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Complete and balanced food for cats

MINERALS

These salts always consist of 2 components: an acid radical and a metal.
The difference between minerals and micronutrients is that minerals are also referred to as macroelements (over 0.01 % in the body) and micronutrients are also sometimes referred to as microelements (less than 0.01 % in the body).

The tables below set out the various acid radicals and metals in macroelements and microelements, where they occur and their function.

Acid radicals in macroelements:

Acid radical for microelements:

Metals for microelements:

Other metals are Molybdenum (Mo), Boron (B), Bromine (Br) and Chromium (Cr) the working of which is not entirely known.
The feed should NOT contain Lead (Pb) and Mercury (Hg) as these are toxic.

Metals for macro-elements:

FEEDING

Proteins
Proteins can be seen as a string of beads composed of various amino acids (the beads). The amount and the sort of amino acids determine the characteristics of the protein. It is important that all amino acids contain nitrogen as the building material for tissue. Proteins fulfil many different functions in the body, being important building blocks for tissue, hormones and enzymes. They furthermore fulfil an important role among other things in connection with the water balance, the elimination of toxic substances and the maintenance of a proper level of resistance to infection. Proteins can be derived from both vegetable (cereals, legumes, brewer’s yeast) and animal sources (meat, fish, poultry, eggs). The myth that lots of protein is bad for dogs has long since been disproved where growth is concerned. On the contrary, lots of protein contributes to improved health. Deficiencies lead to anaemia, low resistance to infections, loss of muscular tissue, etc. Deficiency is not only caused by insufficient absorption but can also be caused by the higher rate at which protein is broken down. This can be caused by many forms of stress (mental or physical pressure on the individual). An excess of protein not used by the dog can, however, lead to an allergic reaction/intolerance. This will frequently lead to red spots on the skin and lots of itching.

Fats
By far the most important function of fats is to supply energy. They furthermore provide unsaturated fatty acids (UFA). Fatty acids fulfil important functions in the nervous system and among other things in connection with the metabolism of the skin. Fats in feed are easily digestible for dogs with 95 - 98% generally being digested. Like humans, dogs have a preference for fat in their food, and it therefore often added to their feed as flavouring. Fat in food also facilitates the absorption of vitamins.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are always vegetable-derived. Starch and sugars are well-known examples of carbohydrates. Adifferentiation can be made between digestible carbohydrates (starch, small sugars) and non-digestible carbohydrates (cellulose, pectin) derived from vegetable-based cell walls and fibre. Carbohydrates promote the transport of the mashed up food in the intestines (the intestinal passage) by stimulating the intestinal wall. Their drawback is that they increase the amount of excrement, also due to the fact that they contain a substantial amount of fluid.

Minerals
Although in terms of amounts, the role played by minerals is tiny, they are indispensable. It is precisely because only tiny amounts are concerned that errors are easily made. Minerals can be sub-divided into macrominerals and microminerals, or in other words micronutrients. Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorous (P) are well-known macrominerals. They play an major role as building blocks of the skeleton and depending on the physiological stage, must be provided in the feed in a fixed ratio. If the phosphorous is vegetable-derived, it is often not able to be absorbed from the food as this phosphorous is fixed in a non-soluble form (phytate). Other important macroelements are Magnesium (Mg) (skeleton, enzymes), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K) and Chlorine (Cl). Examples of microelements are Iron (Fe) (blood , oxygen transport), Copper (Cu) (pigment forming, blood), Zinc (Zn) (enzymes, skin), Manganese (Mn) (enzymes), Iodine (I)(thyroid hormone) and Selenium (Se)(muscular tissue, antioxidant).

Vitamins
Vitamins are derived from both vegetable and animal sources. It is usual to categorise vitamins as water soluble or water non-soluble. Vitamins are also only needed in tiny amounts and dogs can produce a number of vitamins themselves. Examples of important vitamins and their function are listed below.

The most important functions of a number of vitamins:

Energy requirements
All processes in the body require energy. This energy is used to maintain body temperature, for the production of tissue and to carry out work, for example. The energy required must be provided in the feed. In principle, dogs eat until their energy needs are satisfied. However, due to boredom, diet and the tastiness of the food, many dogs consume more than their energy requirements, getting fat and putting on weight in the process. It is advisable to check your dog’s nutritional condition on a regular basis. Dogs store reserves on their rib walls in the form of fat. With shorthaired dogs, you should be easily able to see the last 2 ribs and with longhaired varieties, you should be easily able to feel the ribs. Start with the amount indicated on the packaging and by checking your dog once a week, adjust this amount accordingly; give a little more if the ribs can be felt too easily, and a little less if you are unable to feel the ribs properly. Keep a close eye on large breed pups known for their rapid growth.

FATS

Fatty acids:

Functions of fat:
1) taste and structure
2) vitamins A, D, E and K are soluble in fat
3) reserve food stored in body fat
Additional functions of this body fat are:
a) subcutaneous connective tissue for protection, isolation and shape
b) protection of vital organs such as the heart, kidneys and eyes
c) support: e.g. toe pads
4) fats and proteins provide the building material for cells
5) essential fatty acids are responsible for healthy skin and hair
6) arachidon acid is active in the skin, but is scarcely found in feed. Dogs produce this themselves from liolenic acid using vitamin B6.

Rancid:
Fats, particularly unsaturated fatty acids can turn rancid of oxidize. Rancid fats no longer have any nutritional value. This can be prevented by keeping the feed cool, dry and dark or together with an antioxidant:
- Etoxikine (agricultural toxin)
- Butyl-hydroxy-anisole (BHA)
- Butyne-hydroxy-toluene (BHT)
- Vitamin C (natural agent)
- Citric acid (natural agent)
Norm: Food in which 25% of the kilocalories are provided by fats, 5% of which are essential fatty acids is more than adequate.

  VITAMINS AND WATER

Vitamin A or Retinol is soluble in fat and is found in fish oil, egg yolk, plants, cheese, butter, milk and cream.
Vitamin A deficiency will cause growth disorders, susceptibility to illnesses, disorders of the nervous system and the reproductive system, an increase in bone volume, night blindness to blindness and the keratanization of the cornea.
Requirements: 100 I.E. per day per kilogram body weight.1 I.E. Vitamin A is 0.3 µg (microgram).

Vitamin B1 or Thiamine is soluble in water and is found in meat, beans, green vegetables, milk and egg. Vitamin B1 deficiency will cause disorders of the nervous system, skin and blood cell production. Thiamine is destroyed by antivitamin Thiaminase. This is found in raw freshwater fish and raw herring. Cooking destroys the Thiaminase.

Vitamin B4 or Choline is soluble in water. It functions as a lipotrope, preventing fatty deposits in the liver, and stimulates the parasympaticus (part of the central nervous system).

Vitamin B5 or Nicotine acid is soluble in water. A deficiency in Vitamin B5 will cause the "black-tongue disease", a disorder of the mucous membranes of the mouth and tongue.

Vitamin B6 or Pyridoxine is soluble in water and is found in liver, kidneys, milk, egg, yeast and rice. It is responsible for liolenic acid into arachidonic acid (see fats). Among other things, a Vitamin B6 deficiency will cause skin disorders.

Vitamin B12 or Cobalamin is soluble in water and is found in meat and some plant sorts. It provides the building material for RNA and DNA (proteins in the cell core) and facilitates the production of red blood cells.

Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid is soluble in water and contained in fresh vegetables and fruit. Dogs can produce Vitamin C themselves. Giving them extra Vitamin C when they produce it themselves is pointless. A failure to produce sufficient quantities leading to a Vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy (bleeding of the mucous membranes of the mouth and gums). Vitamin C also influences bone development and dogs that suffer from HD or that have stiff legs can be given extra Vitamin C.

Vitamin D or Calciferol is soluble in fat and is contained in cod-liver oil, eggs and vegetable oils. Plants contain ergosterol, a pro-vitamin D that in humans in converted into Vitamin D under the influence of sunlight. This is not or scarcely the case with dogs. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, otherwise known as Rachitis.
An excess of Vitamin D causes a leaching of calcium from the bones, leaving a painful, rough bone surface. Calcium deposits will then build up in the heart, the lungs and the kidneys, affecting their functioning. Daily requirement: 7 I.E. per kilogram body weight at the minimum Pups 3x as much. 1 I.E. – 0.025 µg (microgram).

Vitamin E or Alpha Tocoferol is soluble in fat and healthy dogs always have a reserve stored in their livers. A deficiency causes muscular dystrophy, but suspected deficiencies have only been found a few times, in racing greyhounds.

Vitamin H or Biotin is soluble in water and is a constituent of many different nutrients (especially yeast) and is a co-enzyme.
Vitamin H deficiency causes growth disorders, skin problems, disorders of the nervous system and the body’s water balance. The white of an egg contains avidin which destroys biotine. Cooking the egg destroys avidin.

Vitamin K is soluble in fat and is contained in spinach, fishmeal and carrots. Vitamin K facilitates the production of prothrombine (coagulation protein) in the liver and is produced by the colibacteria in the intestines. A Vitamin K deficiency causes haemophilia. Rat poison destroys Vitamin K...!!!

WATER

  PROTEINS

Essential proteins:
- lysine - threonine
- trypophane - valine
- methionine (sulphurous) - cystine (sulphurous)

Proteases:
Proteases are the enzymes needed to break down protein.
- pepsine is the enzyme in the stomach
- tripsine and chymotripsine are the enzymes in the duodenum
- erepsine is the enzyme in the small intestine

Non-digestible: Keratine (skin, hair and nails)

Poorly digestible: Callogen (bone, cartilage, connective tissue)

Amino acids rapidly pass through the intestinal wall. Amino acids that remain behind are converted by putrefactive bacteria; Lysine into cadaverine and Tryptophane into indole. Both of these produce H2S gas that gives the excrement its smell.
It is not possible for total proteins to pass through the intestinal wall, except in the case of pups in their first 24 to 48 hours. At this stage, globulines (anti-body proteins) can be absorbed from the colostrum.

Disseminated proteins:
These are proteins that resemble fatty acids and sugars. These proteins have been converted into body fat.

Function of proteins:
1) building blocks for the production of proteins naturally produced by the body.
2) if the body does not need any building material, the liver will uncouple the nitrogen, producing ammonia. Ammonia is a toxin that is therefore converted into the non-toxic uranium which the body will eliminate via the kidneys.

Biological value:
The biological value is the indication for the presence of essential proteins. These should be 60 at the minimum.

If we consider the various kinds of nutrition, we arrive at the following biological values (BV):
Chicken egg = BV 96
Beef = BV 76
Pork = BV 79
Fish = BV approx. 80
Heated soy beans = BV 75
Potatoes = BV 71
Peas = BV 48
Beans = BV 38

Complementing is the addition of proteins to increase the BV.

AII-Meat-Syndrome:
If a dog were only to eat meat, it would develop the AII-meat-syndrome caused by an excess of proteins and a deficiency in other nutrients. Symptoms are brittle bones, bad teeth, iodine deficiency, an incorrect calcium-phosphorous ratio and poor resistance to infection. The AII-meat-syndrome is also referred to as a protein-calorie deficiency.

Norm: Between 25 and 30% of the required kilo calories must be able to be derived from proteins.

In a number of cases it is namely so that when the quality of the animal protein source is high, the proportion is low. Most of the high-quality animal protein sources show a high protein content. This means that less can be taken in because otherwise the protein contents in the end-product becomes too high.

  CARBOHYDRATES

single sugars: glucose, fructose and galactose

double sugars: sucrose or saccharose (cane and beet sugar) and lactose (milk sugar)

poly-sugars: starch, glycogen and cellulose

Sugars can only be dissolved in the blood (and thereby converted into energy by the cells) if they are completely broken down into separate molecules. The more molecules there are, the more difficult they are to dissolve and consequently digest.

Expansion
Starch is firstly broken down in the intestines into large pieces of sugar, then to double sugars and finally into glucose, after which it can be absorbed into the blood. Due to an absence of bacteria flora (as in cows) cellulose can not be broken down by dogs. Dogs can digest cellulose by heating, grinding or mincing. Cellulose can also be broken down by the process of expansion (= change in pressure). An expanded lump can therefore be easily digested by dogs.

Lactose
Lactose is converted into galactose and glucose by the enzyme lactase. In later life, dogs’ production of lactase decreases; lactose is no longer digested and works as a laxative. This can be prevented by giving your dog milk (or milk products) from when it’s a puppy onward so that its body continues to produce lactase. It's inadvisable to give your cat cows milk as this contains lactose. Cats are unable to digest lactose which can cause diarrhoea.

Insulin
Sugar is converted into energy by the cells under the influence of the hormone insulin. Part of the sugar is temporarily stored and another part used to build up body fat. If a dog has no or insufficient insulin, it will suffer from diabetes.

Fibre
The analysis given by dog food manufacturers will state the amount of "fibre" contained by the dog food per 100 gram. This fibre is formed by Cellulose and Keratin. In principle it is indigestible, but nevertheless necessary for a good intestinal peristaltic reflex (contraction). Cellulose furthermore retains water.
Fibre deficiency causes constipation and an excess of fibre causes diarrhoea and dehydration.

Holes
Other than humans, dogs’ saliva does not contain enzymes that will start to break down sugars. This is why dogs do not get holes in their teeth. However, biscuits that are not really meant for dogs will leave substantial deposit!!!

Norm: Feed that provides half of the kilo-calories from carbohydrates is more than adequate.