Feeding Pork

Customer question: We’ve been using Instincts for a few months now, but didn’t see this question
in your FAQs: What about using pork in your recipes? You don’t mention it. Is it safe or is there a problem?

In the past, pork was not on our list of meats recommended to be fed raw to your cat. Even today we hesitate to list it, but we have, to some extent, incorporated it into the meal plan of our own cats, initially due to a mistaken identity of ground pork meat as ground turkey, and later to alleviate a food intolerance in one of our new cats. Cats really like eating lean pork, and in look and texture, pork is very similar to rodent meat – although the species are not related. Maybe it is because pigs are omnivorous?

What are the risks of feeding pork raw?

Pigs can carry diseases and parasites harmful to people and other animals when their meat is eaten raw or under-cooked. Trichinella and Pseudorabies (Aujeszky’s disease) being of greatest concern. Both are Reportable Diseases. They must be reported to federal, state, or local health officials when diagnosed, as part of a containment and control protocol. Both diseases are very rare in Canada and the USA due to diligent management.

Trichinella spiralis is a species of tissue-dwelling roundworm, occurring in rats, pigs, and humans, and is responsible for the disease Trichinellosis. It can occur in bears and walruses as well, and people have become infected by eating the meat of these animals. It is sometimes referred to as the “pork worm” due to it being found commonly in pork products that are undercooked. It is not a very important parasite in cats, but it can occur.

The adult trichina worm lives in the small intestine. This worm does not produce eggs, but live larvae that pass through the intestine and migrate throughout the body, where they cause inflammation. The larvae encyst in muscle tissues, and can remain dormant there for years. Encysted trichina larvae can cause muscle damage, pain, and weakness. In severe cases, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, and heart failure may occur depending on where the larvae migrated to.

Cats become infected when eating the muscle meat or other organs of an infected animal.
Several drugs are effective in killing the muscle larvae including dewormers used for treating the cat for roundworms. Infection is prevented by not feeding raw pork or bear, and not allowing the cat to roam and hunt.

Freezing can kill the larvae of Trichinella spiralis, and pieces of meat less than 6 inches thick can be frozen at 5°F for at least 20 days to kill the larvae effectively.

In the United States, the national trichinellosis surveillance system has documented a steady decline in the reported incidence of this disease in people. During 1997-2001, the incidence decreased to a median of 12 cases annually with no reported deaths. The decline of infection was largely associated with changes implemented by the U.S. pork industry that have resulted in reduced prevalence of Trichinella among domestic swine.
Regulations to detect and control Trichinellosis in pigs have been in place in many countries for more than 100 years. Globally, outbreaks of human Trichinellosis associated with pork from abattoirs operating under modern inspection systems rarely occur; however, cases which are associated with the consumption of undercooked meat from wild boars, horses, wildlife species such as walrus and bear, and outdoor-reared and home-processed pigs continue to be reported.

Pseudorabis does not exist in Canada. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, extensive eradication programs have been launched to combat the disease. By 2004, the commercial swine population in the United States could be declared free of the disease, but Pseudorabies is still occurring in feral pigs, and backyard raise pigs are at risk.

Pseudo Rabies (Aujeszky’s disease) is a viral disease primarily of swine, fatal to cats, caused by a herpes virus attacking the nervous system. It has no relationship to Rabies, but its symptoms may be confused with Rabies. However, the course of Pseudorabies is much shorter, and distinguishes itself by the intense itching experienced by the affected cat. Pseudorabies does not present a hazard to human health, and there is no evidence that the disease is transmitted from cat to cat.

The disease is usually associated with contact with pigs, and cats may contract Pseudorabies by eating raw or uncooked pork. However, it can also infect cats by them hunting and eating infected rats. It is therefore most commonly observed in cats living on farms.
Symptoms of Pseudorabies appear 2-9 days after exposure and may include restlessness, intense pain, excessive drooling, intense itching on the head and shoulders, sudden change in behavior, breathing difficulty, excessive salivation, staggering, fever, and the cat may act as though there is something in the throat. Typically, infected cats fall into a coma and die within 24 – 36 hours. It is so rapidly fatal in cats, that there are sometimes no symptoms.
Unfortunately there is no known treatment for Pseudorabies. The only control is to prevent your cat from roaming, getting into contact with infected rats and livestock, and eating raw pork.

If you feel the benefits of feeding pork outweigh the risks, you may consider to do so, especially when caring for a cat with food allergies. To significantly reduce the risk of your cat becoming infected with Trichinella, buy commercial pork, grind it and freeze flatted in freezer bags for at least 20 days at a temperature of 5°F (-15°C ). It is recommended that your typical home freezer or deep freezer should be set at 0°F (-17°C) or lower. Since Pseudorabis does not occur in Canada, we can assume that the risk of your cat becoming infected with it when eating Canadian commercially raised pork is almost non existent. To significantly reduce the risk of your cat becoming infected with Pseudorabis in the USA, buy commercial pork only. If you are at all hesitant, serve pork only thoroughly cooked, if at all.

About using ground meat

Customer question: Can I use store-bought ground meat to make my cat food with your Instincts raw diet premix, or do I have to grind it myself?

Yes!
The hackles might be going up with some of the raw cat food purists when I say: yes, you can use already ground meat at the grocery store for making your cat food. We do!

Our advise would be to look at the date the meat was ground, and not get anything that was from more than one day ago. Grocery stores usually re-stock ground meats daily to assure freshness. Just don’t get anything that is marked for clearance and due to expire, was previously frozen, and don’t grab the frozen ground meat marked *pet food*.

Using already ground meats from the store makes your cat food preparation a five minute event, especially if you use our InstinctsPLUS cat food premix with liver included. Although nobody want’s to say it, the reality is that we are all very busy. Making cat food from scratch with meats you still have to grind at home may just mean that you be able to do it at all, despite good intentions.

Bacteria
Our personal opinion on the bacterial count in ground meat is, that freshly ground, properly refrigerated store-bought ground meat will be no more risk to your cat than meat you grind or cut up yourself at home. Except for Salmonella – which your cat could equally so pick up from eating dry cat food, hunting prey, or stepping into bird droppings on the lawn - bacteria on fresh meats are of no health risk to your cat. In the case of Salmonella, cats are naturally very resistant to infection. If you are concerned, however, you could:

• omit poultry from your cat’s meal plan altogether
• cook or can chicken meat before using it in making cat food
• or buy chicken meat as whole breasts or thighs, and sterilize the outside by dipping it in a pot of water at a rolling boil, after which you can cut the meat into pieces or grind it.

It is your choice.

Customer question: Would it be better to make the cat food with meat chunks to give my cat something to chew?

Chewing
Using ground meat (store-bought or ground at home) instead of small chunks makes your cat food much more digestible for your cat. It is, in a way, pre-chewed. Although the texture of mushy food, or chewing is not natural to *wild* cats, tell that to an older cat who keeps throwing up, because the meat chunks are just too hard to dissolve in her tummy.

For meat chunks to have any benefit of chewing for the cat, they have to be the size of a small mouse for your cat wanting to cut it apart. At that size, your meat chunks would be too large to properly mix with our Instincts cat food premix. Meat chunks small enough to make a nice cat food stew are no longer chewed by your cat – defeating the purpose of your effort.

Our suggestion would be to use ground meat to make your cat’s food with the Instincts cat food premix, thereby making the food much more digestible for your cat, and easier to prepare for you. As a “tooth brush” and for mental stimulation we would suggest you give your cat a chicken neck, a large chunk of stewing beef, or a cooked strip of chicken breast twice a week to help wipe plaque off your cats carnassials (back teeth).

Desert cat from the Holy Land

( this article was originally published by Feline Future for Christmas 2009)

Not Egypt, but the “Garden of Eden”, or Fertile Crescent, was the birthplace of a handful of female cats of the species Felis Silvestris Lybia - the Desert cat - who gave rise to one of the most beautiful animal companions to accompany mankind throughout its history.

Study Traces Cat’s Ancestry to Middle East

By NICHOLAS WADE
Originally published on June 29, 2007

Some 10,000 years ago, somewhere in the Near East, an audacious wildcat crept into one of the crude villages of early human settlers, the first to domesticate wheat and barley. There she felt safe from her many predators in the region, such as hyenas and larger cats. The rodents that infested the settlers’ homes and granaries were sufficient prey. Seeing that she was earning her keep, the settlers tolerated her, and their children greeted her kittens with delight.

At least five females of the wildcat subspecies known as Felis silvestris lybica accomplished this delicate transition from forest to village. And from these five matriarchs all the world’s 600 million house cats are descended. A scientific basis for this scenario has been established by Carlos A. Driscoll of the National Cancer Institute and his colleagues. He spent more than six years collecting species of wildcat in places as far apart as Scotland, Israel, Namibia and Mongolia. He then analyzed the DNA of the wildcats and of many house cats and fancy cats.

Wildcats are divided into five subspecies: the European wildcat, the Near Eastern wildcat, the Southern African wildcat, the Central Asian wildcat and the Chinese desert cat. This wildcat was photographed in Africa.

Five subspecies of wildcat are distributed across the Old World. They are known as the European wildcat, the Near Eastern wildcat, the Southern African wildcat, the Central Asian wildcat and the Chinese desert cat. Their patterns of DNA fall into five clusters. The DNA of all house cats and fancy cats falls within the Near Eastern wildcat cluster, making clear that this subspecies is their ancestor, Dr. Driscoll and his colleagues said in a report published Thursday on the Web site of the journal Science.

The wildcat DNA closest to that of house cats came from 15 individuals collected in the deserts of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the researchers say. The house cats in the study fell into five lineages, based on analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, a type that is passed down through the female line. Since the oldest archaeological site with a cat burial is about 9,500 years old, the geneticists suggest that the founders of the five lineages lived around this time and were the first cats to be domesticated.
Wheat, rye and barley had been domesticated in the Near East by 10,000 years ago, so it seems likely that the granaries of early Neolithic villages harbored mice and rats, and that the settlers welcomed the cats’ help in controlling them.

Unlike other domestic animals, which were tamed by people, cats probably domesticated themselves, which could account for the haughty independence of their descendants. “The cats were adapting themselves to a new environment, so the push for domestication came from the cat side, not the human side,” Dr. Driscoll said. Cats are “indicators of human cultural adolescence,” he remarked, since they entered human experience as people were making the difficult transition from hunting and gathering, their way of life for millions of years, to settled communities.

Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. But three years ago a group of French archaeologists led by Jean-Denis Vigne discovered the remains of an 8-month-old cat buried with its human owner at a Neolithic site in Cyprus. The Mediterranean island was settled by farmers from Turkey who brought their domesticated animals with them, presumably including cats, because there is no evidence of native wildcats in Cyprus. The date of the burial far precedes Egyptian civilization. Together with the new genetic evidence, it places the domestication of the cat in a different context, the beginnings of agriculture in the Near East, and probably in the villages of the Fertile Crescent, the belt of land that stretches up through the countries of the eastern Mediterranean and down through what is now Iraq.

Dr. Stephen O’Brien, an expert on the genetics of the cat family and a co-author of the Science report, described the domestication of the cat as “the beginning of one of the major experiments in biological history” because the number of house cats in the world now exceeds half a billion while most of the 36 other species of cat, and many wildcats, are now threatened with extinction. So a valuable outcome of the new study is the discovery of genetic markers in the DNA that distinguish native wildcats from the house cats and feral domestic cats with which they often interbreed. In Britain and other countries, true wildcats may be highly protected by law. David Macdonald of Oxford University, a co-author of the report, has spent 10 years trying to preserve the Scottish wildcat, of which only 400 or so remain. “We can use some of the genetic markers to talk to conservation

Read more:

• IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group – African wild cat
• The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication (coming)
• Watch a video of African wild cat kittens at play

Origin of the Cat

Around fifty million years ago, the two carnivore families - Felidae and Canidae - diverged from their common ancestor. In the past 40 million years, evolutionary mutations have given rise to a variety of subfamilies and their species within the Felidae family. Modern molecular genetics and phylogenetics recognize three major lineages in felid evolution:

- Approximately 12 million years ago, the first branching lead to the evolutionary development of the small South American cats (i.e. Ocelot, Margay, Oncilla, Geoffroy’s cat) - called the Ocelot lineage. The species of this lineage are still very primitive cats, some of which still include fruit in their diet.

- The third lineage - the Panthera lineage (Puma, Cheetah, Leopard Cat, Rusty-spotted Cat, Fishing cat, Serval, Caracal, and others) - emerged about 4-6 million years ago as a gradual divergence of mid-size and large cats from the second branching.

- Between 8-10 million years ago, the second branch gave rise to the ancestors of our domestic cat (to include the African and Eurasian wildcat, Sand cat, black-footed cat, jungle cat, and Chinese mountain cat) - the Domestic cat lineage.

The most recent divergence is dated between 1.8-3.8 million years ago and represents the split of the lynxes (such as Canadian and Eurasian Lynx, Bobcat, and Clouded Leopard) and big cats (like the Lion, Tiger, Jaguar, and Leopard).

The domestic cat, as a direct descendant from or a subspecies of the African wildcat, is placed in the genus Felis, which represents the Domestic cat lineage - the second oldest branch of the Felid family tree!

The Domestic Cat Lineage

It is estimated that the process of self-domestication of Felis silvestris, lybica (African Wildcat) began approximately 4000 - 8000 years ago in North Africa. The resident human population at this time - the Egyptians - was an agricultural society, and the accumulation of crops in fields and in storage represented an irresistible opportunity for rodents to make their home within the human settlements. In turn, a large population of rodent attracted their natural predator: the cat. The belief system of the ancient Egyptians embraced cats as part of its religion, giving them respect and protection and enabling them to flourish among humans.

From its North African home, the cat eventually found its way, in the company of humans, to nearly every continent on this planet. Although a variety of selected mutations have, over the course of thousands of years, changed the appearance of some cats quite dramatically from their wild form, our domestic cat (Felis silvestris, catus) remains but a slight variation of its species : Felis silvestris, lybica – the African Wildcat!

Wild Sisters - Lets take a close look at our domestic cat’s kin:

• African Wildcat - Felis silvestris, lybica group

The African Wildcat is the most widespread of the species in the genus Felis - other then the domestic cat. She differs from the European form having a sleeker build with less distinct tabby markings. Due to the large geographic area this species inhabits, Wildcat appearance varies depending on location. In general, the coat thickens and the coloration and tabby markings become more intense, from north to south. Typical background colors vary from a reddish to sandy yellow to a tawny brown and grey, marked with more or less intense tabby stripes and dots. Occasionally, all black individuals appear. In her size, the African Wildcat is indifferent to the domestic cat, and an African Wildcat is very difficult to distinguish from a domestic tabby in the field.
Her habitat stretches throughout the entire continent of Africa and into the Middle East. However, the African Wildcat does not appear to inhabit the continent’s tropical rain forests, and populates the desert areas sparsely. Population density depends foremost on availability of prey.
Throughout her habitat rodents appear to be the wildcat’s major prey, but a variety of birds, reptiles, and amphibians are also taken, if the opportunity arises. The largest prey an African Wildcat will hunt are young antelopes. Insects and arachnids, like scorpions, are frequently taken, presumably in relation to a seasonal decline in the rodent population.
African Wildcats do not group into “colonies”, but lead a more solitary lifestyle. Family units of a mother and her kittens will remain together for many months, until the young will eventually prepare for an independent live upon becoming sexually mature. Although the males may appear to be true loners, they too lead a very social life, patrolling their territory that will overlap or include several smaller ones of females, who he considers his harem. He will defend his territory from challengers, and thereby protect the females and their kittens. The gestation period of the African Wildcat is the same as it is for our domestic cats - 56-63 days - after which 2-4 kittens are born on average. At the age of 11 months, the kittens are sexually mature, and may go on to live as long as 15 years.

• Asiatic Wildcat, also known as Indian Desert Cat or Asian Steppe Wildcat - Felis silvestris, ornata group

The Asian Wildcat inhabits much of Iran and the eastern regions of the Caspian Sea, reaching far into China, Mongolia, and Russia. The appearance of the Asian Wildcat differs much more from our domestic cat in both size and appearance. This subspecies is much smaller, with females weighing only as much as 2.7 kg, and has a more greyish-yellow or reddish background with distinct small black or red-brown spots. In some regions, especially in central Asia, the cats may also display strips.
Asiatic Wildcats are frequently observed resting or making their den in burrows, and are most typically associated with scrub desert. They do not inhabit the steppe grassland of Mongolia or alpine steppe habitat. However, they do venture into cultivated areas and are often found near human settlement. Favorite prey is rodents like gerbils, voles, and mice, but hares, young ungulates, birds, insects, lizards, and snakes are also taken. Sometimes, eggs of ground birds are scavenged.
The Asian Wildcat raises litters of an average of three to six kittens, which mature similarly to the kittens of the African Wildcat. However, males of the Asian Wildcat may not be sexually mature until their second year of life.

• European Wildcat - Felis silvestris, silvestris group

The forest cats of Europe and western Russia are grey-brown in coat color with a well defined pattern of black stripes. The coat is thick and bushy with a blunt-ended tail. Although the European Wildcat looks much bigger than the African Wildcat, repeated weight measurements have shown that they are not. The European Wildcat is the oldest group in the subfamily Felis silvestris. Molecular analysis indicates that the African Wildcat diverged from the European form only about 20,000 years ago. Some 12,000 to 16,000 years later, the first African Wildcats made their homes among human settlements - giving rise to our domestic cat.
The habitat range of the European Wildcat used to cover all Europe, including England, and stretching as far east as the Caspian Sea. Due to heavy persecution in the late 1700s and early 1900s by farmers and gamekeepers, who detested the wildcat for preying on poultry, small livestock, and game birds, only small populations of wild forest cats remain. Starting in the 1920s, some European countries made efforts to reintroduce wild cat populations. Today, the European Wild cat inhabits protected areas in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom (Scotland), Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovacia, and Italy. European Wildcats are also found in the Mediterranean, in Greece and Turkey.
The European Wildcat thrives in a mixed forest habitat, but adapt to life in coniferous forests, Mediterranean scrubland, and even along sea coasts. They are never found in heavily cultivated areas, and will at best tolerate cultivation in the form of grazing areas divided into plots. Often they will retreat into very swampy habitat to avoid contact with human activity!
The favorite prey of the European Wildcat, throughout her range, is rodents. However, the cats in Spain and Scotland prey heavily on rabbits as well. Other small prey seems to be of little importance. The European Wildcat is the only one of the wildcats we have discussed so far, who will - especially in winter - scavenge and even cache her kills.
The gestation period of the European Wildcat last somewhat longer than that of the other Felis silvestris species, and the cat mother will give birth to an average of four kittens after 63-68 days. The little forest cats learn to be independent very quickly and may leave the family unit as early as four months of age, and reach sexual maturity at about 10 months. Life expectancy is can be up to 15 years. However, the incident of human-caused mortality - accidental or intentionally - is very high among European Wildcats throughout most of her range.

Hybridization

The ability for any of the species in the Felis silvestris subspecies to interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring clearly underlines how closely they are genetically related to each other. The species Felis silvestris “flows” from the northern parts of Europe, around the Mediterranean, into and throughout Africa, and into the East as far as China. Currently, 26 subspecies are recognized, to include the three we have discussed, and Scientists are in a heavy debate whether more should be added or some taken away. Genetically these populations may be indistinguishable from each other, and only subtle changes in appearance and the area of their distributions justifies classifing them as being different from each other.
It is well known to biologists that the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus, readily breeds with the wild species who inhabit the same area. Because of the wide distribution of the domestic cat and overwhelming numbers of stray animals, hybridization of stray domestic cats and wild cats is raising concerns. In many parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia hybridization is one of the principal threats to the survival of the wild cat species. While habitat destruction, persecution, and fur trapping have greatly weakened the wild populations, hybridization might push the ancestor of our beloved domestic cat into extinction!

Look at these images: it is not difficult to see the relation!

Serving Sizes – its not rocket science

Any recommendations on serving sizes we can make can only be a good guess - a starting point to use in your play with your cat’s portion sizes and mealtime frequency.

We will discuss the feeding of adult cats in this article. Feeding kittens is discussed elsewhere.

Determining your cat’s ideal daily portion size is unfortunately not as easy as a chart which tells you: if your cat weighs this much, feed her that amount.

Cats are individuals. Some are big, but thin. Others are small, but fat. They are young and old, male and female, active or sedate, and more. Some have fast metabolism and others don’t.

Any chance of providing you with a simple chart is made more difficult by the fact, that a homemade diet will turn out differently with the meat you use and with how precisely you follow instructions. Some customers use lean poultry, other use fatty beef. A fatty beef diet will be more filling and calorie dense than the same volume of a lean turkey diet. Some customers add more water, giving the food more volume but not more calories, while others omit water and wonder why their cats gain weight on so little food.

Caregivers are often distressed about their cat’s behavior of finishing their plate in less than a minute, asking for more food, pestering them at the fridge, or taking food stuff off counters or out of the trash, prompting them to think that their cat is starving or lacking something! Some cats don’t do this, but most will not miss an opportunity to eat. It is natural for an animal to be opportunistic, and this is part of their instinct to survive. However, much of this is conditioning: how your cat was raised and how your cat has trained you!

Food requirement should be based entirely on body condition, and not on behavior.

If your cat suddenly looses weight without changes in the diet, consult with your Veterinarian about possible illness or internal parasites.

It is especially difficult to monitor food intake and its effects on a cat allowed outdoors.

Outdoors, you cat can regurgitate food without you knowing, and all you notice is that he or she is loosing weight. The eating of mice and other prey will add calories, but also predispose your cat to intestinal parasites. Outdoor, cats will often travel long distances, which takes extra calories. Outdoor, cats may scavenge food from neighbors, which puts them at a great risk not only from weight gain.

Our suggestions are to feed a daily portion of 130 g (1/2 cup) – 175 g (2/3 cup) as two meals every day.

• If you have a dainty female cat, start by feeding ¼ cup in the morning and the same in the evening.
• If you have a robust male cat, feed 1/3 cup in the morning and the same in the evening.

Unless you have a very large cat, like a young, active, outdoor, male Main Coon cat, or a crazy Siamese, 99% of cats will fall into this portion range. Some older, more sedate cats will actually gain weight on only 130g (1/2 cup) of food a day.

Here are more factors to consider:

• Cats will digest food better, and get more out of it, when given small portions 3-4 times a day. Cats will also pester you less for food, if you divide their daily portion into more frequent meals.
• Most cats will not digest a portions size of ½ cup well, and will likely suffer from a degree of indigestion. Many cats will actually regurgitate food if you feed a portion larger than ¼ cup. Ability to eat a large meal in one sitting decreases with age. Occurrence of regurgitation is more frequently observed in middle aged to older cats.
• Young cats often behave especially frantic to get their paws on food. They may climb up on you while you are preparing or serving their food, climb right into the fridge when it is being opened, and come running at any sound of activity in the kitchen. Young cats, but not exclusively so, may steal food left out on counter tops, sometimes even take off with a loaf of bread.
• Cats are individuals. Some will maintain a level of excitement about food throughout their live. Others are largely uninterested in eating, and need coaxing to eat even as kittens. Most cats do well eating three meals every day, but some are not interested in eating more often than twice every day; sometimes they only show enthusiasm for one meal per day. Other cats will eat anything, any time, for no reason. Cats’ personality and emotional state is very much expressed by how they eat!
• Cats’ appetite and attitude towards food does not only hinge on a certain personality type, but also on early kittenhood conditioning. Competition from other kittens, type of food fed, and frequency of food fed will all affect what kind of relationship cats will have with food later in life.
• Cats’ behavior towards food and eating is also influenced by how well they have trained you. Do you respond to their begging by feeding them something when you have a meal yourself, work in the kitchen, or open the fridge? A rewarded behavior will be repeated. Although your intention may not have been to reward your cats for that behavior, you did nonetheless yield to their pressure.

If you find a begging cat intolerable, start conditioning your cat early and consistently by feeding him or her at a quite, designated place – preferably not in your kitchen or dining room, so your cat does not form a strong food association with these areas. If you feed your adult cat three times daily (like morning, evening, and just before bed) as much as he or she needs to maintain body weight, and refrain from giving food out of the fridge or from the table, your cat should settle into a routine that is comfortable and predictable for both of you. Feed treats away from areas where you prepare and eat your own food, and keep groceries and the trash out of your cat’s reach. If your cat is allowed into the kitchen and on counter tops, this means you must keep food stored away and inaccessible. If your cat is successful in snatching food off the counters, he or she will continue to check these areas out for food. After all, they are not stupid and will not resist instinct simply to be a good kitty for you.

Cats of the genus Felis, including the domestic cat, are adapted to prey on rodents, small birds, and the occasional reptile and amphibian as the main staple of their natural diet.
A single mouse weighs no more then 30 gram, providing approximately 60 kcal. In order to meet their daily caloric requirement, cats must eat an average of five prey animals every day. This amount of food is not consumed all as one meal, but as separate meals throughout the day as the cats succeed in catching that prey. Field observations have concluded that most small cat species are adapted to and prefer to be active during dusk and dawn - the time when they will hunt most of their prey - resulting in an intake of several smaller “meals” during these hours. Naturally, cats will rest, groom, doze, or sleep during daytime hours.

While we can draw some practical insight from the natural model, feeding five meals of 30 gram each to our cats during the morning and evening hours is hardy a possible solution for most of us. Our personal experience has been that cats do very well eating two meals every day of 50 g – 70 g each.

Regurgitation of food can be almost entirely abolished by feeding meal sizes not exceeding 35 g, and to feed the daily requirement as 3-4 meals. Young, large, active cats who require more than 140 g of food every day should be given an extra meal rather then increasing the size of their meal.

The stomach of a cat is about the size of a walnut when empty. I can stretch, but trying to fit a ½ cup of food into it as one meal, is “over-stretching” it a bit. Saliva and digestive juices will add additional volume. If the cat does not bring the food back up, proper digestion will be difficult. A cat will not always select instinctively what he or she needs and how much. We have conducted experiments with our cats, offering them as much food as they want, and most of them will eat until overcome with an urge to purge. Only some – those raised without siblings and competition for food – will eat until full and leave the rest behind.

We hope this information is helpful, although we can not give you a precise formula or chart to follow. One lesson, which keeps repeating itself to us, is: cats are individuals. While we can give you guidelines, none of our suggestions will work for everyone.

Cats are a joy and a challenge all in one. They are a challenge especially when feeding them. So specialized in what they would naturally eat, caregivers have a very narrow margin of error of what cats thrive on or die from. One thing is certain, though: if you invite a carnivore into your life that eats meat, it is not going to be cheap! Unfortunately, you don’t get the deal of good AND cheap when feeding cats.

Will I poison my cat with Salmonella and/or E-Coli when feeding her raw meat?

This is the first question nearly everyone asks, but ask yourself first: would a small company successfully stay in business for 14 years, and counting, if companion cats are falling ill from its recommendations?

No! Cats will not be poisoned by Salmonella and/or E-coli when eating raw meat, but compared to pet food products available in retail stores, your homemade diet with raw meat might just save your cat’s life!

What are bacteria? Bacteria are large group of one-celled micro-organisms found wherever there is life, in soil, water, and air, and within the bodies of other organisms. Without bacteria, life would not be possible. Without bacteria, health would not be possible. Bacteria are as motivated to survive as any life form on this planet, and in doing so will explore any nice they can claim as their own. Disease causing bacteria and pathogens can be understood today, and we can learn to live with them and avoid infection.

 

 

To understand why your cat will not be harmed even in the event that s/he comes in contact with Salmonella and/or E-coli, it is very helpful to understand the physiology of your cat’s digestive tract and lifestyle as a cat.

The true carnivore cat has taken many shortcuts in how it obtains the nutrients necessary for living. While other animals go though complex and labor intensive digestive processes, ingesting high fiber material with low nutrient value, which they grind up, churn up and ferment in sometimes several stomachs, cats simply swallow other animals, disassemble them to their molecular make-up, absorb them, and expel what they could not use. Unlike most other mammals on this planet, cats do not rely at all on bacterial fermentation to help them un-look the nutrient value of food. They need the help of some bacteria to synthesize some nutrients in the large intestine, but certainly not on the scale of a cow, which relies entirely on bacteria to break food down, and as a food source itself. In short: physical make-up of the cat’s digestive tract is not hospitable to bacteria.

According to Veterinary literature such as ‘The Cornell Book of Cats’ or ‘Feline and Canine Infectious Diseases’ cats are “…extremely resistant to experimental infection with salmonella spp. and clinical salmonellosis is uncommon in cats”.
“…few references [to salmonellosis in cats] exist in the scientific literature”.
“Contamination can arise from rodent and bird feces, raw or under-cooked contaminated meat and table scraps, or commercially prepared foods that are contaminated during processing”. The likelihood of cats coming in contact with Salmonella through their environment or dry pet foods is equal to or greater then the possibility of contact from raw meat meant for human consumption.

E. coli (Escherichia coli) is not mentioned when referencing feline clinical pathology in either the ‘Merck Veterinary Manual’ or the ‘Cornell Book of Cats’ and ‘Feline and Canine Infectious Diseases’ briefly notes that “Little is known about the role of Escherichia coli in canine and feline enteric disease. E. coli is part of the normal flora of the gut…”. Although some studies suggest that it may be implicated in certain cases of acute diarrhea, it is not recognized as a feline disease.

Feeding raw meat to your cat may be a risk to people, especially children under 5 years, the elderly, and people with compromised immune function, but not to your cat! By practicing good hygiene and washing hands regularly, as well as being aware of the nature of these organisms, the risk of infection to people is minimal. If infection occurs, most people will experience various symptoms of food poisoning.

Please reference the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn more about these pathogens, their risk to people, and how to prevent contracting infection.

• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm
• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_g.htm

At a glace:

Salmonella and E-coli are organisms that occur in fecal matter.
Cats can come in contact with these organisms nearly every day by:

• contact with other pets or animals or with their feces
• eating commercial dry cat food
• hunting and eating prey (mice and birds)
• walking across the lawn or garden (contact with contaminated soil/grass)
• eating raw meat which may have come in contact with feces

Cats are NOT naturally susceptible to infection.
People are susceptible to infection, especially children and the elderly.
People come in contact with and spread these organisms by:

• not washing hands after using the bathroom
• using public bathrooms and/or other facilities
• contact with litterbox , terrarium, or bird cage
• handling birds, reptiles, or farm animals
• handling dry pet food
• eating any contaminated food – even fruit and vegetables
• eating contaminated, undercooked meat or eggs
• not sanitizing the kitchen and/or bathroom

One last note: the more we try and shield ourselves from bacteria and eradicate pathogens from our environment, the more susceptible we become.

Cats, Grass, and Hair Balls

Although an un-pleasantry, which many cat owners would rather not have to live with, hair balls are a normal and natural behavior of the cat.

To better understand what a hair ball is, lets take a look at a completely different sort of animal: the owl. Actually, at closer observation, behaviorally, the cat and owl have a great deal in common: both are solitary dusk and dawn hunters of rodents, AND both have a habit of hair balls (or “owl pellets” as they are knows as in our feathered friends).

The owl is carnivorous and eats a wide variety of animals including: birds, moles, mice, rabbits, skunks, frogs, and insects. The owl, like many other birds, eats its food whole. Since birds do not have teeth, they can’t chew their food. Therefore, they use their strong and sharp beaks to rip their prey apart and then swallow large chunks whole. The owl slowly digests its meal by separating the softer materials (such as meat) from the harder material (such as bones). It then regurgitates the harder material along with indigestible items such as feathers and fur in the form of a pellet.

 The cat is carnivorous and eat a variety of animals including: mice, voles, squirrels, birds, and sometimes rabbits, and some amphibians, reptiles, and insects. As the cat cannot chew, it has a specialized process of digestion. Having caught its prey, the cat tear or bites pieces from the carcass and swallows it so quickly that the salivary juices in the mouth have virtually no time to start breaking down the food. The gastric juices of the cat are much more powerful than those of the human stomach; in fact they are strong enough to soften bone. The cat liquefies meat tissue and bone, but parts such as fur and feathers made of indigestible proteins that are not easily broken down are regurgitated, along with the cat’s own hair ingested during grooming.

If the cat east pieces of raw vegetable or other plant fiber, which it can not digest, these things can also be found in hair balls along with other items which the cat may have ingested without discretion.

The regular process of regurgitating hair balls, which is often induced by the cat’s compulsion to eat blades of grass, prevents this indigestible material to move through the digestive tract, where it can cause indigestion, lack of appetite, and constipation.

The eating of grass is as instinctive to the cat as chasing something that moves. If grass is not available, the cat will resort to eating house plants or even non organic items like paper or wool. Since the behavior can not be suppressed, it is best to offer the indoor cat potted grass or sprouted wheat or barley, to prevent the cat from harming itself by eating a poisonous plant or chewing on inedible items.

Grass does not provide the cat with any nutrients, despite the cat often acting like it has a craving for eating it. Not only do cats have a very poor awareness of nutritional deficiencies in their body, but they also lack the gut bacteria necessary for the digestion of cellulose based plants, and lack enzymes necessary for the break down of carbohydrates. Nonetheless, eating grass is very important to the cat’s health, although not nutritionally. Most often, ingested grass blades will trigger regurgitation of hair balls, although grass is not always necessary for hair balls to be expelled. Sometimes, the swallowed grass is regurgitated only with bile, although the function of this – if there is one – is not clearly understood. Grass may also have an important function of capturing plaque and hair in the digestive tract and help carry it out in the feces. Grass can often be seen in a cat’s feces – still as green as it was when it went in.

Can I feed my cat cooked meat?

You will discover the true benefit of feeding a homemade diet when feeding your cat meat RAW.

The nutrients in raw meat are not de-natured by harmful heat. Many vitamins don’t survive heating, but most importantly, molecular structure of proteins and fatty acids change when heated. Heat breaks molecular bonds, and a once essential long chain amino acid or fatty acids can be lost. Beyond that, one should consider that especially heated fats can be carcinogenetic.

HOWEVER, before you abandon the whole idea of homemade cat food altogether, I want to say, that making a homemade cat food using cooked meat is MUCH BETTER than not doing it at all. Our Instincts premix is well suited for adding to cooked meat, and we will discuss how in this article. Hesitation to feed meat raw is natural, as are concerns about germs. After feeding our cats with raw meat, and teaching people to do the same with their cats for the past 14 years, I can assure you, that there is no more risk to feeding cats raw meat than there is to feeding cats dry cat food!

If your cat has specific health concerns or YOU need a transitioning time from cooked to raw, here are our suggestions on how to prepare cat food using cooked meat.

Since using cooked meat adds an additional preparation step to your cat-food-making, make your life a little easier and purchase the meat of your choice already ground. If you are concerned about bacteria in ground meat, don’t be, because we are going to cook it!

Place the required amount of meat as outlined in your preparation instructions in a pot and add enough water to create a stew-like consistency once water and meat are thoroughly combined.

Place your pot on the stove top and turn the element to low heat. Put a lid on your pot and allow the meat to come to a boil gradually and allow to simmer for 30 – 45 minutes, depending on amount of meat being cooked.

This slow-cooking process on low heat will render the meat very tender and aromatic – almost like canned meat. Cats love it!

After the suggested cooking time on low heat, your meat will have formed a somewhat solid mass in the centre of the pot, surrounded by fluid.

Mix the fluid back into the meat and remove from heat. You can allow the mixture to cool in the pot, or transfer it into a storage container for later use.

It is IMORTANT, that you allow the meat to cool to at least body temperature before proceeding with blending the Instincts cat food premix with it according to instruction. The Instincts premix contains many essential, but fragile nutrients, which would possibly not survive if combined with hot meat.

Do not burn the meat. If you burn your meat, throw it out and start fresh. Unless you forget about the pot on your stove top, this method should not easily burn your meat.

Do not add oil to the meat or the pot to prevent it from sticking. We do not want to fry the meat!

Since cooked meats do not freeze as nicely as raw meats do, it is our suggestion to cut our preparation instructions in half and forgoing the freezing altogether. Cooked meat is more stable in the refrigerator than raw meat, and can be stored there for four days. If you are working with smaller batch sizes, our Instincts PLUS with liver will be easier to work with. If you are using our InstinctsTC and want to add your own liver, puree or grind your raw liver, and add it to your meat before cooking. The vitamin A (retinol) in liver is heat stable at normal cooking temperatures.

You can cook our “Do-it-Yourself” Cat Food Recipe in the same fashion, but we strongly suggest not to feed it long term this way, and to use it cooked only during a transition period or other short term. On that note, it is necessary to mention, that our research and feeding trials are entirely based on feeding meat raw, and that we possess no data on our premix or recipe being fed with cooked meat long term. If you see no other option but long term, choose to make cat food with cooked meat and one of our Instincts premixes over cooking the “Do-it-yourself” recipe. No … not because we want to make a sale, but because the Instincts premix contains all essential amino and fatty acids, as well as vitamins and minerals to complete meat, some of which will be lost entirely when cooking the “Do-it-yourself” recipe.

Do cats need fiber?

 

As part of their natural prey diet, the cat does not ingest dietary plant fiber, nor does her digestion require a substrate or medium for food fermenting bacteria to live on. Fiber plays an important role in the diet of omnivores, and is essential in the diet of herbivores, but the cat as a carnivore has no natural need for fiber. Not only does the cat not rely on bacterial fermentation as part of the digestion process, fiber also does not necessarily promote stool volume and regular bowel movements in the cat.

From our studies we have learned, that food volume creates stool volume. However, bulking up food with inedible fiber to create stool volume often results in:

 

• the fiber being expelled as part of hair balls.
• the fiber causing irritation of the intestine, leading to loose stool with mucus and sometimes blood.
• the fiber being visibly expelled in dry feces without the desired softening effect.
• the fiber bulk taking the place of essential nutrients.

Physically, the cat has retained attributes of its desert dwelling ancestors. This includes the ability to extract as much water from fecal matter in the colon as possible, in order to preserve water and retain bodily fluids. Cat feces are naturally dry, and an adult cat consuming a natural diet to meet her caloric need will often evacuate feces only every other day. Kittens eating more food to meet their caloric needs of growth will subsequently have more frequent bowl movements.

Attempting to increase frequency in bowel movements in a group of adult cats eating a raw meat diet by adding a plant based fiber resulted in:

• regurgitation of the food
• regurgitation of the fiber as part of hair balls
• irritation of the intestine, observed by loose stool with mucus and blood
• no changes in bowl movement frequency

Adding more water also has little effect on texture or frequency of bowl movements, because moisture is naturally extracted from feces by the colon. Instead, the cat will urinate more.

After a six months study (September 2008 – March 2009) to determine the necessity of fiber in the cat’s diet, we conclude, that healthy adult cats and kittens do not draw a benefit from dietary fiber. When fed regularly and according to their caloric need with a proper raw meat food for cats, they will have consistent bowl movement as is expected from a creature adapted to living in a dry climate. Feces are often very solid, dry, in small “nuggets”, and not every day.

Lisa A. Pierson, DVM, who has been independently applying, researching, and in some aspects adjusting our recipe for the past six years, concurs with fiber being an unnecessary part in the cat’s diet. In her own information she writes:
“Dietary fiber is a bit of a controversial subject among raw feeders. Many cats, including my own, do just fine without additional fiber added to their diet. I have experimented with adding different amounts of Psyllium and then started leaving the Psyllium out of the diet completely.”

Cats with a tendency to regurgitate their food should not be given fiber. They should be fed several small meals throughout the day of highly digestible food, as it is the volume of food ingested at one meal which, in most cases, triggers the regurgitation. These cats should not have essential nutrients and calories replaced by bulk in their diet, as it is already a challenge to get enough food into these cats due to their peculiarity. Once these cats receive consistent, small meals throughout the day without the urge to purge, regular bowel movements will follow – which may have been absent, because the cats were simply not eating enough food or keeping it down to begin with. (Read more about Regurgitation)

Veterinary advice should be sought, if dietary fiber is in any way recommended and appears beneficial for certain cats. A Veterinarian may recommend a food stuff or fiber supplement known to be useful in these cases. Cats who do not have a confirmed bowl movement in four days and lack appetite should be brought to a Veterinarian for examination, as they may be constipated – a condition which must be resolved promptly and professionally.

Psyllium Husk – a source of soluble fiber – had been a part of our InstinctsTC formula in the past, and some customers/cats may see a need to keep including it in the homemade diet. Psyllium Husk is available at health food stores as whole husks or as powder. Please do not confuse Psyllium seed for Psyllium husk.

Psyllium husk can be added to the premix in the following ratio:

Per each 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of cat food add:

• 1 tsp. Psyllium husk powder mixed with ½ cup (125 ml) cold water or
• 2 tsp. Psyllium husks whole mixed with ½ cup (125 ml) cold water.
  If desired, you can double this recommendation, but do not exceed beyond that.

Another source of fiber, which is commonly used, is canned pumpkin or cooked squash, yam, or sweet potato. (Do not use regular potato). Olive oil, or another vegetable oil, can also be useful as a mild laxative.

Why we have taken the Psyllium Husks out of our Formula:

• Psyllium husks cause many cats to regurgitate the food. This is a well observed fact in our own study group. Maybe the food gets too slimy/mucousy to stay down. Also, the Psyllium husks with water create much unnecessary, non-nutritive food volume. Maybe, some of the regurgitation is due to cereal intolerance, as Psyllium Husk surely has some seed/cereal residue. Cereal intolerance, resulting in dramatic regurgitation of food, is also well observed in our group.
• While observing and photographing a lot of cat scat, we often see no difference between stool resulting from eating food with Psyllium husk, without Psyllium husk, plain meat, or mice. Stool bulking qualities of Psyllium may be overrated in cats. A theory is, that maybe cats get used to it over time, and the mucilage looses its effect. I have, however, observed loose, mucousy, sometimes even bloody stool when re-introducing Psyllium to the group. Often, We had this type of stool while the group was fed a Psyllium-containing food consistently. We do no longer observe any mucous or rubber-stool since feeding our formula without Psyllium.
• Psyllium can cause constipation, especially when clients choose not to follow instructions - which we know happens more than we think. This, combined with the occurrence of mucousy, sometimes bloody stool, as well as a higher incident of regurgitation, makes Psyllium no longer a great thing to add.
• Cats do not require dietary fiber as PRE-biotic to sustain and/or nurture digestive flora, as their intestinal tract is not colonized by food digesting bacteria, largely due to the fact, that cats to not ingest plant based nutrients looked in cellulose. Some bacterial fermentation does occur in the cat’s colon, and it is believed that bacteria synthesize some vitamins which the cat benefits from.
• Dietary fiber - particularely mucilage - can decrease mineral absorption - especially zinc, calcium, and iron. This is a fact and has been raised as a concern by customers
• Last, but not least, Psyllium does not taste good.

Foreword by Jacqueline S. Obando, DVM

Foreword

I have been familiar with The Backyard Predator and Feline Future and its product, Instincts, for close to a decade now. It is a pleasure to have the book’s second edition become available, so that more people can access this valuable information for the benefit of their cats.

Having started out as a pet owner, then student, then veterinarian in my home town of Porto Alegre, in Southern Brazil, I was exposed early to home prepared diets – few commercial diets were available, and even fewer people could afford these. Diets mostly consisted of table scraps and basic gruels for dogs, and raw meat and livers for cats. Most animals did great, especially those whose diet included a variety of foodstuffs and those whose owners could afford vet fees and consult regarding diet formulations and supplements. Veterinarians were not as intensely trained for pet nutrition as they were for food producing animals. The best advice therefore hinged on mimicking the natural diet of the species in question.

The recognition of the power of a good diet in health is as old as Hippocrates (“Let food be thy medicine”). Nutrition remained for a long period in the dark ages, but lately the field has expanded exponentially. Now there is so much information available; however, evolving theories, contradictory advice and strong opinions often confuse or outright frighten rather than educate the interested public.

Just in my 20 years of being a small animal practitioner, many are the changes that I’ve witnessed with dietary recommendations. But it turns out that, in fact, the closest we imitate the natural diet, the better the animals’ health is. For example, in zoos across the world, wild cats are mostly fed raw meat and whole prey. The larger cats are fed whole chickens and rabbits and fish. The smaller cats receive quail, day old chicks, whole mice and whole rats. Nutrients present in organs such as the eyes and brain are therefore supplied. Some of these nutrients are known to us; some remain undiscovered or misunderstood. Yet their presence in the whole prey and therefore bioavailability in their natural form to the predator consuming it guarantees the supply of essential elements upon which the health of the animal may depend.

Animal tissues contain many essential amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins which the cat, as a strict carnivore that evolved with ample supply of these nutrients, has become dependent upon. Whereas a dog or a human can synthesize some of these elements, the cat needs to consume it for its energy metabolism. Worse yet, these nutrients (for example, taurine, arginine, methionine, cysteine, certain B vitamins) are not conserved or stored by the cat, and their utilization rate is higher than in other species.

The Backyard Predator reviews the special characteristics of the domestic cat, and educates and empowers the reader to achieve better health for our feline friends through a balanced, yet uncomplicated diet. This book is an invaluable resource for cat lovers, breeders and veterinarians alike.

Many were the ‘mistakes’ that I witnessed as a young veterinarian, when unbalanced home prepared diets were fed for prolonged periods. Taking matters into one’s own hands comes with responsibility. It is not difficult, and once basic guidelines are followed – guidelines clearly described in these pages – the rewards are amazing. Your cats will thank you for it.

Jacqueline Sehn Obando, DVM
Mercy Vet, Mercer Island, WA
June 14th. 2006

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