If cats are obligate carnivores, why do we feed them rice and peas(among other non-meat things)?
To my knowledge, while dogs can have some carbohydrates, a cats liver and pancreas will be overly stressed dealing with carbs. They need to eat meat and exclusively meat to survive and be healthy. So why do I find so many different cat foods with things *other* than meat or fish? Is it filler?
In: Biology
The same reason we feed dry food exclusively, because its cheap and convenient. We switched over to highly processed dry food diets for dogs and cats because it’s cheap to make, easy to portion out, and convenient to store for the average consumer.
To feed a cat nothing but meat would be expensive, and would be less shelf stable than us feeding the processed dry food.
Even carnivores in the wild do not eat purely Meat. They also eat small amounts of other plant based stuff for the missing nutrients. They’re not great at digesting raw plant matter (neither are humans, we suck at digesting cellulose as well). They can eat plant protiens and other processed nutrients just fine as long as it’s a measured amount, And based on the amount of exercise they do. It’s mostly filler in manufactured food to make sure they still feel full, but aren’t getting the equivalent of a human 2500kcal while sleeping all day
Because money.
There are plenty of cat foods out there these days that are very high meat content. You won’t typically see them in supermarket pet food aisles, but vets will often recommend them.
My cat gets Applaws or Untamed. It’s expensive, but I’m happy to spend the money on her. Still far cheaper than feeding a small human!
I don’t know what you feed your cat, but you shouldn’t feed it those things….
But yes, if you see it, it should be a small percentage, and just filler, or a cost saving tactic in cheap food.
Obligate carnivores mean they have to eat meat to get all their nutrients but they don’t have to exclusively eat meat. They can still digest other stuff, they just need meat to get certain amino acids.
But yes, a mostly meat diet is healthier. It’s also a lot more expensive.
The main reason why cats are obligate carnivores is due to taurine. Most mammals produce taurine in their system but not cats, so they have to get it from their food. That doesn’t mean that anything other than meat holds zero nutritional value for them but their guts are not capable of digesting just anything. Pet foods is a very nasty rabbit hole where profits and prioritisation of low cost have driven misinformation about what our animals actually need, but on a basic level most pet foods are digestible and provide the essentials to animals. It’s not much unlike humans in that regard. Most animals produce vitamin C for example but humans have to get it from food. That’s why we either need to eat fruits or at least animals rich in vitamin C or we get scurvy.
Unfortunately most pet foods do use a lot of fillers, including carbs, which can be harmful long term. There are better options but they’re more expensive. Diabetic food is usually low on carbs and it’s not harmful for non diabetic cats to eat it.
Convenience. My cat has a clean litter box, toys to play with, a water fountain, and a bowl of friskies/9 lives. Whenever I cook myself some fish I give him some, also when I am making a sammich he gets some cold cuts.
It would probably do my gut health better if I started my day with a seared tuna steak over tender greens with a miso reduction but I have to be at work in 20 mins so bacon egg and cheese from the deli it is.
Cats can safely eat vegetables in small amounts. It’s just not natural for them to do so, unlike dogs who are true omnivores
A processed cat food diet is probably why they all die before they hit 20. Reminds me of the Price is Right when Bob Barker used to always say at the end: Help control the pet population have your pet spayed or neutered. Population control
Dry food, regardless of the details, needs to be a complete food. No other supplements required. As long as that is the case, they can put all the peas they like in it. If it’s complete, from a nutritional perspective, and the cat likes it then it’s all good.
Latest Answers