FOOD & NUTRITION

A 10-pound cat may need only about 250 calories a day—very little from a human standpoint. Thus, it may seem as though she’s not eating enough, even though she is. That can lead someone to keep trying different kinds of food until the cat consumes what’s put in front of her, creating the notion that felines are finicky eaters.

When we think of dietary changes to treat an illness, we tend to think of them as a kind of Band-Aid approach. The attitude among many people is that eating differently may help at the margins but is nothing compared to the power of pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures. Not true, either for us or our cats. In a number of cases, a change in diet can extend life for years, and also the quality of life.

Many people feed their cat twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening—and cats in general seem to do fine on that schedule. Some people feed their cats just once a day, and even those pets appear to do okay, although they might like their food divided between two feedings in order not to get too hungry overnight. But if a cat had his druthers, he’d probably prefer several small meals a day—three, four, or even five. Why?

Q: In a recent issue you talked about why cats love tuna but left out the most important thing, which is that tuna generally has high concentrations of mercury and that mercury is poison. Why would anyone who loves their cat knowingly feed them poison? You should print a follow-up article that makes people aware of the danger in feeding tuna to their pets.

Q: I noticed that some of the nutrients listed in the Guaranteed Analysis panel on the label of my cat’s food have an asterisk that leads to the following statement: “Not Recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.” If it’s not recognized as an essential nutrient, why would the manufacturer add it? The nutrients are not named in big letters on the front of the package as a marketing point.