濕食是胖貓減重關鍵

If Your Cat is Fat, a High-Moisture Diet Could Be the Key to Weight Loss

January 23, 2013  By Dr. Becker

原文在此(Original article here)

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**

好消息是,越來越多的傳統獸醫推薦"柳絮式飲食"給需要減重的貓咪."柳絮式飲食"源於給阿特金斯症人類食用的方式,很多人應該會想到第一個被提出的低碳水化合物飲食方式.

In a bit of good news, it seems a growing number of traditional veterinarians are recommending what they call the “Catkins” diet for kitties who need to lose weight. “Catkins” is an amusing reference to the Atkins diet for humans, which many of you will remember as one of the first low-carbohydrate mass-marketed diets.

在一個寵物食品工業期刊中有提到Dr. Lisa Pierson及她很棒的網站CatInfo.org.

Equally encouraging is the fact that an article in a pet food industry journal actually mentions Dr. Lisa Pierson and her excellent informational website on feline nutrition called CatInfo.org.

PetfoodIndustry.com提到:

From PetfoodIndustry.com:

"柳絮式飲食可能可以幫助肥胖的貓咪,不只是減重也可以解決許多因水分攝取不足而導致的疾病. Pierson提到在野外的貓咪,最標準的獵物含有70%至75%的水份,與許多貓濕食箱同;但是,乾糧通常只含有10%的水份"

“The Catkins diet may help obese cats not only lose weight, but also may aid with a variety of health problems that cats may develop from not having enough moisture in the diet. Pierson says that in the wild, a cat's typical prey contains 70 percent to 75 percent water, which is similar to the moisture content of many wet cat foods; however, she says dry cat foods typically contain only 10 percent moisture.”

希望主流的獸醫團體很快就會不只是推薦高水分飲食給過重貓,病貓,還有全貓齡的健康貓. 對物種適合的營養就是對抗疾病的最好預防方式. 此能幫助寵物保持在適當的體重(只要飼主不過量餵食),正確的食物也顯著的降低貓咪疾病產生的機率, 尤其是下泌尿道疾病,腎臟病以及肝臟相關疾病.

Hopefully soon the mainstream veterinary community will not only be recommending moisture-rich diets for overweight cats and those who are sick, but for healthy cats of all ages. Species-appropriate nutrition is the best preventive medicine available. It helps keep pets at a good weight (as long as their owners don’t overfeed them), and the right food also dramatically reduces the risk of feline diseases, especially those involving the lower urinary tract, kidneys and liver.

不是所有貓罐頭都是營養均衡的

Not All Canned Cat Food is Equally Nutritious

那篇PetfoodIndustry.com的文章也提到一位在Rochester的獸醫Dr. Travis Einertson, 他也推薦"柳絮式飲食". Einertson相信飼主不餵罐頭的其中一個關鍵因素就是因為罐頭的開銷比乾糧大.

The PetfoodIndustry.com article also mentions a veterinarian in Rochester, MN, Dr. Travis Einertson, who recommends the Catkins diet. Einertson believes one reason pet owners don’t feed more canned cat food is because it costs more than kibble.

一個和Dr.Einertson訪問的報導中提到, 醫生說開銷不應該是個問題: " 因為貓咪從便宜的罐頭,像是偉嘉,也可以獲得許多的營養" 他建議飼主原料及副產品並不需要被過度關注,只要那個食物是被AAFCO認可的.

In an interview with The Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Dr. Einertson says cost needn’t be a problem “… because cats can get plenty of nutrition from the lower-cost canned foods, such as Friskies.” He recommends pet owners not concern themselves with ingredients, including by-products, as long as the label says the food is approved by AAFCO.

在我的13個寵物食品排行中,我將超市品牌的罐頭食品(像是喜躍)放在第10名.我並不同意Einertson說的,所有貓食只要是罐裝濕食都對貓是好的.

In my 13 best-to-worst pet food ranking, I put grocery store brand canned pet food (which is the most appropriate category for a food like Friskies) down at number 10. I don’t agree with Einertson that any old brand of cat food, as long as it’s canned and therefore wet, is optimal nutrition for your kitty. 

食物裡面的動物性蛋白質品質越好,他的生物價值(有效營養),消化吸收力都比較高. 在便宜的寵物食品中常用的劣質蛋白質,像是副產品(例如羽毛)的生物價值非常低或是幾乎是零.所以雖然罐頭內的水份好處多多, 如果使用的是劣質蛋白質,貓咪的消化與解毒器官會處於一種慢性的壓力,因為他們必須要處理這些本不該是貓咪天性所吃的食物.

The better the quality of animal protein in the food, the higher its biological value(nutritional effectiveness), digestibility and absorbability. Poor quality protein like that often found in rendered by-products used in inexpensive pet food can have little to no biological value (for example, feathers). So while the moisture content of canned food is tremendously beneficial, if the protein is poor quality, your cat’s organs of digestion and detoxification will be chronically stressed by processing food that is far removed from the natural diet of a feline.

新鮮,沒有經過加工的雞肉與內臟,冷凍至少24小時殺寄生蟲, 生食或熟食對健康貓咪的身體來說是非常容易消化吸收及利用的. 食物中含的越不是理想的蛋白質,對貓咪的營養越沒有幫助.

Fresh, unprocessed muscle and organ meats, frozen at least 24 hours to kill pathogens, served raw (or cooked, if that’s your preference) is the type of animal protein a healthy pet’s body can most easily digest, absorb, and make use of. The farther away from that ideal the protein in food gets, the less optimal it is as a source of nutrition for your pet.

便宜罐頭的另外一個問題是他們通常含有非常多的添加物,防腐劑或是填充物以讓他能達到AAFCO的標準.

Another problem with inexpensive canned pet foods is they often contain a long list of additives, preservatives, and fillers to make up for the lack of nutritious ingredients and to meet AAFCO’s complete-and-balanced standards.

經濟的絕佳品質貓食

Affordability of Excellent Quality Cat Food

如果你的預算沒有辦法經常性的餵食人食用等級或甚至好一些的貓罐頭,你可以考慮自己做部份或是全部的貓食.你可以完全控制預算以及貓食的品質.你也可以考慮混食自製鮮食與高品質的貓罐頭.

If your budget can’t accommodate human grade or even premium canned cat food on a regular basis, you can consider making some or all of your cat’s food at home. This gives you complete control over the quality of food your pet is eating and the money you spend to prepare her diet. You can also consider mixing things up with a few cans of high quality commercial cat food per week and the rest homemade in your kitchen.

如果你決定要自己做,你必須確定你做的食物有營養均衡.在我的寵物食品排行中你可以看到最後一名就是營養不均衡的自製鮮食.

The one thing you MUST do if you decide to prepare your cat’s meals yourself is make sure they are nutritionally balanced. In my pet food-ranking list, you’ll notice that dead last is an unbalanced homemade diet.

所以,不管你是要用我書裡面的食譜或是其它的,請確定那個食物不但是是和貓咪吃,也營養均衡.

So whether you use recipes from my book, Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats, or another source, please make sure your pet’s diet is not only species-appropriate, but also nutritionally balanced.

乾飼料對寵物的牙齒健康無益

Dry Food is NOT Better for Your Pet’s Teeth

Dr. Einertson也說有些主人不餵濕食是因為他們相信乾飼料對於貓咪的牙齒健康有益.但是, 我也同意他說的,研究已經證實這是個迷思.

Dr. Einertson also feels another reason some pet owners don’t feed wet food is because they believe dry food is better for a cat's teeth. But, he says – and I agree -- research has shown this to be a myth.

就像脆脆的食物對人的牙齒與牙齦並沒有幫助,乾飼料也一樣.

Just as crunchy human food does nothing to improve the condition of our teeth and gums, neither does kibble benefit your pet’s teeth.

貓咪需要的是每天或是一周幾次的刷牙.而且最好在他們還是幼貓的時候就開始.你可以看我的影片學習如何開始.

Kitties need their teeth brushed daily or several times a week. And the best time to introduce them to the routine is when they are kittens. For information on how to get started, you can view my video and read the accompanying article titled One of the Most Important Things You Can Do to Keep Your Cat Healthy.