Re: Pottengers Cats

[Guest guest]

> I too have wondered how cats can survive generation

> after generation on such icky processed food. Our

> current cat is indoors and outdoors, over a year old,

> and I've fed her all raw meats (including the

> requisite organ meats) since we got her at 4 months

> old, but she has yet to reproduce. I'm thinking there

> is definitely some degeneration there.

> I was wondering if part of the ability to survive

> might not be the access to grass (even houseplants)

> that most cats have, which the cats in Pottenger's

> study did not have. Also the cats in his study were

> confined obviously that would affect their will to

> live?

>

> I'm also curious if Pottenger was careful to include

> hearts and other organ meats in the meats for the

> cats- one of the amino acids that is essential for

> cats is as far as I know found only in hearts...

Hi Alison:

The Cat Study was never intended to explore an optimum diet for cats.

It simply compared the results of an all raw food diet compared to

the same foods being fed with 2/3 being cooked.

One might say the cats on the 100% raw food did not seem to suffer

from lack of grass or from confinement. From the book:

" The cats fed a diet of 2/3 raw meat, 1/3 raw milk and cod liver oil

show striking uniformity in their sizes and their skeletal

development. From generation to generation they maintain a regular

broad face with prominent malar and orbital arches, adequate nasal

cavities, broad dental arches and regular dentition. The

configuration of the female skull is different from the male skull

and each sex maintains its distinct anatomical features. The

membranes are firm and of good, pink color with no evidence of

infection or degenerative change. Tissue tone is excellent and the

fur of good quality with very little shedding noted. In the older

cats, particularly the males engaged in fighting, the insicors are

often missing, but inflammation and disease of the gums is seldom

seen.

The calcium and phosphorus content of their femurs remains constant

and their internal organs show full development and normal function.

Over their life spans they prove resistant to infections, to fleas

and to other various parasites, and show no signs of allergies. In

general they are gregarious, friendly and predictable in their

behaviour patterns, and when thrown or dropped as much as 6 feet to

test their coordination, they always land on their feet and come back

for more 'play'. These cats reproduce one homogeneous generation

after another with the average weight of the kittens at birth being

119 grams. Miscarriages are rare and the litters average five kittens

with the mother cat nursing her young without difficulty. "

The problems with the 2/3 cooked meat, 1/3 raw milk with cod liver

oil cat group are too much for me to type here. You may get some

clues from what didn't go wrong in the above raw food fed cats. When

you read them you may wonder whether it's cats or people being

described. Kittens born to 2/3 cooked meat fed mothers took about

four generations to get close to the health of the cats maintained on

the all raw food diet.

Chi