This article from Raw Essentials explains why cats should eat only raw meat.
Cats prefer their natural diet -
A two-year research project conducted at the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in Leicestershire, England indicates that healthy pet cats regulate their nutrient intake to mimic what they would eat in the wild.
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/214/6/1039
Research Proves It: Cats and Carbohydrates Don’t Mix!
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they have nutritional requirements that can only be met with a diet based on animal tissue. The macronutrient profile for cats is high in protein and fat, consistent with a meat and bone based diet.
According to study authors:
The carbohydrate ceiling explains many of the intake patterns seen in both dry and wet diet experiments and suggests that cats may only be able to process ingested carbohydrate up to a certain level.
The feline body is specifically designed for a very low carbohydrate diet.
They have no taste receptors for sweet flavours.
Low rates of glucose uptake in the intestine.
No salivary amylase to break down starches
And a reduced capacity of pancreatic amylase and intestinal disaccharidases
In other words, cats don’t produce the enzymes required to digest carbohydrates. The only carbohydrates felines eat in the wild are pre-digested and are found in the stomachs of prey animals.
Read more here... Cats prefer their natural diet
No comments:
Post a Comment