Selecting Cat Food for Chronic Diarrhea and Soft Stools
Therefore, many dietary recommendations for cats suffering from chronic digestive system diseases often advocate for lower fat content. However, this approach seems to be borrowed from human physiology, and the question arises: Is it suitable for cats? There is no scientific basis to support this claim.
So, a scientist conducted an experiment to explore this further:
Sixty cats suffering from chronic diarrhea were divided into two groups. One group was fed a lowfat diet (with fat accounting for 24% of the total calories in the food), while the other group was provided with a highfat diet (with fat making up 45% of the total calories). This experiment lasted for six weeks, during which the scientist meticulously tracked and recorded any changes in the cats' feces on a daily basis.
The results of the experiment were as follows:
1. A remarkable 78.2% of the cats experienced a 25% increase in the dryness of their feces (indicating that the stools of cats that were originally soft or loose became drier and harder).
2. 30% of the cats' feces returned to nearnormal levels.
3. There was no significant difference in the data between the two groups.
This experiment suggests that both lowfat and highfat diets have no impact on a cat's digestive system, and highfat diets do not cause diarrhea in cats. On the contrary, as obligate carnivores, cats are highly efficient at digesting and utilizing fats.
Cats have been on Earth for thirty million years, and their diet consists of various prey they have hunted, which are all animal proteins and fats. Through longterm evolution, cats have naturally become more adept at digesting animal proteins and fats. Therefore, the foods that are easy for cats to digest, do not burden their digestive systems, and are less likely to lead to digestive system diseases are essentially meats.
But does that mean we should feed our cats meat every day? Absolutely not. In reality, what they need are the animal proteins and fats found in meat.
When selecting cat food, it is crucial to pay attention to the ingredient list and choose highquality animal sources.
