Cat's Irresistible Attraction to Cat Food Explained

Mary Roach embarked on a journey to AFB International, a company in the United States specializing in pet food attractants, with a burning question in mind. She discovered that commercial pet foods are often laced with these attractants—phosphates. It's a scenario where you're lured by the cat, and the cat is lured by it. To cats, phosphates are akin to a white powder that's irresistible.

Food contaminated with phosphates can successfully deceive a cat's taste buds, making it believe that the food in front of it is a gourmet dish rich in animal protein. In other words, even if you sprinkle a bit of phosphate on a pile of grains, your feline friend would be more than happy to chow down.

With this magical ingredient, cat food manufacturers can produce anything and have their pets eat it with glee. This is why cats, who once shunned carbohydrates, now eagerly consume cat food that is predominantly made of them. All dry foods, including the muchadmired "Dry Kibble," are overloaded with carbohydrates.

Dry kibble, essentially a puff of dog and cat feed, was nonexistent before the 1960s. Back then, pet owners were feeding their cats kitchen scraps, canned food, and raw meat. However, due to the war, tin products were regulated, canning production halted, and there was a scarcity of kitchen scraps and raw meat.

Parents had to settle for second best and started baking cat biscuits. Little did they know that this makeshift solution would eventually become the norm. After World War II, businesses spotted an opportunity and began mass production. Parents, seeking convenience, were more than willing to opt for dry food. Yet, it took over a decade for the widespread use of attractants to make pets truly embrace commercial food, leading them down a path of obesity and illness that they would never return from.

In recent decades, the dangers of feeding dry kibble have become increasingly apparent. Many Western pet owners are reevaluating their pets' diets, seeking more natural feeding methods. They recognize that dry kibble is akin to fast food like McDonald's and KFC, detrimental to health.

Moreover, they are also suspicious of cat food manufacturers (yes, this isn't exclusive to China). The AAFCO, the official organization that determines the nutritional standards for cat food in the United States, is known to be sponsored by major cat food companies. When you find out about this, can you help but question its credibility?

On the other hand, more and more data show that since the widespread use of dry kibble, cats have been experiencing a rise in gastrointestinal, urinary, and obesity issues. More concerning is that due to their habit of eating food with attractants, cats are becoming increasingly picky, even refusing real meat.

Many cat food manufacturers advise against switching foods easily or explain that digestive issues in cats after eating kibble are due to the change, which will eventually improve. These statements are actually confusing pet owners.

If a cat vomits, has constipation, or diarrhea after eating food that hasn't gone bad, there's only one reason: its digestive system has been damaged, and its digestive function has become fragile. And in most cases, this is due to the longterm consumption of food unsuitable for their digestive systems—commercial pet food.