Let’s talk about dry food
Did you know that in the mid-1800s the first dog biscuit was made? The guy who made them used scraps of food similar to what he saw the sailors throwing to dogs at the docks. Did you know that during WW2, when metal was rationed, manufacturers transitioned from canned food to kibble, as kibble can be kept in bags?
Did you know that in the 1950s, Purina used the extrusion process to make more food for less money? This process involves cooking the food in liquid form, pushing it through a mechanical extruder to expand the food, then baking it. In order for this to work, the food must contain large amounts of starch (cats don’t need starch) and due to the excessive cooking at high temperatures, synthetic nutrients must be added back to the food, which is then sprayed with flavoring to entice cats to eat it. Basically, they made meat flavored cereal.
Notice a theme to these decisions? Not made with concern for appropriate companion animal nutrition. These are business decisions with a focus on convenience to humans, which would translate to sales.
Let’s be logical for a minute... what animal cooks their food let alone highly processes it? 🤔
Cats have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates, which is a large component of dry food. They lack specific enzymatic pathways present in other mammals that breakdown carbohydrates. Instead, a cats body utilizes protein and fat very efficiently. What is more troublesome is that research has shown that processed carbohydrates can cause a plethora of chronic disease (obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc.).
Additionally, cats have evolved to get almost all of their water from the food they eat. Because of this, they do not have the thirst drive that we do. Prey animals are about 65-75% moisture. Kibble is roughly 10% moisture. This means they simply cannot drink enough water to keep them properly hydrated on a diet of kibble. What they are getting is a ton of nutrients they don’t need (carbs) and very poor quality version of the nutrients they do need (protein).
We can do better for our fur babies! Ditch the dry food! They deserve it!