Is it safe or beneficial, considering recent reports of contaminated commercial animal food, to feed my cat “people food?”  If so, which foods to you recommend for a balanced diet?  Cooked or raw?  Which foods should be avoided?

Answer:

Good question!  There are lots of opinions about feeding people food to animals, especially cats, because they have more specific nutritional requirements than dogs and it would be easy to have a deficiency problem if you only fed people food. Unless you are working with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (there aren’t any in our area, so you’d have to be speaking with one at one of the major veterinary schools) I’d stick to a commercial diet.

If your cat isn’t fat, you can supplement people foods. I don’t give my cat any people food, but I have lots of clients who feed their cats organic liver, canned chicken, non-fatty microwaved chicken, sushi-grade tuna etc., but these cats also get a commercial food too.  I error on the side of caution when it comes to raw foods as I have seen lots of cases of diarrhea from these diets.  My rule of thumb is, if I wouldn’t eat it raw, then I would cook it for my pet.  So sushi-grade tuna is OK in small amounts, but remember that this is very rich so cats should be offered only small amounts at first.

Avoid dairy for cats. They really can’t digest it well.  I know this goes against everything you learned about cats and milk. The truth is that they do love it, but then I love Oreo cookies too, however, that doesn’t make them good for me.

Stick to small high-quality producers for your cat food.  For the most part, small reputable pet food companies care about where their foods come from and they were not involved in the big recall.  Avoid wheat gluten like the plague because this was the main source of the problems, and it isn’t a natural food anyway.  Check with our local pet stores like Indigo Creek, All-Is-Well, Doolittle’s and Palmetto Paws to find quality brands.

Fat cats should avoid the dry foods, as they are high in carbohydrates and fattening.    Cat’s digestive tracts were designed to consume a high protein meal once a day.  Cats like to graze on dry food and grazing is fattening. Canned foods also provide more moisture in the diet, which is good for the urinary tract.  

We recently switched all our clinic cats to canned food only and they appear to be shaping up!

Dr. Katherine A. Saenger, DVM, owns Bees Ferry Veterinary Hospital and Boarding Kennel (www.beesferry.com) and is a former board member of the Charleston Animal Society (formerly John Ancrum SPCA.) If you have questions about pet behavior or health, or suggestions for column topics, e-mail her at vetsaenger@bellsouth.net, and watch the column in coming weeks for her responses. See more columns at www.moultrienews.com.

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