貓咪生肉餵食問與答: 和你的獸醫談談 Feeding Raw to Cats FAQ: Talking to Your Vet @ Meow Emperor

貓咪生肉餵食問與答: 和你的獸醫談談

Feeding Raw to Cats FAQ: Talking to Your Vet

Cat Nutrition 寫於 2012年11月13日7:50 ·

The ownership and copyright of this article belongs to the original writer and this is just a translated version, only for sharing.

**本文直接翻譯自原文,非本人立場發言**

**歡迎分享及引用,但務必註明出處**

“我對於這種飲食的優點很有興趣, 但是當我跟獸醫提到的時候, 他很不高興,然後跟我說我不該這樣”

"I'm intrigued with the apparent benefits of this diet, but when I mention it to my vet, s/he became upset and said I shouldn't do it."

有許多的獸醫是很有知識及天份的人, 但是也有很多獸醫並不完全了解貓咪所需的基本營養. 有些是依靠多年來寵物食品工業所告訴他們的營養知識, 並不是從他們完整的教育課程而來. 這個網站的的本意是想讓那些慷慨激昂的獸醫們能更用功了解貓咪營養的問題, 這是一個我非常關心的問題. 飲食不應該是在考慮動物健康時最後想到的事情, 在我的想法中, 寵物食品工業的建議無法代替獸醫思考這個重要的問題.

While many vets are extraordinarily knowledgeable and gifted people, many of them have very little understanding of the basics of feline nutrition. Some have relied for years on advice or knowledge from the pet food industry and nutritional education has not been an integral part of their training. The genesis of this website was my open letter to vets which remains an impassioned plea to them to "try harder" on the issue of feline nutrition, a subject near and dear to my heart. Diet should not be an afterthought in considering what's best for an animal's health, and to my mind, the pet food industry's advice is simply not an acceptable substitute for your veterinarian's critical thinking on an issue that's so terribly important.

在獸醫不趕時間的時候試著跟他談談, 並告訴他一些關於貓咪營養的客觀訊息, 以幫助你解釋你已經有思考過了. 要先思考過這個問題—不要只是聽一個人的意見或是粗略的閱讀一兩個網站.. 有一個很好的方式可以開啟討論, 就是談談JAVMA的文章—討論到貓咪是肉食性動物—在2002年12月1號發表的.

Try discussing the issue at a time when s/he isn't rushed, and offer to supply your vet with some unbiased information on feline nutrition to help explain that you've put some thought into the matter. And do put some thought into the matter first--don't just listen to one person's advice or give a cursory read to one or two websites on the issue. A very good place to start a discussion is by talking about the terrific JAVMA article on cats as carnivores that appeared in the December 1, 2002 edition of that professional journal.(http://www.catinfo.org/docs/zorans_article.pdf)

這篇文章沒有明確的主張生食, 但是他有提出給貓咪吃像是穀物等等的原料為什麼及如何影響貓咪的健康. 這是一個很好開啟討論的地方, 你會發現可以和獸醫達到一些共識.

That article does not explicitly advocate raw diets, but it offers extraordinarily sound reasoning on why and how feeding cats ingredients such as grains can be very detrimental to a cat's health. Starting the conversation there is a good place to begin, as you may find common ground on which you can build.

如果你的獸醫沒有看過Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins的書—這本非常支持生食—推薦給你的獸醫看. 或是, 更好的, 帶一本去並送給獸醫放在櫃台給大家看.

If your vet hasn't sought out a copy of Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins book -- which, among things, is very supportive of a raw diet -- then suggest it to your vet. Or even better, spring for a copy and offer to donate it to the library in the vet clinic reception area. (http://www.amazon.com/Your-Cat-Simple-Secrets-Stronger/dp/0312358016)

還有, 如果你想要, 印一份我的網站上的”給專業獸醫的公開信”給他.

Also, if you like, feel free to print off a copy of and share the "open letter to veterinary professionals" on my website.(http://www.catnutrition.org/open-letter-to-vets.html)

你要決定這是不是個好主意—有些獸醫會懷疑這些是不是由非專業人士所寫. 他們的懷疑並不是毫無根據的. 我有看過一些專業人士及獸醫對生食提出很可怕的建議.

You'll have to judge if that's a good idea -- some vets will be (understandably) skeptical of anything written by a lay person. Their skepticism is not entirely unwarranted. I've seen some pretty appalling advice doled out on raw diets by lay people. But then again, I've seen some pretty dreadful advice doled out on raw diets and commercial diets by veterinarians.

有些獸醫認為就算生食是個好主意, 他們的客戶無法正確製作會讓貓咪承擔營養不足的風險. 獸醫都知道, 但是問題是就算他們支持生食, 他們也不夠了解怎樣正確的建議客戶, 所以就轉而建議吃商業飲食.

Some vets are, quite understandably, concerned that even if they think a raw diet is a good idea, their clients will not make the diet properly and will put their cats at risk for nutritional deficiencies. In this case, they are absolutely correct: if a raw diet is not prepared correctly, it can be disastrous. Vets know that, but a big problem is that even if they theoretically support the idea of a raw diet, they aren't familiar enough with the basics of how to do it correctly to advise clients and default to suggesting a commercial diet.

有些人會漏掉, 像是貓食中的鈣來源或忽略製作與給與食物的正確方式, 那不如給予優質的罐頭. 如果你沒有要正確的製作它, 那你就不應該作.

People who leave out, for example, a calcium source in cat food or routinely ignore the basic principles involved in making and serving cat food correctly would be better off just feeding a quality canned diet. If you're not going to make it correctly, then you shouldn't make it.

但是如果你要正確的作—這完全不難—那冷靜的和獸醫繼續討論. 記住, 許多的獸醫會條件反射的排除餵生食的想法, 並提出他們對於可能會作錯食物的憂慮. 哀傷的是, 還是有很多的人會相信”都市傳說”及寵物食品工業所提供的恐嚇伎倆. 如果你已經決定要做這種飲食, 而你的獸醫仍然反對, 你應該要換個獸醫.

But if you are going to make it correctly -- which is certainly not a difficult thing to do -- then calmly continue the discussion with your vet. Remember, many vets reflexively dismiss the idea of raw diets out of hand out of genuine concern about the potential to do it wrong. Sadly, still others are passing on "urban legends" and scare tactics that are found in literature supplied by the pet food industry. If you are absolutely determined to make this diet and your vet still objects, then you may want to find another vet.