Homemade Diets for Cats.

Homemade Diets for Cats

Homemade diets for cats.

Miss Hawthorn brought in Terra a 6-year-old domestic short hair because Terra was

having trouble jumping up on the furniture. The owner was concerned that the pet could not see

very well. Pet has not been spayed and has not been vaccinated. Miss Hawthorn has been

feeding Terra a homemade diet of vegetables, rice, and leafy greens with some beans and tofu for

protein. When terra was a kitten she did feed her meat, but after Terra was a year old the owner

stopped feed the cat meat. (Rockett, Christensen,2010)

Physical Exam:

General appearance: Under weight

The examination results show that that Terra underweight probably due the fact that she

is not getting a proper diet. Cats need to have animal proteins and fats because they are true

carnivores. This means that they need animal proteins to help keep their muscles, skin and coat

healthy. They need the fats for energy. Because the food the cat was receiving was not the

proper type of food, the pet was not getting the amino acids that it needs to help break down the

proteins for the body to use. Also, Terra was not getting taurine which is essential for the

breakdown of the fats and helps with the function of the retinas and heart (Blackwell,2015). If
Homemade Diets for Cats. 3

the amount of taurine is not enough it can cause heart murmurs in cats and the heart will not

function properly. Plant matter that the cat was given in her homemade diet does not have the

amount of taurine the cat needs to help break down the food the cat was given. The homemade

diet given to Terra could also be missing the vitamins like vitamin A, D, E and B-complex.

Also, minerals like calcium and magnesium could be missing from a commercial diet’s

ingredients. One vitamin is vitamin A, which is not in plant material. Vitamin A is important

for vision, tooth development and maintenance of epithelial cells (Blackwell,2015). The pet

would get vitamin A from animal tissues that it is not getting from its homemade vegetarian diet

at home. This could be the cause of the pet being underweight, having dull and dry skin, vision

problems, and teeth issues. B vitamins are another vitamin that is important in a cat diet that

would come from meat if feed in a manufactured food which would be complete cat diet. You

would see weight loss and skin issues with a deficiency of the B vitamins. Calcium is also an

important mineral that is needed in a homemade diet that Terra would not be given if it is not

supplemented. It helps with bone growth as well as muscle movement. Not enough Calcium can

result in bone density issues where the bone can break easily. Also, if there is not enough

calcium a patient can start having muscle pain and cramps.

The veterinarian let Mrs. Hawthorn know that from the examination and history Terra has

dilated cardiomyopathy and retinal degeneration due to deficiencies in the diet (Rockett,

Christensen,2010). The diet is deficient in taurine which would cause the cardio myopathy and

the retinal degeneration. Another deficiency we would see is the pet would not have enough fat

to help with energy so that could be another reason the pet not acting normal around the house

due to lack of energy.

Mrs. Hawthorn lets us know that she also has a pet Pogo a mixed breed canine at home

that she feeds a homemade diet to that seem to be acting normal and looks healthier than Terra

(Rockett, Christensen, 2010). The reason that Pogo is doing better is because he is a canine.

Dogs are omnivores and they can breakdown and use the proteins, vitamins and minerals that are

in the homemade diet as well as synthesize the missing amino acids better than the cats can.

The veterinarian wants Mrs. Hawthorn to start a commercial diet for both of her pets so

that they get the vitamins and minerals that they need, but Mrs. Hawthorn wants to try and

supplement the homemade diet she is already giving. Supplementing is possible with homemade

diets if it is done correctly, but a commercial diet would be better for both pets because the diets

are already formulated with the proper ingredients, vitamins and minerals. It can be difficult to

determine the correct amount of supplementation in homemade foods which can result in

toxicities or deficiencies. If the owner gives to much of the vitamin A it could cause the cat to

become anorexic, and loss some function of the kidneys and the liver. Also, it could cause

spontaneous fractures, enteritis, weight loss and skin thickening (Blackwell,2015).

Mrs. Hawthorn is still not wanting to give her pets a commercially made food and wants

to know how to make sure the food would be good for her pets (Rockett, Christensen, 2010).

She could go to the AAFCO web site to get more information about what complete and balanced

food for her pets would be, because they are the organization that oversees the pet food industry.

The food label should a list of ingredients in descending order and state the purpose of the

product (Blackwell, 2015). It should also include the statement of nutritional adequacy to verify

the method used to formulate the food (Blackwell,2015). There should be an expiration date on

the bag as well. The bag should have the product name, the net quantity statement, manufactures
Homemade Diets for Cats. 5

name and address, guaranteed analysis, and feeding instructions on the package. Also, the bag

should have the life stage, species and meat as the first ingredient so that Mrs. Hawthorn knows

that she is feeding the right food to her pet. Mrs. Hawthorn can tell if the food fully meets the

needs of the pet by doing a food trial to see if her pet will like the flavor of the food. If the pet

does not like the flavor or will not eat the food, there is always another option to choose from.

After the information that was given to Mrs. Hawthorn she has decided to switch the pets to a

commercially made pet food.

When Mrs. Hawthorn switches the pet food she should do it slowly by increased mixing

of the old food and the new food. She should mix ¼ new food with ¾ of the old food and

increase a ¼ of the new food and less ¼ of the old food every 3 days. This helps with the patient

not getting diarrhea or nauseous. Since The cat has heart issues the owner should also look for

coughing, lethargy, rapid breathing and mucous membrane color to not change. If any of these

things occur, she should call the clinic and bring the cat in for a recheck immediately.
Homemade Diets for Cats. 6

References

Blackwell, Wiley. (2015) Nutrition an Disease Management for Veterinary Technicians and

Nurses 2nd edition. John Wylie and Sons Inc.

Rockett, Christensen. (2010) Case Studies in Veterinary Technology. Heyburn, Idaho. Rockett

House Publishing LLC.

Nancy Scanlan, (2011). Complementary Medicine for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd