Dr. Becker's Comments:
As pet owners become more aware of the importance of species-appropriate nutrition for their companion animals, I’m getting more and more questions about the best way to transition a cat’s diet from dry food, to canned, to raw.
If you’re owned by a cat, you probably know how challenging it can be to get your kitty to accept a new type of food.
By contrast, most dogs don’t give a hoot what they eat. In fact, I have dogs at home that will scoop up a bit of dirt or a piece of lint off the floor like it’s a gourmet meal. My pack will eat whatever food I put down – good or bad tasting, healthy or unhealthy – they eat it all.
Have you ever asked yourself why cats, unlike their canine counterparts, are so finicky at mealtime?
It’s true. Cats have addictive natures. And their addictive tendencies extend to their taste buds. Your kitty is genetically wired to crave foods high in fat and salt.
And did you know many cats actually become addicted to the shape as well as the flavor of certain foods?
This is a fact cat food manufacturers are well aware of, which allows them to develop foods designed to be addictive – foods of a certain shape, with added salt, fat and sugar.
Disturbing but true -- there are research and development departments in many of the big commercial cat food companies whose job it is to study what shapes cats prefer. Whether it’s an “x” shape, a triangle, a circle, or maybe a tiny fish, the goal is to develop products your kitty will demand once he’s hooked.
This is how customers-for-life are created. Once your beloved Fluffy is addicted to a certain type of food, as you probably know too well, it can seem an impossible chore to introduce a different food into his diet.
I want you to know it is indeed possible to successfully switch your kitty to a healthy diet.
Challenging, yes, but so worth it! The single most impactful thing you can do for your cat’s health is to feed him a balanced, nutritionally appropriate diet. Virtually nothing else you do to take care of your kitty will mean as much to his health, happiness and longevity as the food you feed him.
It is critically important that you transition your cat to her healthy new diet very, very slowly.
Your kitty has a unique metabolism. If you push dietary changes too quickly she’s very likely to just stop eating, because the new food doesn’t satisfy her cravings.
If she fasts, she runs a high risk of developing a life-threatening condition called hepatic lipidosis, also known as fatty liver disease.
That’s why you shouldn’t even consider making a “cold turkey” switch from your cat’s old food to a healthier food. Despite what you might have been led to believe, your kitty won’t necessarily eat when she gets hungry enough. Cats have been known to starve themselves to death by refusing to eat a certain type of food.
If your kitty refuses to eat and develops hepatic lipidosis, it will be tremendously costly to try to save her, and there are no guarantees. The last thing you want is a deathly ill kitty, massive vet bills, or the heartbreak of losing your pet altogether.
So please take this warning seriously. Convert your kitty very slowly to a new, healthier diet. Prepare to spend as much as six months, even a year, making the gradual transition to a raw food diet.
Your consistency, determination, patience – lots of patience – and yes, trickery, will one day soon be rewarded.
I get lots of comments on the HealthyPets forum and my Facebook discussions page from cat owners pleading for help to get their pets to eat better quality foods.
The thing is, your cat isn’t instinctively driven to eat healthy food, and this goes double if he’s addicted to low quality, rendered, fatty foods. (Rendered food is waste animal tissue and other byproducts that have been manipulated into an “edible” form.)
Given the choice of his usual processed, high fat, sodium laden “x” shaped kibble and a meal that is species-appropriate, living and raw, your misguided kitty will pick the former and turn up his nose at the food he really needs to be at his best.
Your feline companion is an obligate carnivore. If he lived outdoors on his own, he’d be hunting and dining on mice. Cats are designed to eat mice because mice provide exactly the type of protein and moisture content felines thrive on.
Those of us in the pet healthcare field, including the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), who encourage cat owners to move their pets from dry food to canned food, do so because canned food more closely mimics your kitty’s natural diet. This reduces biologic stress, which in turn reduces disease potential.
Many dry cat foods are inexpensive. They’re certainly convenient. And they sustain life. But they are not biologically appropriate nor are they species-appropriate.
Feline kidney failure -- an all too common, debilitating and sometimes fatal condition -- is most often seen in cats that have lived in a state of low-grade, chronic dehydration their whole lives as the result of a dry food diet.
If the dry food you’re feeding your kitty is high in carbohydrates like corn, wheat, rice or potatoes, chances are she’s addicted to carbs.
Even though cats have no physical requirement for carbohydrates, unfortunately, they can become addicted to them quite easily.
Canned cat food can be very low in carbohydrates and some brands have no carbohydrate content at all. You’ll need to keep this in mind if you’re trying to convert a carb-addicted kitty to a low or no-carb canned food.
Making a Slow, Safe Transition from Dry to Canned Food I recommend transitioning your cat from dry to canned food in one of two ways, which I’ll outline shortly.
But first -- if you’re in the habit of serving your kitty an all-day, all-he-can-eat buffet of dry food, it needs to stop. You’ll never convince your cat to eat canned food if he has constant access to a bowl of the dry stuff he craves.
Also, a key ingredient in getting your kitty interested in canned food is to create pockets of hunger in him. He’ll never have the chance to get a bit hungry (which is not to be confused with a dangerous self-imposed period of fasting) and curious about that serving of canned food if he’s eating from his dry food bowl whenever he likes.
The next step is to determine how many calories your kitty needs on a daily basis. You can ask your veterinarian for guidance, or if you want to figure it out yourself, you can view a video and discussion here.
Initially, your cat will return to his empty breakfast bowl and wonder why there’s no food in it. No matter how your kitty reacts, you’ll need to practice tough love. At noon (no sooner!), put down kitty’s second serving of dry food. Similar to what happened mid-morning, at some point in the afternoon he’ll return to his empty bowl and try to convince you by whatever means possible that you’re neglecting him. Remember – tough love! At dinner time, give your cat his third and final serving of dry food. Eventually your beloved feline will begrudgingly accept his new three meals-per-day schedule. Once kitty is comfortably eating three portions of dry food per day, replace one of those meals with a serving of canned food. Since canned and dry food have different caloric content, make sure to adjust portion sizes to insure you’re still feeding the right amount of calories per day. The daily mix has now changed from three meals of dry food to two dry, one canned. The transition has begun!
Initially, your cat will return to his empty breakfast bowl and wonder why there’s no food in it. No matter how your kitty reacts, you’ll need to practice tough love.
At noon (no sooner!), put down kitty’s second serving of dry food. Similar to what happened mid-morning, at some point in the afternoon he’ll return to his empty bowl and try to convince you by whatever means possible that you’re neglecting him. Remember – tough love!
At dinner time, give your cat his third and final serving of dry food.
Eventually your beloved feline will begrudgingly accept his new three meals-per-day schedule.
Once kitty is comfortably eating three portions of dry food per day, replace one of those meals with a serving of canned food. Since canned and dry food have different caloric content, make sure to adjust portion sizes to insure you’re still feeding the right amount of calories per day.
The daily mix has now changed from three meals of dry food to two dry, one canned. The transition has begun!
Now, some cats will do fine with this method – others will be quite opposed to it. If your kitty is in the latter group, again, tough love will be required. And consistency – determination – patience!
The two meals of dry food will provide enough calories that your cat will not develop liver problems. The pocket of hunger from reduced caloric intake should provide the stimulus he needs to eventually sample the canned food.
Once your cat has been comfortably eating two meals of dry food and one of canned for several weeks, change the mix again – to two meals of canned food and one dry. Don’t forget to adjust portions to achieve the right calorie count.
After several weeks of success with the two canned/one dry combination, you can complete the transition by serving only canned food at all three meals.
Congratulations! The toughest part of transitioning most cats to a nutritionally appropriate diet is the step from dry food to canned. If you’ve followed the steps above and your kitty is now eating only canned food, the worst is very likely behind you.
In the second half of this series I’ll discuss the differences in canned food quality and how to convert your kitty to an optimally healthy, raw food diet.
Stay tuned!
I have a 12 year old cat that has been obese her entire life. She has spent most of her life indoors and hasn't had the luxury of hunting mice and other critters for a balanced diet. A year ago she started having breathing problems and vomiting often. I realized if I didn't do something I wouldn't have her much longer.
I tried an "all natural" canned cat food, which supposedly was cooked meat and nothing else. To my surprise she continued to gain weight in spite of the tiny portions. Since my dogs had already transitioned to an all raw mostly organ meats diet, I decided 5 months ago to try it with my cat, even though previously she had vomited all raw meat. It made sense to me that her body would have to learn how to digest raw meat all over again since her digestive organs hadn't digested anything raw for a long time. I started her out on a sliver of raw liver which was the size of my pinky nail. She wasn't vomiting so I gave her that same food and amount 4 or 5 times a day at intervals. After a few days I increased the amount just barely. It took her more than a month to work up to about 1 teaspoon. At that time I added one more new food at time. If I tried more than 1 new food at a time in too large an amount she'd throw it up. Five months later, she now eats salmon and trout, spleen, bison, chicken and beef heart in addition to the liver, and all are given raw . She eats twice a day now and gets about a tablespoon and a half total of several raw foods at once. She no longer vomits, doesn't labor to breathe, her coat is lustrous, she is very gradually slimming down and she's the healthiest she's ever been! I couldn't be happier with the changes I'm seeing.
The key to remember is this: 1 new food at a time in very small amounts. Once that is tolerated you can increase the amount and add one more new food, also in a tiny amount. Some animals will take longer to adjust than others. Patience is required but well worth the rewards.
Just remember that liver and other organ meats should not be more than 15% of their diet, especially with the toxins in today's meats.
Great job my fellow kittie lover.
Al
We have two cats and feed them twice a day on a nutritious, safe and wholesome diet of Wysong Vitality Diet dry food. We have introduced them to canned food, again, we are picky about the type and quality, but they eat very little of it, and when we store it in the refrigerator, won't eat it at all because it is too cold. We can't afford a raw food diet, so have to go with the next best, and we can't afford to throw out leftover canned food. Any suggestions you may give would be greatly appreciated, as we want our cats to be as healthy as possible.
Hi, I switched my kitty to raw food 7 yrs ago, and it was the best idea I ever had for her. But it took me two years to convert her from a kibble-junkie to a cat who even eats raw cod, and we are still having discussions about her food almost every day, because I often present her with sth new. But I stay tough, and she has learned that I don't give in, so she will eventually eat whatever I present her. She might even like it after some while. Cats are picky with new foods out of caution: how can they be sure it's not poisonous if they have never tried it ? That's why in the beginning they will only taste tiny bits of new food, and rather starve than eat all of it. But once they have noticed it doesn't do any harm, they will eat more. So keep on trying and offering them different types of food. If they have a favourite food, you might use it to mix in new tastes. Mine loves canned tuna, which I use to smuggle in supplements, medicine and MICE, which she absolutely loathes. You could try the same with something your cats like, for ex. cream. If all fails, grind or pestle the kibble and mix in other food. Start with tiny bits and increase their amount every day.Get them used to diversity - different types of kibble, different types of soft canned food, different types of raw meat. This will teach them not to be so picky or narrow-minded.
Raw food is not necessarily more expensive. You can buy from a slaughterhouse, and you do not need pure steaks - remember that prey contains sinews, fizzy tissues, skin, vessels, fat etc. and your kitty needs them as well. If the food is nutrient-dense, they will eat less of it. This has the pleasant side-effect that they produce less feces. 80 - 120grams of raw food should be enough for a normal-weight cat. I currently spend appr. 50cents per day on my cat's self-made, high quality food. If your cats don't like cold food, mix it with a bit of warm water or broth.
I always either place the can in a shallow bowl of warm water, or mix its contents with a little water and nuke it for 10-15 seconds with a cover. It's already cooked, so I see no difference in heating it that way if you're rushed for time.
As a thought, it's been told to me by some people who serve raw cold, or just under frozen, is that it breaks in chunks better for the dog as it chews since warmer meat is chewier, it's easier to slice to serve, or they just get used to it.
For the raw, I always sit the bag in which the food comes in a bowl of warm water if it hasn't completely thawed by sitting out. If it's parts like chicken backs, they can sit in the warm water, too. It's fine as long as it's not hot enough to "cook" any portion of it. Organs like hearts, and necks, warm up quickly when sitting out prior to feeding, and the hearts are like little treats for them if they're still a tad cold.
I do not like to serve very cold food. The only time that happens in the wild is when they saved a carcass or came across one in the dead of winter. All the meals of fresh kill are warm. It actually says on the canned food to serve at room temperature.
Okay...I just read about transitioning to canned...which I totally agree with (most dry food is total crap!). But tell me, how do you accomplish this within a large multiple cat household...and if you are at work during the day? I could most likely handle the 10 & 6 cat setup (yes, we have 10 at home & 6 at our business). But at home, how do I get around the noon time feeding w/o having to leave work (which is not really an option)?
Jane
Regarding easing a cat into a healthier diet - how can you feed 3 meals/day if the owner is away(working) from 7:30 am till 6 pm??
I mostly agree with this article except I am confused about what she said about fasting and what Dr Pitcairn says about fasting in his book. I can relate that kitties do not eat all day in nature. They must hunt and even though they are the ultimate hunters, if you include bugs and all, they may not eat meat every time, therefore, producing a short fast. He also talks about using short term fasting up to 5 days. Does anyone including Dr Becker have a deeper understanding here?
I have let my older gals go without food for a day in transitioning to raw. If the mix of raw and canned was changed, mostly 1 of the 9 yr old would not eat, sometimes all day. She is fine and has lost over 2 lbs in a few months. I can not see any harm in that. He sis has lost about 1 1/2 lbs also in that time. They get essential nutrients through Dr Becker's recipes, which are not easy or simple, and their canned, which I hate.
Here's a good one for you-my 15 yr old calico has a large mass in her belly. The vet told me 10 yrs ago she wouldn't last another yr and why bother treating her for anything else? Long story short, she's still here but is the pickiest eater I've ever seen. Her "brother" ate like a horse but died 2 yrs ago from a tumor in his mouth.
Mo has survived but I cannot get her to eat much of anything and she is underweight. Is it true cats will starve themselves to death rather than eat something they don't like? I've tried all brands of raw cooked canned foods, cooked her meals myself, given her raw food from my grocery store and she will eat various things when the mood hits her but will turn up her nose at something she liked just last week. Getting supplements in her is impossible. She will not eat anything with a vitamin in it, no matter how well disguised. I keep the kibble out all the time though I know this is bad because I want her to eat whenever she is of a mind to, regardless of schedule, etc.
Help!
Can you contact Dr Goldstein in NY?
Get his book asap too.
You may have no choice here but never give up. You are a great kittie parent and I so admire that. Have you tried shoving pills, supplements down her throat? Perhaps wrapping her in a towel with her head only out will help. I have to do this with some of mine or get scratched too.
i hope the best for you and your baby.
You are absolutely right, Dr Becker, with your advice about the importance of feeding a cat correctly. We have two female sterilized cats,sisters, who will be 19 years old in July. I have never given them dried food as I knew about the risk of kidney problems. I give them an all meat commercial cat food topped up with chopped up raw rabbit. I buy a whole rabbit(portioned)and chop up even some of the bones such as rib bones. They are both slim and in perfect health with sleek fur. I am convinced the raw rabbit keeps them fit and thus their intestines have the correct bacteria to keep them in good condition. I should add that it is difficult to find a commercial cat food that doesn't contain sugar, colouring, cereal or vegetables. Why do manufacturers insist on putting vegetables in food designed for a carnivore?
I started my cat on moist food. It was very easy, he loved it a lot but after three days, he threw up twice the food. I had chosen a can made of 100% real fish with added vitamins (Snappy Tom's brand). Could it be because there were a lot of fishbones in that specific can (sardines with crab and clams) or is it because he might have problems to digest can foods. I'm afraid to try again.
thanks for helping me.
Brigitte Beaudoin
He may have woofed it down too fast. The sardines bones are so small so don't worry about them. They can safely eat RAW chicken bones too, just not thigh bones or vertebrae.
By moist do you mean canned? Try not to feed the same brand every day too. All companies have recall issues that can harm our precious kitties.
Thank you for this video! 4 of my 5 cats are on premium grade canned food only. (Getting off kibbles was miraculous...one cat went from 22 to a healthy 15 pounds and no longer has asthma, another is doing fabulous with her kidney issues on wet food only). My 5th is on prescription Royal Canin for bladder issues and it's very addictive. She is at least eating a tablespoon a day of Petguard mixed with Fancy Feast. It seems to be the only way to get her to eat some canned. I hope to transition her totally on high quality canned this year. I hope her bladder and skin issues clear up on canned food.
Is your goal to feed them raw foods??
I hope so for their sakes and yours.
Why are these last videos of Dr. Beckers being taken off?.....
Are peopke afraid of information that is true?
There is a lot to be said about the biology of our feline friends, and this article has been of great assistance in understanding how to feed our feline friends. I have been researching as to how and where I might aquire food that is much like the diet of a cat if said animal had to feed her/his self. Thank you again for the information.
I'm a newbie. What SHOULD I be feeding my cats? They're brother and sister, around 11 lbs each, 3 years old.
Congratulations on being trusted to be in a kittie's life. And sibs for that matter.
Raw meats are best. Beef, chicken and turkey are simplest to get. Raw pork has parasites that may be harmful.
www.facebook.com/.../121162317917349 for better help. Many links and help sources.
Dry food is a slow killer. Holistic canned is much better but still crap. Commercial raw is as good as you can buy. Raw homemade is the best we can do without having a farm or allowing them to hunt for themselves (unrealistic for most and with poisons out there a no-no)
Most of all feed them your love and devotion. The more you love them the more you will care to work with them for the best for all of you. There is nothing healthier for you than a happy and healthy purr box next to you!!!
My two male cats behave more like dogs than kitties. They never met food they didn't like! As such, even though I practice portion control with the three-meal-a-day approach, one continues to be chubby, although he now weighs in at 17 pounds, down from 24. I've been able to successfully transition them from inexpensive dry food to high-quality low-carb dry food to raw diet with minimal effort.
How to make a change to can soft food from 16 years of dry food. Sometimes she will indeed go as far as the starving state.
I keep track of her eatings, but she has become so picky, I tend to blame this on her age 16+, is this right. She still has teeth, but
sometimes she does eat the soft (no lumps,) and licks the soft up. I don't know what to do with her, she is so thin, and it is so expensive here in our small town to get any advise. I thought of making her up a home made brew, but had to through that out, she just refused completely, you're so right the smell is everything, she likes salmon and the juicer the better. Any comments please help me. Thank you and Blessings - Claudette
If she loves salmon, mash it and mix it with other food - see my other reply above. Have you tried different types of salmon ? Mine would eat the Norvegian aqua-culture salmon only when poached, but wild Salmon from Alaska is welcome in any condition, whether raw or smoked or marinated does not make any difference. I use it to wrap it around unpopular foods. But the top of the pops is Sushi tuna. The price is prohibitive, but again I can chop it into small pieces and mix it with stuff that she otherwise wouldn't eat.
Have you tried mixing the canned with the dry? How about sardines?
Here is another possible reason...her teeth. My Simba had red gums and although he is very healthy, he would not eat much at a sitting. After Dr Becker recommended petzlife oral care, his gums are pinker but still not 100% yet, working on that, and he eats more at a sitting.
www.facebook.com/.../121162317917349 for more help too.
www.petzlife.com/.../oral-care-products.html
If you carefully read what Dr. Becker says, fish is bad for cats.
Hi Dr. Becker,
I'm in the process of switching to raw, but one of my cats only ate dry. I converted to Wellness Core, which she seems to really like. I also offer two meals of Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner each day, which is the only high quality canned she will even touch. What bothers me is she only eats about 1/2 oz. (on good days) at either of these meals. She's smallish, about 7-8 lbs. How do I get her more interested? What should I be doing? I don't know how I'll get her to raw if I can't get her to eat more canned first. She also won't eat any kind of "treat" toppings on the canned, like bits of turkey, chicken, cheese, or even broth. Thanks SO much for your help. Congratulation on your newsletter; I love it!
The best ingredient is probably patience.for both of you. You have to exercise it and it will come. Try different varieties of the canned.
My 2 gals at 9 are on the verge of eating 100% raw after about 6 months. They will eat a 15-20% canned mix with raw chicken. The beef mix here is not so popular with the older girls especially. They ate 99% dry for many years of their life and I hate myself for that. Ignorance is NOT bliss for me.
www.facebook.com/.../121162317917349 for more help.
Our kitty was a rescue kitty. We have now had her a year and she eats when we eat. That is what she demands. Three square a day. I have been giving her CORE dry (no grains). And Feline Florentine canned (two cans a day at her breakfast, lunch and dinner time). She doesn't want any other canned food. It is 13.00 for 12 tiny cans. Ugh. That is hard to take. Now, I need to know what the best canned cat food is. I know about no grains. But what about other products? Thank you.
Have you tried raw meat? That is best besides mice and birds, natural prey.