Every living creature is “fine” until outward signs of a disease process are exhibited. That may sound like a very obvious and basic statement but if you think about it……
Every cat with a blocked urinary tract was “fine” until they started to strain to urinate and either died from a ruptured bladder or had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency catheterization.
Every cat on the Feline Diabetes Message Board was “fine” until their owners started to recognize the signs of diabetes.
Every cat with an inflamed bladder (cystitis) was “fine” until they ended up in pain, passing blood in their urine, and missing their litter box.
Every cat was "fine" until the feeding of species-inappropriate, hyperallergenic ingredients caught up with him and he started to show signs of food intolerance/IBD (inflammatory bowel disease).
Every cat was "fine" until that kidney or bladder stone got big enough to cause clinical signs.
Every cancer patient was “fine” until their tumor grew large enough or spread far enough so that clinical signs were observed by the patient.
The point is that diseases 'brew' long before being noticed by the living being.
This is why the statement “but my cat is healthy/fine on dry food” means very little to me because I believe in preventative nutrition - not locking the barn door after the horse is gone. I don’t want to end up saying “oops……I guess he is not so fine now!!" when a patient presents to me with a medical problem that could have been avoided if he would have been feed a species-appropriate diet to begin with.
Of course, in order to be on board with the preventative nutrition argument, a person has to understand the following facts:
1) All urinary tract systems are much healthier with an appropriate amount of water flowing through them.
Dietary water and urinary tract health
2) Carbohydrates can wreak havoc on cats' blood sugar/insulin balance.
3) Cats inherently have a low thirst drive and need to consume water *with* their food. (A cat's normal prey is ~70 - 75% water - not the very low 5-10% found in dry food.)
4) Cats are strict carnivores which means they are designed to get their protein from meat/organs – not plants.
The Carnivore Connection to Nutrition in Cats
To learn how to preoperly feed your feline companions go to Complete Diet For Cats section
