Jimmy Moore did a pretty remarkable podcast the other day. Dr. Travis Einertson (starting at 41:10 in the podcast) treats diabetic cats and dogs (which is a scary thought).
How does he treat them? In a manner very consistent with the dietary theme of this blog, not surprisingly.
He takes cats off processed, high-carb, high-grain "kibble" and puts them on a high-protein, moderate fat, low-carb diet.
Spontaneously, their diabetes goes into remission, and they lose weight (only if they go completely off the kibble!).
That's odd, the same thing happens when primates, or humans stop eating a the Modern American Diet and eat a species-specific diet. The diseases of civilization suddenly disappear (those that are reversible, of course).
Dr. Einertson also notes that cats seem to be gluten-intolerant, and various intestinal maladies also spontaneously go into remission when the cats go on a low-carb, and therefore low-gluten, diet.
There's something singularly toxic about the Modern American Diet, and you and your pets are best advised to stay far, far away from it.
P.S. I'd love to hear the story of the bright fellow who decided that it was a good idea to feed cats grain and carbs, when they're obligate carnivores.
P.P.S. A note on the "gluten intolerant" phrase: Gluten-intolerant makes some sense if you have an expectation that the creature *should* be tolerating gluten. Humans are expected to tolerate it, and some do, to varying degrees.
A dog or a cat would NEVER eat wheat in the wild. Rodents might, but not a dog or cat. Dogs and cats are therefore not "gluten intolerant", they are suffering from "wheat poisoning", which makes sense, since wheat is a toxic plant.
Digest that. ;)
A wild cat or dog may in fact eat wheat in the wild. I was thinking about this very same subject last night as we are transitioning one feline from kibble to new meat-based diet more in line with what we're eating (primally). I haven't listened to this episode of LVLC yet but I was thinking about wheat intolerance and grazing in regards to the book "Wheat Belly".
ReplyDeleteNow, why do I say these animals may eat wheat in the wild? Because they're profligate omnivores, not carnivores. While a cat may ingest mostly meat during their daily feeding, you'll also catch them eating grasses and flowers as well, these aid in digestion just like it does in humans and primates. Now, I've never seen a wild cat eat fruit but I know my domesticated cats like to eat certain fruits but it's not frequent. I have witnessed a number of times wild and feral cats munching wildly on grass, and not fancy cat grass, wheatgrass, or any other special grass. Regular ol' fescues and bluegrasses. A wild cat may in fact eat wild (not being grown for consumption) juvenile wheat because it's short and green, just like other grasses. Case in point: cat grass sold in stores is juvenile common wheat grown from seed pods of more mature plants.
"A wild cat or dog may in fact eat wheat in the wild."
ReplyDeleteYou don't present any evidence that this is a fact, just a bunch of speculation and stories about your domesticated cat.
That's not much of a fact.
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ReplyDeleteRemoved my previous comment because it was long and rambling and most of all, not very coherent.
ReplyDeleteThis will be more concise.
I never presented anything as fact, except for two things: wheatgrass sold in stores for consumption is made of common wheat and that cats do eat grass. I did preface each statement with "may", giving two outcomes: they do or don't. Not once did I say anything was fact or allude to it. I did, however, provide my own observations based on the fact that I've had at least one cat since I was 13 and I am now 8 days from turning 30; at my last count, I've owned 10 cats (4 of which were strays, 3 of which were wild before we took them in, 1 was previously domesticated). That provides me with 17 years of experience that I can pull from on what weird things cats may do. Does the fact that my name lacks a Dr. prefix or initials after my name make my observations any less valid? Not at all.
This is a valid point as I finally listened to Dr. Einerston's interview and what he said was generated in much the same way as my own: observation. His information comes from two places: his own cat and his veterinary practice. He stated very plainly that he has not published any journal articles about his findings although he has thought about doing so. Everything he talked about was based on his observations in his own practice and with his own cat, which serves as his own n=1 experiment, but this is still data only able to be vetted by him. Much in the same way my "speculation" is based on my own observations. Does this make his information any less valid because it's not vetted by a peer reviewed journal? No, it's as valid as any other observation.
Now, I did dig up evidence proving dogs and cats eat plants: Dr. Benjamin Hart wrote a book on animal behavior where he describes these animals eating plants and why they may do so as it relates to behavior. Dr. Hart is the professor emeritus of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and teaches at UC Davis. Much of the text of his book is available on Google Scholar so you're free to look it up and read it.
Richard, you keep straying off course. I never said that dogs & cats don't eat plants, they do. My dog is fond of noshing on grass.
ReplyDeleteWhat I said was they don't eat wheat. Specifically, they wouldn't eat wheat berries, the fruit of the wheat plant, which is what 99% of humans mean when they refer to "wheat".
Wheat berries aren't edible unless you're a rodent, or have grinding teeth, like a cow. Or if you're a human with some sort of crushing apparatus, like a mill.
If you're curious, I suggest you go buy a bunch of wheat berries, and try eating them raw, the way a wildcat would. Or even better, try feeding them to your cat. Do let me know if he eats them. I'll be sure to revise this post.
(BTW, cats apparently eat grass because it makes them vomit.)