In Part I of this series, “Don’t Starve the Fat Cat,” I discussed some aspects of how mammals dependent on humans for their food supply have been observed to have more fat on their bodies than they used to; as, indeed, we humans in developed countries have, too.

If all these mammals have the same symptom, it makes sense to look for a common denominator; in the case of humans, and the rats who eat from our dumpsters, I showed that the proportions of macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) in our diet has shifted substantially over the last three decades, showing no support for the “calorie-dense” possibility mentioned in the article. But while this might have some effect on those dogs fed from our tables, what about our cats, who are far less accepting of table scraps? Cats still get cat food, don’t they?

Yes, they do. But it’s not the same food it was thirty years ago, either. My research led me to this long, but highly informative article, What’s Really in Pet Food. This is what it says about the nutritional content in modern pet foods:

The amount of grain and vegetable products used in pet food has risen dramatically over time. Plant products now replace a considerable proportion of the meat that was used in the earliest commercial pet foods. This has led to severe nutritional deficiencies that have been corrected along the way, although many animals died before science caught up.

So dry animal food has made a similar transformation that our human food did; and with similar results on our bodies. Replacing fat with carbohydrates, in an attempt to make our food less “calorie-dense,” is not working as intended.

The commenter who brought the study about the animals around us becoming more overweight closed by saying:

At any rate, most phenomena in biology are multifactorial.

True, and our bodies are amazingly complex. But our cars are complex too; yet something as simple as an empty fuel tank will keep them from running. It doesn’t take a lot of different and complex things if something so simple and fundamental is missing.

What this means to our fat cat is that the conventional advice to restrict their food is only going to frustrate and annoy our cat; and ourselves. After all, this has been shown to not work very well on humans.

Newly published research by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University demonstrates that simply reducing caloric intake is not enough to promote significant weight loss. This appears to be due to a natural compensatory mechanism that reduces a person’s physical activity in response to a reduction in calories.

Of course! weight loss gurus tend to say. That’s why you have to exercise, too!

Except that still isn’t shown to be true. In the article, Why most of us believe that exercise makes us thinner—and why we’re wrong, this very possibility is explored, without much success:

In other words, despite half a century of efforts to prove otherwise, scientists still can’t say that exercise will help keep off the pounds.

For at least two decades, we humans have actually done what we are told regarding a healthy diet, and have replaced fat with carbohydrates. This has placed us squarely in the middle of an “Obesity Epidemic,” and has impacted our cats, as well.

Even though we are biologically omnivorous, and our cats are obligate carnivores, we have come to believe what is good for us, is also good for our cats. Unfortunately, we are wrong on both counts. It’s not good for either of us.

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So please, don’t starve the fat cat. It won’t work, and will drive both of us crazy. Feed more canned food that has only a 3-5% carbohydrate content. It worked for this commenter.

As a safety note, the pet food article also advises:

Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying, coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids.

Just another reason to keep the dry foods in our cats’ diet to a minimum; or eliminate them entirely.

Coming next, Part III; when some cats are still too fat on the same diet that our other cats do well on.

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