The idea that different individuals of a single species have a different nutritional requirement has to be the biggest marketing con out! Companies are claiming to be able to tailor your dog’s or cat’s diet to its individual needs without any evidence whatsoever that these “needs” are at all different. It isn’t hard to see that the same “individualised” formulation will be sent out to multiple different individuals differentiated only by the name on the packet. It’s a great marketing ploy and provides the excuse to double the price for something that’s not a lot different from a “maintenance” diet under another label. Of course, it also makes owners feel virtuous that they’re taking special care of their pet too. Everyone’s a winner…. or are they?
To be clear, I’m not talking about taste preferences which of course I recognise exist and are absolutely valid. That’s entirely different. What they are seemingly claiming is that different individuals – potentially within the same litter, and certainly with regards to different breeds have somehow evolved to have different nutritional requirements. It simply isn’t true but is being used to justify a premium on the price.
It’s the next step beyond “prescription” diets for certain diseases, which as I’ve discussed before are primarily caused by the crap diet the poor dog/cat has been fed before – when they became ill on the “premium maintenance” diet. I’m waiting for the first class action case against a pet food company for claiming their excuse for “maintenance” food has done nothing of the sort.
Take note of how many variations of “maintenance foods” there are on the market too which rather indicates that there isn’t a magic bullet one size fits all “maintenance” formulation that has been scientifically derived at all. If the science of nutrition had really been worked out then all “maintenance” diets would have exactly the same formulation with maybe a very small % formulation difference, but they don’t. It’s not to do with the level of work or stage of life they’re at too.
I’m not talking about those relatively rare cases either where there is a genetic mutation that has resulted in a metabolic issue such as with Dalmatians that are known to have a genetic predisposition to uric acid urolithiasis i.e. the formation of uric acid stones in the urinary tract. This is due to a genetic defect in the enzyme uricase which is responsible for breaking down uric acid. A diet low in purines can help reduce uric acid production which is achieved by limiting the intake of foods that are high in purines, such as organ meats and certain types of fish. At least with these individuals there has been a definitive diagnosis and identification of the problem. I wouldn’t then describe a Dalmatian diet low in organ meat and fish a “prescription” diet either – there is nothing that requires a written prescription about the diet – it’s just one that avoids certain ingredients.
Fundamental Truth
Nutritionists in general seem to have completely missed the most fundamental point about diet and food, which is that when the true ancestral diet is fed it provides all nutrients such that when the energy satiation point has been reached, all macro and micronutrient constituents of the diet will have been automatically met, and will have been consumed in pretty much the perfect proportions such that small variations as occur between different prey sources will self-correct over the course of a couple of weeks or so as the body absorbs what it requires.
When the correct ancestral diet is provided, health is genuinely maintained pretty much on the same ancestral diet alone throughout life from birth onwards well into old age. If an individual needs more energy they simply eat more - that’s all.
Nature is harsh
In nature, injuries that happen to alpha predators during hunting and social interactions will tend to slow the individual down such that they reach a point where they are incapable of catching/killing or scavenging enough prey to sustain them. Their requirements haven’t altered, just their ability to source it. The body then compensates through catabolism, and illness takes them thereafter if a rival/competitor hasn’t killed them first. That’s how nature operates – very efficiently and yet rather cruelly I think we would all agree. Nature is harsh and not a fluffy existence as many would like us all to believe. I’m not saying there aren’t any incidences of compassion in nature, but on the whole only those who already have what they need have that luxury to display it.
Going back to the start of life in nature, cat and dog alpha predators are brought up by their mother predominantly. Her teats are not labelled male or female and her unified milk formulation feeds them all! The amount she produces is determined by her nutritional status, and her offspring’s nutrition is determined by competition between the siblings to make sure they get what they can. Those that get the most food earliest tend to grow fastest and can outcompete their siblings thereafter unless illness or injury creates a hiccup in that progression.
When the carnivore offspring are weaned in the wild, the mother regurgitates what she has eaten for them to eat initially. As they grow, she brings back small prey until her offspring are sufficiently grown to eat full-grown prey. At no stage do they eat anything other than their ancestral diet, which carries on thereafter when they join the pack hunt or for themselves depending on the normal social structure for the species.
On the whole, looking at natural history programmes, I don’t remember seeing any alpha predators that are overweight. In the event they have a big kill and gorge themselves beyond normal intake, they tend to lie around until they’re hungry again! It is only that owners present their pet with inappropriate food every day even when they’re obese and becoming ill that causes all the chronic problems in pets. Most wild animals carry considerably less body condition than we would think they should, except maybe going into winter when they expect to have to survive on much less fresh food.
The fact that the foods are inappropriate is down to the manufacturers who have vested interests, and the associated professions of nutritionists and veterinarians who largely refuse to question the inappropriate formulation and ignore the vested interests that went into their education.
The other proof as to what identifies the proper ancestral diet is the fact that when the proper ancestral diet is fed, it automatically starts to facilitate the body’s self-healing from a myriad of chronic health issues. It often doesn’t require medication beyond the initial health stabilisation whilst the body starts to correct its internal terrain that drives proper function. Of course, where disease has caused more permanent harm as happens with fibrosis of an organ such as the liver and/or kidneys etc, then whatever treatment is necessary to maintain life must be implemented. Some organs such as the liver have a greater ability to reverse disease and recover than others, but ultimately, I think other organs can recover much better than we imagine too. I know my friend and colleague Tom Lonsdale has had cats recover sufficient kidney function to lead a normal life having started on the Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) diet following diagnosis of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) from eating kibble all their life. So, it can be done, and if one cat can do it then many others can too. Where there’s life there’s hope is one of my maxims. The fact that most individuals don’t recover organ function and health is because even for those on “raw” diets, many owners are told to include inappropriate plant materials. Sufficient time must be given on the strict RMB diet without plant ingredients alongside appropriate treatment for recovery to occur.
The reason (apart from poor advice by veterinarians and nutritionists) why inappropriate diets persist unfortunately, is partly because a significant number of lay people have taken it on themselves to be self-proclaimed experts just because they managed to improve the health of their dog/cat doing something that was not entirely right but better than the “prescription” diet and pharma their veterinarian was recommending. They’ve lost faith in the veterinary profession as a whole, somewhat understandably, and maybe “science” too and have thrown the baby out with the bath water in the process. They have bought into the carnivores need fibre/veg/fruit myths partly because they’re the same myths we’re taught are healthy in people, and partly because some trusted veterinarians who have correctly condemned the ultra-processed foods that mainstream veterinary medicine peddles, haven’t yet fully grasped the importance of no plants. Although I never advocated feeding plants routinely before, it didn’t bother me if they got some from scraps and/or it was a very minor part of the diet. Many will cope I agree, and perhaps for many years, but when illness strikes and if we’re looking to optimise health for healthy longevity then compromises in diet will ultimately compromise health.
That was how I thought until I became carnivore myself and came to fully appreciate how even a slightly incorrect diet with very few unnecessary ingredients (plants) can prevent full recovery. It’s a bit like a peanut allergy where a tiny exposure can have a full-blown anaphylactic reaction, although obviously not quite as dramatic and severe as that. Nevertheless, adding veg and fruit even in small amounts can be enough to stop the gut healing and keep those allergies ticking over.
I can tell some of these well-intentioned do-gooders the truth until I’m blue in the face, but they refuse to listen and publicly insist I’m the one who is wrong when I try to help. It’s reached such a point now that I wonder if we will ever fully get back to full and proper pet carnivore health given the generations of poor feeding many have behind them. Epigenetics means that harm that isn’t coded for in the genes, passes down the generations. Pottinger’s cats experiments proved that it takes 3 generations of correct feeding to correct one generation of bad practice, and we’re generally well past one bad generation except for a few well-informed breeders.
Going back to the biggest marketing con of “individualised” foods, there isn’t any truly natural situation where anything other than the same species-appropriate diet is eaten by all members of the same species. As I said in my early articles on nutrition, if we don’t see something in nature and on wildlife programmes on TV, we don’t need to do it for our animals if we want to maintain optimum health.
For further advice on the correct way to feed, see my early substack articles on nutrition.