You want to know why your cat is obese?

My one-eyed feral brat aka Copy Cat has decided to go on strike against his regular food. Now if I was a one-eyed feral who won’t let anyone touch him despite being a house cat for THREE YEARS I would be happy just to be fed. But he lives in our house so he goes on strike and sits 10 feet away from me and looks pathetic.

So I am on the hunt for food. This happens about once every six months where one of my cats decides it is time for a change. So I pullout my favorite bookmark, Janet and Binky’s Cat Food List. This is a great resource for calories as well as carbohydrates “as fed.” We try to feed food under 8 carbs as fed for Slakk's blood sugar to stay in the zone.

From Slakk’s Diabetes I learned that the labels on the cans are about worthless so I rely on this list for my information. The rule of thumb for the amount of calories a cat should intake everyday goes something like this:

(13.7 x Optimum weight) +70 = daily calories

My cats are ummm good converters, so they actually stay at around 170 calories per day, sometimes up to 200 but a normal weight 12 pound cat should figure eating around 230 calories per day.

So for some reason I went on a website for commercial cat food – VERY well known brand (no I am not going to name them because they do not deserve the publicity) and they recommend 1 can of their over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death, oops I mean cat food per every 2.5 pounds. Doing the math that is 4.8 cans per day…FOR ONE CAT.

After I got up from the floor I looked at the calories – about 435 total, assuming any cat could shove all of that in their mouth in a day (Slakk has offered to try), that is 200 calories OVER the optimal calories – and these are the people telling YOU they understand nutrition and you should trust them?

And then lets do the math, each can of death is $.079 times 5 (because you know you will feed 5 cans not 4.8) equals $3.95 PER DAY. That means in 30 days you would spend $118.68 not including tax, but hey you could forget your gym membership BECAUSE YOUR CAT WOULD BE SO FAT PICKING THEM UP WOULD BE A WORKOUT. If you have four cats like me then you would spend more on cat’s food then groceries

So then I look at a better alternative Evanger's Canned Cat Food - Organic Chicken 5.5 oz. Can at $1.49 for a 5.5 ounce can. That is approximately the same calorie count as one day’s allotted calories. I feed this sometimes and honestly my big pig cats only get about ¾ of a can because quality calories mean less calories, but to be fair I will use the proper amount. So that equals $44.70 a month a whopping $74 dollar difference IN FAVOR OF A QUALITY PRODUCT.

Amazing huh?

If you really want to see your head explode look at the as fed calories for dry food, one cup equals 350-650 calories – ONE CUP. I will not even discuss the carbs...you know that is bad.

Raise your hand if your idea of feeding your cat is to take a bag of kitty crack and dump it in a self feeder…Don’t worry that was me before Slakk went diabetic. I ask you this - Do you think your cat is only eating what they need or are they gorging on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate-ridden pesticide filled bags of death (yes, related to the over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death).

So back to the web, I went to one of the lower calorie, yet highly-publicized dry cat food bags and read that my darlings should eat one cup or 362 calories – yes 150% of the recommended calories for a healthy 12 pound cat. Assuming my cats would self regulate at one cup (yeah sure) the kitty crack would cost a smidge over $1.20 per day.

Well until Slakk’s diabetes went out of remission and I was spending $100 dollars on his insulin alone. But again the cancellation of the gym membership would help out. Until one of the others went on the juice too...

But if you are feeding your cat on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate ridden pesticide filled bag of death or over-processed, slaughter-house reject, pesticide filled cans of death know this. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. We have been told that these companies know best and love our pets - well they are loving our pets to DEATH. My husband has banned me from the pet food aisle because I become an evangelist for proper feeding.

Kudos to companies like PETCO.com who have seriously started not only offering, but showcasing healthy alternatives to the cans/bags of death. Baby steps folks, babysteps.

I was in your shoes at one time and it took almost losing my sweet baby Slakk to learn his food was killing him. But now I know better and know feeding healthy is CHEAPER and your cat feels better and your vet bills go down and their coat shine goes UP. And maybe just maybe they will shed some weight.