If you’ve read this site for any amount of time, you know I’m passionate about species-appropriate nutrition for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, which implies that they need meat not just to survive, but to thrive. Dr. Jean Hofve, a holistic veterinarian and author with much more than 20 years of experience in conventional and alternative veterinary medicine, has written about this topic a lot longer than I have. In What Cats ought to Eat: keeping Your cat healthy With good Food, Dr. Hofve takes an in depth look at feline nutrition.
Dr. Hofve has intensively studied and researched pet nutrition and the pet food industry because the early 1990s. She has written dozens of articles and been interviewed for print, radio, and television around the world. In 1995, she founded Spirit Essences (now owned and operated by Jackson Galaxy), which makes flower essence remedies for numerous animal health and behavior problems. She is the publisher of little big Cat, a site that features a wealth of information about feline health and nutrition.
In the newly updated edition of What Cats ought to Eat, Dr. Hofve covers
nutrition related diseases
an indepth look at the pet food industry, and why it may not have your pets’ best interests at heart
label myths, tricks and deceptions
pet food contaminants
how shop for the best food for your cat
how to switch your cat to a healthier diet
making your own cat food
the case for raw meat and bones
Dr. Hofve also provides a list of brands she recommends.
This book provides extensive information from a seasoned veterinarian. even though Dr. Hofve has retired form private practice, she remains actively involved in working to improve pet food policy and quality standards. This is a should read for anybody who wants to learn much more about feline nutrition.
What Cats ought to eat is available from Amazon as a Kindle book.
Ingrid King
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13 comments on Review: What Cats ought to Eat
Mary says:
July 18, 2017 at 2:13 pm
Is this book available in hardback? I don’t have a Kindle or a personal computer.
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Ingrid says:
July 18, 2017 at 4:08 pm
You can read it with the Kindle app on any smartphone or tablet, Mary. There is no paper version available.
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Peyton says:
June 7, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Sounds like the book would be a good read and informational. Thanks.
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Bob says:
June 6, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Hi Ingrid. We switched our cat to raw meat years ago after the first signs of kidney trouble (our golden Retrievers ate a raw diet their entire lives). She does fine with it, has a good appetite and is in terrific health for her 15+ years. The problem now is that she gets hungry again around 3 am and wakes us up until we feed her. When she ate dry food, she could free-feed but we can’t leave her raw meat out for worry of bacterial growth. We are losing too much sleep – any suggestions? Is there a good food that can be left out for hours without harm?
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Ingrid says:
June 6, 2016 at 3:11 pm
Try feeding her a little “bedtime snack” just before you go to bed, Bob. You can adjust the amount you feed at her regular meals if weight acquire is a concern.
For much more suggestions on how to stop your cat from waking you up, read Hint: you’ll have to stop giving in and feeding her at 3am, she’s got you well trained! ?
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Abby says:
June 5, 2016 at 12:32 pm
Hi Ingrid, this is kind of food related – I would like to know what you think of the ingredient Montmorillonmite Clay. It seems to be appearing in much more and much more brands of cat food, especially raw foods (or, at least the easily available raw foods in my area). My issue is that I haven’t been able to find any impartial, third-party research about its safety. Do you think it’s a safe and useful ingredient? Or ought to we wait and see? thank you and I appreciate your thoughts on this.
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Ingrid says:
June 5, 2016 at 3:30 pm
I don’t think there’s a whole lot of reputable information about this ingredient out there, Abby.
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Diane Bee says:
June 3, 2016 at 10:29 pm
Having an IBD diagnosed cat who has had thyroid issues I know the significance of proper diet. I downloaded this book to my Kindle in the hopes of acquiring much more knowledge relating to the health of our feline family members.
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Pamela Tomlinson says:
June 3, 2016 at 4:31 pm
Ingrid – Do you recommend ordering the e-book from site and downloading the Acrobat reader or ordering Kindle version from Amazon and using their app to read on your PC/Laptop. I don’t have a Kindle and I may be a bit challenged in some cases from a tech perspective and I like paper books.
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Ingrid says:
June 3, 2016 at 4:42 pm
I would recommend the Kindle app from Amazon, Pamela. I find reading with Acrobat reader cumbersome, but that may just be a personal preference.
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