Meow Emperor

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餵食貓咪:了解貓咪所需的基本營養 

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

作者:Lisa A. Pierson, DVM

我們餵貓咪吃了太多的碳水化合物.

We Are Feeding Cats Too Many Carbohydrates.

在他們自然的設定裡,貓咪(天生的食肉動物),不會攝取大量的碳水化合物(穀類),而在我們常餵的乾乾裡,含有很高比例的碳水化合物.

In their natural setting, cats—whose unique biology makes them true carnivores--would not consume the high level of carbohydrates (grains) that are in the dry foods that we routinely feed them.

你永遠不會看到野貓在非洲草原上追逐一群餅乾,或是把老鼠曬乾了跟玉米一起吃.

You would never see a wild cat chasing down a herd of biscuits running across the plains of Africa or dehydrating her mouse and topping it off with corn meal gluten souffle.

在野外,你的貓咪會吃高蛋白,高含水量,以肉為主的飲食,及適當的脂肪,約只有3~5%的熱量來自於碳水化合物.

In the wild, your cat would be eating a high protein, high-moisture content, meat-based diet, with a moderate level of fat and with only approximately 3-5 percent of her diet consisting of calories from carbohydrates.

乾乾裡平均含有35~50%的熱量來自於碳水化合物.有些便宜的乾乾更多.

The average dry food contains 35-50 percent carbohydrate calories. Some of the cheaper dry foods contain even higher levels.

這並不是大自然要你的貓咪吃到的.

This is NOT the diet that Mother Nature intended for your cat to eat.

優質的罐罐,含有大約3~5%來自於碳水化合物的熱量.

A high quality canned food, on the other hand, contains approximately 3-5 percent carbohydrate calories.

請注意,並不是所有的罐罐都是低碳水化合物的.例如:大多數的希爾思罐罐(處方及非處方)含有很高的碳水化合物,而這些食物不是我會選擇給貓咪吃的.

Please note that not all canned foods are suitably low in carbohydrates. For instance, most of the Hill's Science Diet (over-the-counter) and the Hill's Prescription diets are very high in carbohydrates and are not foods that I would choose to feed.

貓咪因為缺乏專門消化碳水化合物的酵素,以及一種在唾液裡的酵素叫澱粉酶.

Cats have a physiological decrease in the ability to utilize carbohydrates due to the lack of specific enzymatic pathways that are present in other mammals, and the lack a salivary enzyme called amylase.

貓咪不需要碳水化合物,更令人憂心的是,大量的碳水化合物會對他們的健康造成影響.

Cats have no dietary need for carbohydrates and, more worrisome is the fact that a diet that is high in carbohydrates can be detrimental to their health as I explain below.

餵食肉動物吃肉口味的穀片就跟餵食草動物(馬/牛)吃肉一樣的不合理,對嗎? 所以,為什麼我們還持續用餵食草動物的方式餵我們的食肉動物? 為什麼我們會給他一個如此不適當的飲食?

With this in mind, it is as illogical to feed a carnivore a steady diet of meat-flavored cereals as it would be to feed meat to a vegetarian like a horse or a cow, right? So why are we continuing to feed our carnivores like herbivores? Why are we feeding such a species-inappropriate diet?

答案非常的簡單:穀物很便宜.乾乾很方便.符合預算及方便性才能大賣.

The answers are simple. Grains are cheap. Dry food is convenient. Affordability and convenience sells.

但是,高碳水化合物,植物性,低含水量的乾乾會是貓咪最好的食物嗎?  當然不是.

However, is a carbohydrate-laden, plant-based, water-depleted dry food the best diet for our cats? Absolutely not.

嚴格的食肉動物天生適合吃肉,而非穀物,而且他們需要從食物裡攝取水分.

Obligate carnivores are designed to eat meat – not grains - and they need to consume water with their food as explained below.