A few words on cat nutrition by yours truly.
For once, I write in public, because I truly madly deeply hope the stupid bitch SOMEHOW finds my journal and reads this. Even though that is very unlikely to happen...
I :: THE ANNOYING CUSTOMER
Customer: Hi, do you have any other brands of kitten food? *shows me a bag of Royal Canin*
Me: Yeah, sure! How do want it to different from that one?
Customer: None! This is just fine. I just want her to get some variation, you know. It must be very boring for her to eat the same food every day. 1)
Me: Well, not really. If you find a basic food that works fine - stick with it. A cat's digestion is very delicate, and changing the food is always a shock for her system. So I suggest you keep her basic dry food always the same, and get her some variation by offering her different kinds of canned foods.
Customer: I believe, that since a human being needs variation in diet, cats need too.
Me: Unlike people, cats are almost completely carnivorous. Their diet isn't very wide in the first place. That's why their digestion is so different from ours. They don't adapt to changes very well.
Customer: EVERYBODY needs variation. As a professional dietician, I know this. Besides, she doesn't eat any canned foods. 2)
Me: Really? It's really important for a cat to get some wet food too. Which brands have you tried? Have you tried for example Almo Nature, because... 3)
Customer: I have tried Whiskas and Sheba and stuff and she doesn't eat anything. 4)
Me: Well...
Customer: LISTEN. I REALLY DON'T NEED TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU. I ASKED YOU ONE SIMPLE QUESTION - CAN YOU ANSWER IT? DO YOU HAVE OTHER FOODS OR DO YOU NOT?
Then I showed her where the other brand was. She grabbed the bag without taking any look at it or what the food includes, which, I think, is very interesting behaviour from a "professional dietician"...
Me: And if you're interested... (would have continued with: "...we also have a third brand over here.")
Customer: SHUT IT. This is MY decission - let ME make it, OKAY??? 5)
I nodded, smiled and left and felt so angry I was shaking. How is it even possible that one has the guts to be SO rude and loud about something she clearly has NO CLUE about?
II :: THE FACTS
1) Drastic variation is not needed as a cat's diet isn't very wide on the first place. Just think about cats in the wild, for example lions. What do they eat? -It's meat, meat and ...hmm, meat? They are almost 100% complete carnivores. The only vegetable food they get is the half-digested grass pulp from the zebra's stomach.) In fact, a cat would survive without ANY carbohydrates. (Even though during pregnancy etc a cat may benefit from them.) Besides protein, they only require a small amout of fibre to do alright.
If you find a cat food that works - stick with it. Cat has a carnivore's digestion: in other words words the intestines are really short. The food travels through the cat really quickly. This is why a quick change in cat's (or dog's for that matter) is never a good thing. If you change the dry food, you better have a good reason. And when you change it, you need to do it slowly by mixing the new food with the old one.
2) So I am a professional dietician on animals. Yet I do not claim that I know ANYTHING about human nutrition. It's not the same fucking thing.
3) Dry food without extra protein is NEVER EVER enough for a cat. Every single dry food, even the best ones, include way too much cereals for a cat. That is because making the dough for the kibbles without meat is TECHICALLY simply impossible. That is why perfect dry food for cats will never exist. In practice this means you have to offer your cat wet foods, meat, fish, entrails etc. every day.
Actually, if we want to be precise about it, it's actually the dry kibble you can leave out from your cat's diet completely.
4) Whiskas, Sheba etc are probably the worst crap sold as "cat food" ever. It shocks me that a "professional dietician" would not see this. They are the convenience food of animal kingdom! The ingredients are usually very poor to keep the price down. They use chicken feathers, legs, beaks and whatever. If you check out the ingredients list, it also says something like "chicken (4%)". If only FOUR per cent of it is chicken, what the heck is the rest of it, the whole 96%...? That's also why they blend it to an unrecognizable brown pulp. -It simply includes crap you don't want to see. Dogs and cats eat it though, because they add artificial flavours. That's also why market foods smell so foul.
So, ditch the market foods and spend the same amout of money on MEAT. Meat, from the grocery store. Buy minced meat, chicken, fish, entrails - the real deal.
There are some really good commercial cans too, but they are usually relatively expensive.
5) Go fuck yourself or something.
DISCLAIMER: So yes, I mentioned Royal Canin here. But don't think *I* would ever recommend it to any cat or dog. I personally think Royal Canin is one of the worst things ever happened to pet nutrition. Unfortunately, I do not get to decide what we sell.
I :: THE ANNOYING CUSTOMER
Customer: Hi, do you have any other brands of kitten food? *shows me a bag of Royal Canin*
Me: Yeah, sure! How do want it to different from that one?
Customer: None! This is just fine. I just want her to get some variation, you know. It must be very boring for her to eat the same food every day. 1)
Me: Well, not really. If you find a basic food that works fine - stick with it. A cat's digestion is very delicate, and changing the food is always a shock for her system. So I suggest you keep her basic dry food always the same, and get her some variation by offering her different kinds of canned foods.
Customer: I believe, that since a human being needs variation in diet, cats need too.
Me: Unlike people, cats are almost completely carnivorous. Their diet isn't very wide in the first place. That's why their digestion is so different from ours. They don't adapt to changes very well.
Customer: EVERYBODY needs variation. As a professional dietician, I know this. Besides, she doesn't eat any canned foods. 2)
Me: Really? It's really important for a cat to get some wet food too. Which brands have you tried? Have you tried for example Almo Nature, because... 3)
Customer: I have tried Whiskas and Sheba and stuff and she doesn't eat anything. 4)
Me: Well...
Customer: LISTEN. I REALLY DON'T NEED TO HAVE THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU. I ASKED YOU ONE SIMPLE QUESTION - CAN YOU ANSWER IT? DO YOU HAVE OTHER FOODS OR DO YOU NOT?
Then I showed her where the other brand was. She grabbed the bag without taking any look at it or what the food includes, which, I think, is very interesting behaviour from a "professional dietician"...
Me: And if you're interested... (would have continued with: "...we also have a third brand over here.")
Customer: SHUT IT. This is MY decission - let ME make it, OKAY??? 5)
I nodded, smiled and left and felt so angry I was shaking. How is it even possible that one has the guts to be SO rude and loud about something she clearly has NO CLUE about?
II :: THE FACTS
1) Drastic variation is not needed as a cat's diet isn't very wide on the first place. Just think about cats in the wild, for example lions. What do they eat? -It's meat, meat and ...hmm, meat? They are almost 100% complete carnivores. The only vegetable food they get is the half-digested grass pulp from the zebra's stomach.) In fact, a cat would survive without ANY carbohydrates. (Even though during pregnancy etc a cat may benefit from them.) Besides protein, they only require a small amout of fibre to do alright.
If you find a cat food that works - stick with it. Cat has a carnivore's digestion: in other words words the intestines are really short. The food travels through the cat really quickly. This is why a quick change in cat's (or dog's for that matter) is never a good thing. If you change the dry food, you better have a good reason. And when you change it, you need to do it slowly by mixing the new food with the old one.
2) So I am a professional dietician on animals. Yet I do not claim that I know ANYTHING about human nutrition. It's not the same fucking thing.
3) Dry food without extra protein is NEVER EVER enough for a cat. Every single dry food, even the best ones, include way too much cereals for a cat. That is because making the dough for the kibbles without meat is TECHICALLY simply impossible. That is why perfect dry food for cats will never exist. In practice this means you have to offer your cat wet foods, meat, fish, entrails etc. every day.
Actually, if we want to be precise about it, it's actually the dry kibble you can leave out from your cat's diet completely.
4) Whiskas, Sheba etc are probably the worst crap sold as "cat food" ever. It shocks me that a "professional dietician" would not see this. They are the convenience food of animal kingdom! The ingredients are usually very poor to keep the price down. They use chicken feathers, legs, beaks and whatever. If you check out the ingredients list, it also says something like "chicken (4%)". If only FOUR per cent of it is chicken, what the heck is the rest of it, the whole 96%...? That's also why they blend it to an unrecognizable brown pulp. -It simply includes crap you don't want to see. Dogs and cats eat it though, because they add artificial flavours. That's also why market foods smell so foul.
So, ditch the market foods and spend the same amout of money on MEAT. Meat, from the grocery store. Buy minced meat, chicken, fish, entrails - the real deal.
There are some really good commercial cans too, but they are usually relatively expensive.
5) Go fuck yourself or something.
DISCLAIMER: So yes, I mentioned Royal Canin here. But don't think *I* would ever recommend it to any cat or dog. I personally think Royal Canin is one of the worst things ever happened to pet nutrition. Unfortunately, I do not get to decide what we sell.