Topics in Nutrition

The Topics below are excerpts from the book, "Feline Nutrition-Nutrition for the Optimum Health and Longevity of your Cat" by Lynn Curtis,reprinted with permission.

Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they require certain nutrients that they cannot synthesize which are only found in meat. The very name carnivore means devourer of flesh. Cats large and small, wild and domestic need to eat meat as their main source of nutrients. Dogs, bears, and raccoons are all facultative (optional) carnivores or omnivores, meaning they can and do eat both meat and plant matter. However, when given a choice, they will always choose meat if it is available.

A cat is solely designed to hunt, kill, eat, and process meat. Through millions of years of evolution, felids have developed unique characteristics of anatomy, physiology, metabolism, and behavior indicative of obligate carnivores.

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