

 Flour treating agents  Surface finishing agents

 Formulation aids  Synergists

 Humectants  Texturizers

 Leavening agents

 Nutritional requirements for fats, proteins,

and carbohydrates in dogs

 Pet food ingredients



 Labeling

Pet Food Labels



 For a quick description of the role of

each ingredient listed in a diet’s label go

to:

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sp

Pet Food Labels

Cat Food Labels



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=1&cat=1399&articleid=667

Pet Food Labels

 Reading the pet food label is one of the best

ways to determine the quality of a food.

 The label lists:

 Manufacturer’s Information

 Net Weight

 The ingredients

 The guaranteed analysis (amounts of protein, fat,

carbohydrates, fiber, and other nutrients).

 The list of preservatives

 General feeding guidelines.

Pet Food Labels









 The guaranteed analysis on the information panel of the cat

food label lists the minimum levels of crude protein and fat and

the maximum levels of fiber and water. The protein and fat are

listed as crude sources and not as digestible sources.

Pet Food Labels

Pet Food Labels

 Pet food manufacturers must list the ingredients

present in the food, in order of weight.

 With some knowledge about the ingredients, you can

choose a food that is highly digestible and free of

unwanted products.

 Beware of splitting, a tactic used by manufacturers to

disguise less desirable ingredients.

 Splitting: Undesirable ingredients are broken into several

different smaller sub-ingredients and these are listed

individually to lower their level and position them farther down

the ingredient list: a diet list could contain chicken, ground

corn, corn gluten, ground wheat, corn bran, wheat flour, wheat

middling, etc. If we were to group all of the corn ingredients as

one, corn would probably be ahead of chicken in the list.

Pet Food Labels

 AAFCO Standards:

 The Association of American Feed Control Officials

develops guidelines for the production, labeling,

and sale of animal foods. Pet foods which meet the

AAFCO's requirements include one of the two

statements below on their label.

 Formulated to meet AAFCO's nutrient requirement.

The food was tested in the laboratory and found to have

the recommended amounts of protein, fat, etc.

 Animal-feeding tests using AAFCO's procedures

substantiate that this product provides complete and

balanced nutrition. The pet food was be tested on a

population of animals for six months and shown to provide

adequate nutrition.

Pet Food Labels



 Feeding instructions

 Included on bags and cans of pet foods.

 Give rough guidelines on how much to feed based

on growth level and weight.

 Every animal has a different level of activity, metabolism,

and ambient environmental temperature.

 Breed, age, and other environmental stresses affect daily

requirements.

 If your animal is thin or hungry, feed it more often

and in greater quantity.

 If your pet is obese, feed it less.

FEEDING YOUR CATS



 Dog Food Ingredients & Nutrition

 Newborn Kitten Care

 Special Diets for Various Conditions

 Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements

 Weight Loss in Dogs

Feeding Kitten

Feeding Kittens



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Feeding Kitten

 The kittens start eating around 3-4 weeks of age.

 Give a secure shallow water dish; feed kitten mush:

 Blenderize a high quality dry kitten food with liquid kitten milk

replacer and hot water until it has the consistency of human

infant cereal.

 Give the kittens 3-4 meals a day of this to start.

 Each week, decrease the amount of the milk replacer and water

that is added and the time of blenderizing, so by 7-8 weeks, the

kittens are eating dry food.

 Once they are on dry food, it may be left in with the kittens.

 By the time they are 7-8 weeks old, they should be fully weaned.

Feeding Kitten



 As weaning progresses, the amount the

queen eats should be decreased. During

the last week of weaning, the dam's food

consumption should be less than 50%

above the maintenance level and

declining towards the maintenance level.

Feeding Kittens



Cat growth rates

FEEDING YOUR CATS



 Dog Food Ingredients & Nutrition

Newborn Puppy Care

 Special Diets for Various Conditions

 Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements

 Weight Loss in Cats

Weight Loss diets in Cats



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Weight Loss in Cats

Weight loss in cats

Obesity: The cat is taking in more calories than he is

using

 Eating tendency: Some cats only eat what they need

even if fed free choice. Others eat as much as is

available and then look for more. Some cats are

finicky, others will eat just about anything..

 The type of food fed influences the tendency of a cat

to become overweight. Table scraps, treats, even

premium high-energy dog foods can contribute to

obesity.

 Activity: A 7-year-old lap cat does not need a high-

energy food like his brother who is in the barn

Causes of obesity



 Neutering and spaying:

 Lowers metabolic rate so that they require

fewer calories than intact cats.

 Androgens and estrogens stimulate roaming

behavior and general physical activity.

 Since their energy needs are less, if they

are fed as much as intact cats, neutered

and spayed dogs will gain weight.

 Feed 75% - 80% of amount for intact cats

Causes of obesity



 Genetics and breed predispositions:

 Some breeds simply more prone to

becoming overweight

 Mixed breeds have more tendency to obesity

Causes of obesity



 Age

 Social environment

 Physical environment

 Medications

Good Reducing Diets



 Essential to a good weight reduction

program is reducing the calories fed, but

how much?

 Most weight loss protocols for cats

recommend feeding 75% of the energy

needs your pet would need when he is at

his ideal weight. Adjustments are made as

necessary.

Regular food or diet food?

 There are two basic ways to cut down on calories.

 Feed less of the food the dog is currently eating.

 Switch to special weight reduction diets.

 Advantages of balanced weight reduction diets.

 High-fiber, low-fat diets with low energy density cause a

greater loss of body fat.

 They produce satiety at a lower level of calorie intake.

 Need more energy for their digestion and absorption.

 In some cases, feeding less of the current diet is

preferred. If a cat is already on a special diet because

of another medical condition (e.g.; bladder stones), it

would be beneficial to maintain the pet on that diet.

Weight Reduction Diets - Fat



 Needs to be decreased the most in

weight reduction diets.

 The fat content of weight reduction foods

for cats should equal 7 - 14% of the dry

matter.

Weight Reduction Diets - Fiber

 A reducing diet generally has increased fiber.

 High-fiber, low-fat diets allow a greater loss of body fat than

simply feeding smaller amounts of a high-fat diet.

 Fiber stimulates chewing, increases the metabolic energy needed

to digest the food, slows the rate of movement of food out of the

stomach, helps to stabilize the blood glucose level, and improves

the sensitivity of the body to insulin.

 Many diet foods contain over 5% fiber on a dry matter basis.

Some diets contain up to 12-30% fiber. Diets containing that

quantity of fiber, however, can cause flatulence and will increase

the quantity of feces produced.

Weight Reduction Diets - Protein



 A reducing diet must contain adequate

amounts of protein to prevent loss of

lean body mass (muscle) while the

animal is losing weight.

 A reducing diet for cats should contain at

least 35% crude protein on a dry matter

basis

Weight Reduction Diets - Vitamins and Minerals





 Good, balanced weight reduction diets

have a proportional increase in vitamins

and minerals relative to the energy

content.

Special Diets

Special Diets



 FLUTD

 Reducing diets

 Foods Allergies

 High fiber diets and anal gland disease

 Nutrition of seniors

 Elevated feeders

Special Diets – FLUTD

 Diet does not cause FLUTD but increases

the risk

 Urinary pH

 Struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate)

forming

 Struvite formation controlled:

 High animal protein sources. Plant sources

contribute to alkaline urine

 Urine acidifiers

 Calcium Oxalate problem in acid urine

Special Diets – Food allergies



 10% of all allergies in cats and dogs

 Affect both males and females and

neutered and intact animals equally.

 Vast majority of cases occur between 2

and 6 years.

 Most common offenders are fish, beef,

and dairy products (the most common

offenders are the most common

ingredients in both cat foods).

Special diets - Allergies



 Food allergies: show the characteristic

symptoms of itching and skin problems.

 Food intolerances can result in diarrhea

or vomiting and do not create a typical

allergic response.

Special Diets - Allergies

 Once we determine a positive diagnosis, the

owner of the animal has two choices: feed the

animal a special commercially prepared diet or

a homemade diet.

 Homemade diet: feed the animal a novel food

source of protein and CHO for 12 weeks. A

novel food source is a protein and CHO that

the animal had never eaten before. An

example would be rabbit and rice, or venison

and potato, or duck and rutabagas.

Special Diets - Allergies

 The pet is periodically challenged with new ingredients to

determine which are causing the food allergy.

 For example, if the animal's symptoms subsided on a diet of

rabbit and potatoes, then the owner could add beef to the diet for

two weeks. If the animal showed no symptoms, then they could

then add chicken for two weeks. If the animal showed symptoms,

then it could be assumed that chicken was one of the things the

pet was allergic to. The chicken could be withdrawn and after the

symptoms cleared up, a different ingredient could be added and

so on until all of the offending ingredients were identified. A diet

could then be formulated that was free of the offending food

sources.

 If homemade diets are used, it is essential that they be balanced,

with correct amount of ingredients, vitamins, and minerals.

Special Diets - Allergies

 Commercial diets: Special Foods produced by Hill's

and Purina, and a food named EXclude are used by

many dermatologists.

 Regardless of the diet used, it must be the only thing

the animal eats for 12 weeks. This means no treats;

absolutely nothing but the special food and water.

 Young growing pets have special dietary needs and a

homemade diet that only contains one protein and one

carbohydrate with no multivitamin or fatty acid may not

be suitable even for only twelve weeks. For puppies

undergoing a food trial, a balanced commercial diet

like the ones listed above is recommended.

Special Diets – Anal Gland Disease



 For various reasons (conformation of the

animal, the thickness of the gland's secretions,

or the softness of the stool) these glands and

their ducts may become clogged

 Animals sit down on their rear quarters and

drag their anal area across the floor or ground

(scooting).

 Pets with recurrent anal gland impactions are

often placed on a high fiber diet. The stool

becomes more bulky and puts more pressure

on the anal glands so they express

themselves when the animal defecates.

Special Diets – Senior Cats



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Special Diets – Senior Cats



 As dogs age, their metabolism changes

and they need less calories

 This is NOT true in cats.

Special Diets – Senior Cats

 Changes as a result of disease

 Various disease processes may require dietary changes to

lessen the effects or progression of the disease.

 Diabetes mellitus, colitis, constipation, or anal gland disease:

increased dietary fiber.

 Inflammatory bowel disease and colitis: diets which have

highly digestible sources of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.

 Heart disease: lower sodium and increased taurine.

 Chronic kidney failure: highly digestible protein (less

breakdown products to eliminate in urine).

 Dental and oral disease: give canned food.

 Cancer: increase Omega-3 fatty acids and beta-carotene