Caring for a cat properly makes all the difference in whether they simply survive, or whether they thrive. There’s a lot we can do to ensure our feline companions live long, happy, healthy lives. Keeping them indoors accomplishes a lot, ensuring they are safe from cars, other animals, parasites, and communicable diseases. The average lifespan of an indoor cat is over three times that of a cat allowed outdoors.
Spaying/neutering our cats prevents some health conditions (like some forms of cancer) as well as alleviating some behavioral problems and doing our part toward the huge pet overpopulation epidemic. Millions of companion animals are euthanized each year for lack of homes, so as far as I’m concerned I highly doubt you have *any* compelling argument for allowing your household pet to reproduce. I really don’t have an issue with *responsible* licensed breeders – other than there are few of them. Before you buy that little kitten at a pet shop – know that NO responsible breeder would have allowed their litters to go to a shop. Responsible breeders interview the adopters and have waiting lists. Please consider rescuing a cat from a shelter or rescue organization – and there are purebred cats available from these sources, if that’s important to you. Visit petfinder.org to see thousands of cats in your area.
If you’ve read my blog before, you know my next and biggest point will be about food. We are what we eat – and so are our cats. If you’re feeding a commercial cat food with an AAFCO certification – you can be assured that at least six cats *survived* six months on that food. That’s it. Six months. They survived, not necessarily thrived. I want more than that for my cats.
When I talk/write about the benefits of a wet food diet, there’s always at *least* one person who has to comment that their cat lived to their teens on dry food only. SO WHAT? Cats are fully capable of living to their THIRTIES! There are documented cases of cats living to be age 37! Living to their teens is HALF what they are capable of! That is NOTHING to be proud of.
Despite the fact they can live to be in their thirties, however, the *average* lifespan of an indoor cat is only eighteen. Why is that? In my opinion, it is most likely because the majority of people feed them an inappropriate diet of meat-flavored cereal. Most cats over age fifteen have kidney disease. The constant deprivation of moisture takes it’s toll on the kidneys and urinary tract. One in 400 cats develop diabetes (and that number is increasing rapidly – quickly approaching the one in 200 rate).
As for myself, I currently have eight adopted cats. All are over age ten. My oldest is twenty years old. Am I happy with that? Well, I consider it pretty good they’ve lived this long in *spite* of their many years on dry food. Several of them were adopted as “hospice” cases years ago, so while the change in diet has prolonged their lives, some of the damage done by dry food will never be undone. Renal function can never be regained – progression only slowed. They may no longer have symptoms of gastro-intestinal disorders but the inflammation of the intestines and “ropey” texture will remain to some extent (visible by x-ray).
When I see cats fed only dry food, I note their coarse matted fur, dandruff, poor muscle tone, and obesity. The thing is, since most people have only seen dry-fed cats, they think that’s what normal cats look like. They’ve never seen a truly *thriving* cat, with great muscle tone, glossy fur, and a well-defined waist.
So, pardon me, but when you tell me your cat has lived to 15 on the “premium” dry food diet you feed… but I’m not impressed.
Life of the Lintee Bean 
Lynette,
I admit, I haven’t been able to read ALL of your blogs, but I’ve read enough to get my interest peaked!
One of my two adopted litter-mates, age *almost 12! was diagnosed with diabetes last week.
Needless to say, I’m reading all I can on the internet etc..!
I’ve found several sites, including yours, that warn against the effects of “dry” cat food.
Ours have always been on a diet of wet/dry – mostly dry and free range, as we have rather crazy schedules, and have always felt we should never leave them without “food” and of course, water! We’ve had them on Hills Science Diet all this time, with of course, a few treats thrown in (!) and now and then, slightly cooked chicken, fish, and occasionally a cooked egg yoke, but rarely.
After reading the *warnings at your blog and others, I have decided it all makes sense! We are quickly weaning both of our cats off of dry food. (the “Puss In Boots” -eyes are hard to deal with…I won’t lie!) I did find some GRAIN FREE treats to feed to Baron, (the diabetic one) while sneaking the “old” ones to Dandy (the healthy one)! I’ve also been feeding Baron more chicken than usual, as a “treat” and he loves it! So far, they’ve seem to be doing okay adjusting, although I think Dandy is REALLY missing his dry food!
My questions though, are this. Since we have not started Baron on insulin yet, I’m hoping that this drastic diet change will help the situation, yes I admit, push it into remission before we have to start with shots.
Does anyone know what I should be “looking” for? Is weight gain a good thing? Less water consumption? Is it possible to overfeed protein to Baron at this point? He has always been a “moocher” and will try and eat just about everything we eat!
He is still very active and playful and other than losing a lot of weight and drinking a lot more weight is “normal”…
I guess too, that I’m confused as to how often he should be urinating? It’s one of those things I never noticed before, and of course, now that I’m trying to get a sample, he seems to never pee! Again, is there a sign I should be looking for to see if he’s “improving” as far as the dibetes is concerned?
ANY input would be greatly appreciated!
Diane, honey, I’d be surprised if *anyone* read all my blog posts!
I am hoping hoping hoping the diet change will be enough for your kitty. It is for around 60% of cats. NO dry food! No low-carb grain-free dry, either! If you want to provide a crunchy treat, there are 100% meat freeze-dried treats made by Halo, Whole Life, etc – but none of those “low-carb” dry foods filled with tapioca or potato!
As for “how do you know?” The absolute best way would be to test kitty’s blood sugar at home – just like human diabetics do!
If that seems a bit daunting – you could consider testing urine. You can buy urine (or blood) test strips over-the-counter at any drugstore. For urine test strips, you want glucose to be negative. For blood test strips, you want blood sugar under 150.
For more information, please visit Feline Outreach!
http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=Diabetes
(There’s a video there featuring my foster kitty, Dreamsicle.)
Oh – and yes! Less water consumption and less urination are good things!
Lynette,
Thanks for the prompt reply! I know the dry treats are not the best…was tough to find grain-free but did find “Organix” with listed ingrediants of organic, chicken, barley, peas, brown rice and oats…I know, still grain, but better than CORN or wheat and we’re only using them as a transitory treat and strictly limiting them! Thanks for the info on Halo treats etc..I’ll have to look for them!
I’m still concerned about over-feeding protein, from articles I’ve read, it can be dangerous, IF currently on insulin and if kidneys have been compromised? Am I understanding that right? They both were receptive to their cooked chicken nibbles (that I made) this morning…so maybe we can be off the crunchies even sooner!
We are still waiting for the urine analysis from our vet, but I like the idea of test strips. It’s been “interesting” trying to get a sample in the first place! Should I wait for the vet’s results before trying to get my own, to use as a base number or something?
Again, I SO appreciate your input on this!
Hi Diane!
It’s not just that “dry treats are not the best” they can have a HUGE impact on blood sugar. Barley, peas, brown rice, oats – those are all glycemic starchy foods which will raise blood sugar levels. I would not “limit” them – I would ELIMINATE them.
Do NOT concern yourself with over-feeding protein. Cats are obligate carnivores – they have a very high NEED for protein (and that’s meat-based protein not corn gluten or other plant proteins.) Protein does NOT, I repeat NOT, damage the kidneys! It’s an old wives tale. There is some evidence that restricting PHOSPHORUS may be beneficial to cats with later stages of kidney disease, as the compromised kidneys can’t process phosphorus efficiently. Protein *happens* to generally be high in phosphorus. So, it may be beneficial to feed a higher *fat* diet to a cat with kidney disease and high phosphorus levels – but not to ANY cat – it does not CAUSE kidney disease… and it is NEVER an excuse to feed a diet higher in carbohydrates!
There’s a great article on the subject by Dr. Kenneth Bovee:
Mythology of Protein Restriction for Dogs with Reduced Renal Function by Kenneth C. Bovée, DVM, MMedSc
Click to access bovee_protein_RD.pdf
More information on kidney disease:
http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationDetail.asp?cat=KidneyDisease
Cats are strict carnivores – they have no nutritional need for vegetables, fruit, or grains. They need meat and bone (for calcium, copper, magnesium, and other minerals). They do NOT need peas, rice, barley, oats, etc. I don’t know how the pet food industry convinced us all that cheaper plant ingredients were what our cats need to thrive – but we need to stop believing them.
As for testing – I’m generally a fan of doing ourselves what we can do as well (or better) and cheaper than the vet can – so I test urine and blood for glucose at home rather than paying a vet to do it.