Is Dry Cat Food Healthy? Part Two

Ok, I was thinking about dry cat food again the other day and whether it was a good idea to soak it and feed it to my 6 week old Highland Lynx kittens. How is it made? What kind of ingredients is my cat eating? Does it provide enough nutrition? It does not take long to find the processing that an average dry kibble goes through in this country. The following excerpts came from Wikipedia:

"Pellets of dry dog/cat food, called kibble in the US, are produced
by one of two methods, extrusion and baking. During the extrusion
process, cut dough or a mixture of raw materials is fed into an
expander, while pressurized steam or hot water is added. When
removed from the high pressure that results, the pellets
puff up like popcorn. The resultant kibble is allowed to
dry, then sprayed with vitamins, fats and oils, or any
other ingredients that are not heat-tolerant.

If extruded kibble is exposed to air for too long or not
properly stored, the fats and oils added after cooking
can become rancid, and vitamins and minerals in the food
may be destroyed by heat during storage or shipping"

Alright, I am already not a happy camper. Whatever life was in this nasty mass of refined carbohydrates (all wrong for an animal that needs mostly protein) is cooked out and synthetic nutrients are added back in to replace the real ones that were lost in the processing. Then you add a few toxic artificial colors and flavors and chemical preservatives and the stuff will last for months and months. And I have not yet even gotten into the standard ingredient list of dry cat food.
  
As you can see must question CONVENTIONAL wisdom about what is healthy for our cats and dogs if we want them to live a long healthy life.

Is Dry Cat Food Healthy? Part One

When I began raising Highland Lynx cats and bobtail kittens, several matters arose that I had no need to consider so diligently before. I have always fed my cats food that did not contain fillers, colors, preservatives, chemicals, sugar, etc. I even fed them organic cat food whenever I could get it at reasonable prices.

Now, as a Highland Lynx breeder I am responsible for my precious kittens health, both in the present and as they go on in life to be a companion to someone who will love them and want them to be around as long as possible. So I must know what kind of food is good for them. One of the dilemmas I face is whether dry food is nutritious for a cat.

Pet food advertising, veterinarians, kitten care manuals, etc. often lead us to believe that dry food should be the staple diet of a cat. But where would a cat find a diet of dry kibble in nature? A cat is a carnivore, just like a dog, meaning they are primarily meat eaters. Have you ever seen a cat kill a dry mouse? Or a crunchy rabbit? What bones they eat are padded in very moist flesh as well as soft in the middle (marrow).

Ok, maybe you don't like the thought of your Queen Fluffy killing anything. The point is to ask yourself how your cat was designed. Many cats do not drink enough water and have kidney problems. Is it possible they were meant to get much of their fluid through their food?

Let's say you still believe in dry cat food, how would you like to eat just corn flakes for the rest of your life. Even if they could pack everything you had to have in that corn flake box, I guarantee that not only would your health suffer, but you would grow to despise corn flakes, but eat them anyway to survive.

I think you are getting the idea of the thoughts coming to me. I will write more next time.