Every cat owner likes to think that they are feeding their beloved pet the healthiest diet possible.
However, many have not explored their options far beyond what they find in the pet supplies aisle at their grocery store.
Studies show that the best way to keep a cat healthy is with a raw food diet for cats and kittens.
Dr.
Francis M.
Pottenger Jr.
developed the raw food diet in the middle of the twentieth century.
While conducting an adrenal study on cats, he noticed that many of his subjects were suffering from very poor health.
When he ran out of meat and began feeding them scraps of raw meat, he noticed that their health steadily improved and decided to further study this, leading to the development of the raw food diet for cats.
The reason that so many people advocate this diet is that it is the closet thing to what a cat would be eating in the wild.
Cats that are not domesticated would normally eat things such as birds, rodents and fish.
Since, understandably, many pet owners are not comfortable providing their house pets with live prey, raw food is the next best thing and the closest option to what their bodies are actually built for.
Regardless of the many studies in favor of a raw diet for cats, there are many pet owners and veterinarians who disagree.
They believe that this diet puts the cats at too high of a risk for salmonella, e coli and various other bacteria.
However, there are others who believe that this is the healthiest way to feed a cat.
For that reason, a responsible pet owner should be sure to do their own research before starting any new diet.
If someone does decide to try a raw food diet for their cat, there are a few tips that they could keep in mind.
It is best to buy the meat from a trusted butcher and not from a commercial grocery store.
The meat should either be frozen, which would kill some bacteria, or fed to the cat immediately.
Any food that the cat does not eat should be discarded after thirty minutes.
Although it seems a bit unconventional, many experts agree that it is the best way to go for a healthy cat.
It is the closet thing to the diet that the cat would enjoy if they were living in the wild, which is what their bodies are truly intended for.
Before starting a raw food diet for cats and kittens, it is a good idea to discuss it with the family veterinarian first.