A Feline Biology Primer (It's short and sweet, I promise!)

A bit of basic biology:

All felines, as I'm sure you know, are carnivores. More specifically, though, they belong to a special group known as obligate carnivores, which means that they cannot survive on a diet that does not contain a certain quantity of animal protein. In this regard, they differ from canines, which can survive on a vegetarian diet (though I certainly wouldn't recommend it).

The house cats we have today evolved from a domesticated version of small desert felines in northern Africa. As desert creatures, cats developed only a minimal thirst drive because they derived most of their necessary fluids from prey animals.

Their dentition is is clearly that of a predator, as one can tell with but a glance at their long, sharp canines. Their molars follow the same pattern and are built for shearing meat off of bones rather than crushing and grinding (like a cow's or a human's are).

A cat's digestive system is short and very acidic (as compared to a human's). This protects them from many of the pathogens that can, potentially, be present in the raw meat their ancestral diets consisted of. It is also sensitive to changes in pH and it is an abnormally alkaline (high pH) urinary tract that leads to the dangerous crystals our pets can be prone to.

Now that we've established what most people probably already knew, that a cat's biology is designed for a very specific type of nutrition (raw meat), later blogs will be dedicated to exploring why on earth so many humans have decided that the healthiest cat food is a dry, cereal-like, grain-based product. But next, I want to clear up some issues regarding "veterinarian-recommended" foods.

Meet and Greet

Hello! My name is Karen and I decided to start writing "Feeding Felines and other Cat Care tips" because I've seen a lot of kitties and their humans really struggling with big problems that have very simple solutions. Even after spending ridiculous amounts of money at the vets for a battery of unnecessary testing, human and kitty are often both still just as (if not more) miserable and there is no reprieve in sight. Sometimes this leads to a lifetime of medication, to people giving up their pet, or worse, to putting kitty "to sleep" because they think it's the most humane thing to do. If this is where you are right now, please WAIT! I've got a few super cheap and easy things for you to try that just might solve your problems.

First, I am NOT a veterinarian. My degrees are in Literature and History, so I'm obviously not a biologist or a nutritionist either. What I HAVE done is worked in retail pet sales for three years, read extensively on feline nutrition (both on-line and in honest-to-goodness published books), and cared for two cats of my own.

Retail sales experience might not seem like much of a qualification, but our customers really depended on me and my co-workers to give them quality pet care advice and so we fielded every imaginable question, giving the best suggestions we could and learning from the feedback we received (as the store where I worked depended, mostly, on repeat customers). A number of customers came back to tell me that I had "saved" their cat, even after their vet told them that he or she was out of ideas. Examples of this will be described in subsequent blogs.

Second, I do NOT work for any pet food manufacturer and do not currently work for an animal products retailer. I may list some name brands from time to time so that it will be easy for you to find the type of food I recommend, but I will also give nutritional specifications to look for so that you can read the ingredients and decide for yourself.

So who am I? I'm just a person who really loves her cats and who did a lot of research to decide what food, litter, toys, etc would be best for them (and for me!). I've also spoken at length with many customers and acquaintances who were dealing with problems that my cats have not faced, and their feedback has certainly added to my bank of knowledge.

I encourage you to leave comments and ask questions so that your story can help other people. Even if your experience contradicts what I suggest, there may be some validity to it and I'd be interested in exploring that.