From Wilderness to Windowsills:

The evolutionary history of cats suggests that the ancestors of modern cats began their evolutionary journey thousands of years ago. These wild felines evolved into agile and efficient hunters, adapting to a carnivorous diet based primarily on meat and fat obtained from hunting. Because of this evolution, the protein requirement of cats is substantially greater than that of other species, with kittens reported to require 1.5 times more protein than that of the young of omnivorous species and adults requiring 2 to 3 times more protein than adults of omnivorous species.

Protein Power for the Win

Cats have a higher need for protein as an energy source and require greater levels of specific amino acids and related compounds in their diet, including taurine, arginine, methionine, and cysteine, than omnivores. These amino acid compounds are not stored in large amounts in the body, and cats cannot synthesize them in sufficient quantities. Deficiencies of these amino acids can result in multiple clinical signs and adverse outcomes.

For example, prolonged taurine deficiency can result in blindness, reproductive failure, or neonatal loss, and the development of dilated cardiomyopathy. Arginine deficiency can result in hyperammonaemia, leading to salivation, neurologic abnormalities, hyperesthesia, emesis, tetany, and coma, in severe cases.

From Whiskers to Tails – Vitamins Matter

Cats also have greater dietary requirements for certain vitamins than many other mammals due to the reduced activity of enzymes involved in the synthesis pathways of vitamins A and D and niacin. Cats are unable to convert sufficient beta-carotene to retinol, the active form of vitamin A. Therefore, they must obtain vitamin A in its biologically active form from animal tissues in their diet. Although vitamin A plays a vital role in the maintenance of vision, the growth of bone and muscle, and reproduction, vitamin A deficiency is rare in cats and typically only develops in cats with severe liver failure or gastrointestinal diseases that result in the malabsorption of fat. They are deficient in 7-dehydrocholesterol, a precursor required for the synthesis of vitamin D. However, because vitamin D is found at high concentrations in the liver and fatty tissues of their prey, cats typically meet their vitamin D needs through their diet.

Tryptophan and Tyrosine Connecting Feline Temperament

Tryptophan and tyrosine are the precursors to serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitters that play an important role in learning, impulse control, and emotions. A high-tryptophan diet can help reduce aggression and improve an individual’s ability to cope with stress. For example, in certain studies when fed a high-protein diet without L-tryptophan supplementation, cats had higher dominance aggression scores than when fed a high-protein diet supplemented with L-tryptophan or a low-protein diet with or without L-tryptophan supplementation.

Feline Taste Buds Decoded

They also reject foods containing monophosphate nucleotides, which can accumulate in mammalian tissue after death and may explain their aversion to decaying flesh. Their sense of taste is similar to that of other mammals, who can detect salty, bitter, and sour stimuli and amino acids; however, they lack taste receptors for sweet carbohydrates and thus show no preference for carbohydrate sweeteners such as sucrose.

Water – The Elixir of Life

Cats’ lack of preference for water consumption is a notable feature of their nutritional evolution. Hence, a wet diet is essential for cat nutrition. These foods provide increased hydration, which is critical for felines, who are prone to dehydration due to their evolutionary history. Their ancestors got the majority of their hydration from the prey they hunted, which influenced the development of highly concentrated kidneys in feline species.

Since they cannot synthesize certain essential nutrients, such as taurine and vitamin A, in sufficient amounts from plant sources, cats require a diet high in animal proteins to avoid nutritional deficiencies and maintain good health. Cats’ food preferences are also strongly influenced by their mothers’ food preferences and the foods they were exposed to during pregnancy and lactation.

(Dr. Aryak Mishra – M.V.Sc Scholar, Department of Animal Nutrition; Dr. Ankur Pandey – – M.V.Sc Scholar, Department of veterinary Anatomy; Dr. Ajay Patel – M.V.Sc Scholar, Department of Animal Nutrition; Dr. Akshat Kaushik – M.V.Sc Scholar, Department of livestock production and management – College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Duvasu, Mathura)