DW: I am sorry to hear about your cat, since I know how much you care about her. In terms of dietary choices, I would encourage you to continue to research this issue. Nutrition, whether human or animal, is a daunting subject to take on because it sits at the intersection of science, politics, marketing, urban legend, biological drives, and complex psychoemotional dynamics.
To take one example, much of the crap that is sold as kibble (dried food) should not be feed to any living thing. However, there are high-grade products and these were commonly used for cats, along with prepared meat products, at the veterinary clinic I worked at. The reasoning at the time was that a solid diet of "soft food" promoted dental issues, whereas the kibble acted as a type of kitty toothbrush. I do not know what the current thinking on that is.
Two very good product lines for cats that have been recommended to us are:
Natural Cat Food, Raw Cat Food
Natural Premium Healthy Pet food for Cats Dogs Ferrets and Human Health Products
There are a few issues to consider, however. The first is that, while you might feel wonderful to have purchased a high-quality product, your cat may feel otherwise. This happened to us - despite showing our cats the label, ingredient list, and bill for this particular product, they would have nothing to do with it.
The second issue is cost. We have three cats, so this is a not inconsiderable expense. As in human nutrition, I am also concerned about the level of hype in the veterinary marketplace. It may sound great that my cats are getting organic yams, cranberry, and rosemary along with their free-range, non-caged, omega 3-plumped rodents, but are those things really benefiting them? And even if they are, how can I be assured of their quality? In our clinic, the process of vetting a single supplement is onerous - looking at quality assurance reports, checking on heavy metal toxicity, reviewing chromatography for viable active ingredients. To have to do this with our cats' food would be challenging.
In the end, we made a decision that seems mutually beneficial in terms of providing them with a raw foods diet - we allow them to hunt. This is not a decision we came to lightly, particularly since my wife has a meltdown every time she sees a carcass laying on our step (when I am not fast enough to dispose of it). We are also well aware that animals that hunt can also quickly become the hunted, so we do limit their time outside. However, we believe that our cats are entitled to a quality of life defined on their own terms and in accordance with their own ecology.
Ironically, the one cat we brought home from the shelter to be an outdoor cat rarely goes outside, preferring to live the life of a pampered princess.
