There are many things that go into keeping your cat healthy and happy. But, the most important is what you feed her. My name is Margaret Gates and I founded an organization called Feline Nutrition. We are an advocacy organization educating pet parents on the healthiest way to feed cats. There are a lot of choices out there. So, what should cats be eating? That’s actually an easy question to answer: they should be fed what they evolved to eat. A raw meat diet. And that’s pretty easy to do now.
We want people to think about what they feed their little carnivores. We want them to take a good, hard look at what they assume is good for their cats. Imagine a lion eating lunch. It’s a pretty easy picture to bring to mind – we’ve all seen wildlife documentaries. You probably thought of some rather unfortunate gazelle or zebra. But, what is significant is that you immediately thought of a raw meat meal. Now, think of your house cat’s lunch. You likely thought of a kibble food or something out of a can. This is the thinking that we want to change. All cats, regardless of their size, evolved eating a diet of raw meat. The ideal food for your cat is the same as it is for the lion. Fresh meat. It is only the size of their prey that is different. Cats are cats.
Many years ago I switched all of my cats to a raw meat diet and I was blown away by all of the changes in them. They had more energy, they slept through the night without waking us up for food, their coats got amazingly soft, they pooped much less and – best of all from my point of view – their poop didn’t smell. At all. After seeing all of these great changes in my cats, I started talking to people and discovered that most people hadn’t even heard of feeding raw meat diets to cats. Almost everyone fed dry foods. Those few that did know about raw diets had discovered them after looking, in desperation, for something to help their sick cat. This was wrong. Why should it take a sick cat for people to find out about the healthiest food for cats? I decided to do something about it, because someone had to.
For the past six years, Feline Nutrition has been helping pet parents learn about raw meat diets and the dangers of feeding dry foods. Many of the diseases that are so common in cats these days are directly diet related: diabetes, IBD, urinary problems, kidney problems and dental issues. Raw meat diets can be of great help with diabetes and IBD especially. But, it would be much better if cats were fed the right kind of food to begin with. Maybe then they wouldn’t be having diet-related medical problems later on.
Feline Nutrition has a special focus on beginners. We remember well what it was like in the beginning when the idea of feeding raw meat to our cats was a rather scary idea. Isn’t it dangerous? Won’t they get sick? Actually, the answers to those questions are: no and no. Cats have been eating raw meat for hundreds of thousands of years; they are specifically adapted to thrive on it. We hear over and over from people who have switched to raw meat diets that they can’t imagine feeding their cats any other way.
One of our goals is to get people to feed proper diets right from the start. When they first get their cat or kitten. I remember the last cat I adopted from a rescue group. The adoption event was held at a large pet supply store. Along with the packet of adoption papers that included the contract and product coupons, I was handed a free bag of kibble. The rescue group probably liked being able to hand out free stuff, but this is a bad way to start feeding your new cat.
Feline Nutrition has launched an Indiegogo Crowdfunding Campaign to raise funds for the organization. Why? Because we need to reach more people and help more cats. We aren’t selling a product, we don’t have advertising on our site and membership is free, so we are looking to people who care about cats and their wellbeing for support. For many cats, diet is a matter of life and death. We are passionate about helping cats be healthy and happy and diet is the most fundamental way to make that happen.
When people go looking for information on feline diet, they find us. But frankly, that’s not good enough. Our goal is to reach pet parents everywhere, especially new pet parents. We want people to feed healthy, bio-appropriate diets right from the start. That is one of the goals of our crowdfunding campaign, to be able to get diet information into the hands of shelters and rescues, so they can help people make good decisions about what to feed their new family member. Every contribution matters. If you can’t make a donation, then please share the campaign.
We want you to think about cat food. We want you to take a critical look at what you put in your cat’s bowl. We want you to find out about bio-appropriate, raw meat diets and the benefits for your cat. Join us, together, we can change the way cats are fed.
Visit Feline Nutrition at https://feline-nutrition.org. Check out the Indiegogo Campaign at https://igg.me/at/felinenutrition. Your contribution will help Feline Nutrition get cats fed the right way. Plus, there are great perks for donating!
