FAT:  To Trim Or Not To Trim?

I was asked the following questions recently in a Facebook group discussion:

“How much fat is needed in diet of cats and dogs? Shall I remove all fat or leave some? Some people argue that, like us, cats and dogs need fat, especially for their brain function. Can you explain?”

My answer:

There is evidence of a bias in this question regarding the fat needs of cats and dogs. It lies in the two little words contained in your question: “like us.”  The truth is, human needs for fat are quite low. Our addiction to it, on the other hand, is more or less epidemic. But people argue themselves blue and confuse others over the question of how much fat we need because the matter can’t be settled the same way we settle it relative to dog and cat nutrition — by watching the wild model. That’s because unfortunately, there’s not one single uncivilized human left on this planet eating a truly normal, natural, sense-directed diet. Not one.

How this muddies the waters

So, we humans have nobody to trust for this information except other confused, agendized, addicted, over-educated members of modern civilization. Therefore, what we WANT to eat — what we’re addicted to — is always going to show up at the top of the list of foods we “need.” That’s why the worst raw feeding advice comes from people who think humans are omnivores or carnivores. Because of their belief that our diets should be centered around fatty meats, they will NEVER address the fat-heavy macronutrient imbalances in the diets of domestic animals. They don’t even recognize these imbalances in their own diets.

This all works in favor of the “holistic” health industry and that’s why so many practitioners promote this inaccurate information about the human diet. People who eat a biologically inappropriate diet are always going to require the disease ‘management’ tools that practitioners sell. We get the same bad advice from the “alternative” practitioners that we get from the allopaths, and for precisely the same reasons.

We DO have natural models for cat and dog feeding behavior

When it comes to observing dietary behaviors relative to wild cats and dogs, we have perfectly reliable models we can observe and research. And when we observe these animals, we see the niche that they fill in nature.  As apex predators, their JOB is to keep populations strong by dispatching and consuming the WEAK. What is the biggest cause of weakness among prey animals? The vagaries of the food supply, of course. This means that much of the time, predators are eating underfed, under-fattened animals. And these prey animals are lean to begin with! Have you ever seen a healthy, skinned wild rabbit? Have you ever de-feathered a wild pheasant? Where is all the fat that cats and dogs are supposed to eat?

The ‘costs’ of fat

In nature, fat is very expensive. The wearer must have storage and insulation needs that offset the FUNCTIONAL cost of carrying body fat. What does that mean?  Well, for one thing when you’re fat, you don’t sprint, you waddle. If you can waddle very FAST, like a Grizzly bear, you can afford to store 4 or 5 months of reserve fuel on your body, like bears do every summer and fall.  Animals like otters, seals and ducks that live in water require fat for insulation. BUT they ALSO have special adaptations that allow them to escape predators despite their extra bulk. For them, the benefits of carrying fat offset the costs. Everyone else must carry as little as they can get away with.

When we compare wild prey to the way modern agricultural producers raise animals with the primary goal of maximizing ‘hanging weight,’ the problem becomes inescapably obvious. NO owner of a domestic dog or cat need worry about their animals not getting “enough” fat.  Even with close trimming, there is plenty of fat on any agricultural animal to more than meet their needs.  What we have to be concerned with, rather, is not EXCEEDING their needs.  That’s what causes most disease in domestic dogs and cats (and humans too, for that matter).