Oldest Cats Aged 34 And 38 Years Ate Bacon And Coffee Each Morning. WTH?

boris

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Hyperthyroidism in cats was almost unheard of 20-30 years ago and now is almost a given in cats that live to a certain age. Most certainly it's diet and environment. I'd love to get my boy to a happy 25 and am going to try a raw diet again and hope that helps us prevent some of this bad stuff.

Hyperthyroidism | International Cat Care

I am pretty confident that under the Peat prism this is would be considered misdiagnosed HYPOthyroidism.

Basically meaning: The problem is not too much thyroid hormone, but T3 can't do it's job in the cell for whatever reason.
 
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I'm more brushed up now on health, so I'm going to get another crack at this.I feel that if you could preserve the cat's kidney health, the cat would live a long life, barring no other acute diseases from infection or being able to avoid hyperthyroidism.

Seems like these cats didn't eat as much protein as normally cats are fed. I doubt he would be feeding so much bacon and eggs. His protein source is not as heavy on sulfur and phosphates, and that he was feeding his cats vegetables. Perhaps the cats blood is more alkaline, and the less acidity in the blood required less work from the kidneys. In this way their kidney was preserved and able to last longer. There was an abundance of alkaline minerals - calcium (from cream), magnesium (from broccoli and asparagus - although leaves would be better (if the cat would eat them, maybe better to mix the leaves with the chow), sodium (from bacon), and potassium (veggies and bacon). In addition, we don't know if these cats roam and also had access to grass and other plants, which I've seen them eat (maybe it's just to make into balls that they retch, or they also actually digest). The coffee probably helps too since it increases their metabolism.

I've begun to add a mix of the ff into their food - b1, b2, b3, salt, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, trace minerals, and taurine (since it's cooked and it's essential), and sometimes calcium carbonate (when the fish is large and the bones had to be removed). I'm thinking of replacing the chloride with something else though, since too much chlorides can contributes to higher blood acidity, and make the kidney wore more.

I've read an article that says our kidneys are 100% operational only until age 25, which is about the age we stop growing. It seems more than a coincidence that we also need a lot of sulfur-rich protein to grow. It appears that the kidney being 100% was meant to support the growth stage where the sulfur-rich amino acids are needed. Intake of these amino acids would increase blood acidity, but it is not a problem at this stage for us because our kidneys can handle the acid load. Past age 25, we should move away from sulfur-rich proteins. This is where we should eat more glycine-rich foods, and less of the sulfur-rich proteins. All throughout though, it helps that we drink fruit juice and eat vegetables (or drink vegetable juice) as these provide us with alkalinity in order to lessen the acid load. Lessening the acid load would not only make the kidney work less, but also allow for carbon dioxide to play a larger role in contributing to the desired pH of our blood. With less acidity from other sources (such as sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid from sulfur- and phosphate-rich protein, as well as lactic acid) in the blood, more carbon dioxide would be needed in the blood to maintain the necessary blood pH. The more CO2 in the blood, the better our body tissues are oxygenated, and the more energy can be produced. Energy is needed for our health, as we all know. A surplus of energy makes the body develo?p better.

Are cats really as carnivorous as we think they are? If they're fed more vegetables, to give them alkalinizing minerals, would they live longer? This also made me think about assessing what I feed my koi, as they may be low on magnesium.

When we apply this knowledge to cats and to our other pets, we can quickly and easily verify the soundness of what we have learned from Ray Peat and each other. When we see our pets live healthy, happy, and long lives with us, we see them repaying us for our care with them validating our approach to living. They are not lab animals, but in a way they are, but given the best love and care.

Very interesting thoughts, thank you.

I was wondering if after close to 3 years since writing this you have any further thoughts on what you think the ideal Bioenergetic/Peaty diet for cats is?
 

yerrag

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Very interesting thoughts, thank you.

I was wondering if after close to 3 years since writing this you have any further thoughts on what you think the ideal Bioenergetic/Peaty diet for cats is?
Thanks for taking interest and for the comments. I had forgotten about this post. I would remove magnesium chloride from the supplements as it's an acidic load. And as to magnesium being lacking, probably enough cooked leafy greens and cooked wild seafood would increase it.

Also, if I had not said it - no starch such as wheat and rice. It would be good for the gut. Carbs feed microbes, and since it's not part of their wild diet, their gut is not built to handle carbs well, so dysbiosis could eaily occur, and since cats are the kind of animal that doesn't readily show they're sick, it's easy to go under our radar that they're sick. It's not uncommon for us to see a seemingly healthy cat suddenly get sick and die. It doesn't help that they're fed pellets, and pallets are carb-loaded.
 
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Thanks for taking interest and for the comments. I had forgotten about this post. I would remove magnesium chloride from the supplements as it's an acidic load. And as to magnesium being lacking, probably enough cooked leafy greens and cooked wild seafood would increase it.

Also, if I had not said it - no starch such as wheat and rice. It would be good for the gut. Carbs feed microbes, and since it's not part of their wild diet, their gut is not built to handle carbs well, so dysbiosis could eaily occur, and since cats are the kind of animal that doesn't readily show they're sick, it's easy to go under our radar that they're sick. It's not uncommon for us to see a seemingly healthy cat suddenly get sick and die. It doesn't help that they're fed pellets, and pallets are carb-loaded.

So what are you feeding your cat nowadays?

The big questions for me are:
-How much if any carbs should a cat be fed, and what types? I read that a wild mouse is about 1.6% carbohydrate, I am guessing from blood glucose and organs. On the contrary blood drained meat like chicken mince has very little carbs. Also my cat definitely loves licking the spoon if I am eating ice cream, suggesting it has a taste for sweet foods.

-Plants, if so what? My cat has cat grass so they eat that regularly, but I am wondering is that a sign of something missing from their regular food.

-Is high calcium good? I imagine in the wild cats ate many small game whole, like mice etc.

-Is supplemental hormones beneficial for a female cat that has been sprayed, for example a small dose of Progesterone, and if so how much?

Also see this post I made in another thread with the idea of feeding your cat lab grown mice or rats bred for feeding to snakes and reptiles, great way to get them skin (collagen), bones (calcium), organs (fat soluble vitamins), blood (glucose), flesh (protein), etc.
 

yerrag

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So what are you feeding your cat nowadays?
I usually feed them cooked fish with grated coconut, and with the following supplements:

Taurine
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacinamide
Pyridoxine
Salt
Calcium Carbonate, light

I could take out the cacium carbonate though, as the cats eat the bones of the fish. They also eat off what bones I leave on my plate, mostly chicken bones they can handle. i used to add cooked green leaves I eat, but they get a lot of calcium and magnesium from the fish they eat. They like milk, and I give it to them, but just a tiny bit, as they don't need it. And when I feed the koi with fresh fish that has no thiaminase, they get small amounts of fresh fish. As I learned the hard way fresh fish isn't good for them. Earlier cats died from probably too much iodine or thyroid, as they became hyperthyroid and died. It was after I observed one cat having the lump at the neck, wondered about it, and saw the cat eventually die that I made the connection. I saved two cats who developed hyperthyroid symptoms, and gave them selenomethionine, and quickly they recovered. So, after that, no more fresh fish as a staple.

-How much if any carbs should a cat be fed, and what types? I read that a wild mouse is about 1.6% carbohydrate, I am guessing from blood glucose and organs. On the contrary blood drained meat like chicken mince has very little carbs. Also my cat definitely loves licking the spoon if I am eating ice cream, suggesting it has a taste for sweet foods.
Carbs just as a treat, which isn't much.

Is high calcium good? I imagine in the wild cats ate many small game whole, like mice etc.
Yes, I think good mineral balance is good. So, as cats eat a lot of meat and that is naturally acidic, good mineral intake is needed. This keeps the kidneys from having to make ammonium from glutamate, as there's plenty of potassium, magnesium, sodium, and calcium to use for the kidneys to pair with acidic anions like chloride and sulfates in order to excrete as urine. The coconut has lots of potassium, bones calcium, salt sodium, and fish magnesium. The vco in coconut flesh is also good as it goes to the large intestines intact with the coconut flesh, and keeps the microbiome balance in the gut optimal - I would hope.

-Is supplemental hormones beneficial for a female cat that has been sprayed, for example a small dose of Progesterone, and if so how much?
I think so, although I wouldn't know how much. Perhaps a drop of it once a week would do. Thanks for reminding me.

Also see this post I made in another thread with the idea of feeding your cat lab grown mice or rats bred for feeding to snakes and reptiles, great way to get them skin (collagen), bones (calcium), organs (fat soluble vitamins), blood (glucose), flesh (protein), etc.
Yeah, I don't know if I want to do that. I had to let go of a snake I caught once because I couldn't knowingly buy mice that I would like to keep as pets, just to feed it to the snake. It's a python that would grow big, and nice to have one.
 

yerrag

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What about feeding cats sugars? Do they eat fruit or juice?
I don't see them climbing trees to steal fruit. That would be the low lying fruit for them, stationary and easy pickings. Maybe they'll need to brush their teeth too afterwards.
 
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I don't see them climbing trees to steal fruit. That would be the low lying fruit for them, stationary and easy pickings. Maybe they'll need to brush their teeth too afterwards.

but sugar although not paleo for cats may help them live longer.
 
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but sugar although not paleo for cats may help them live longer.
Exactly, that is such a weird argument on a Ray Peat forum where the entire premise is based on moving past these simple evolutionary narratives (which have their use but are by no means the end of the story).
 

yerrag

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but sugar although not paleo for cats may help them live longer.
Exactly, that is such a weird argument on a Ray Peat forum where the entire premise is based on moving past these simple evolutionary narratives (which have their use but are by no means the end of the story).
Saying so without making an argument as to why, and agreeing on it. I don't get it. Am I missing something?

What kind of carbs? Starch? From grains or tubers? From fruits? From cane sugar? White or brown? Molasses?
 
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metabolizm

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My cat is pretty good at telling me what he likes and doesn’t like.

So far, likes: cooked poultry, offal, ice cream, butter, eggs (cooked or raw), and cheese. It’s mainly just poultry though. He’s not really into fish. He doesn’t really like conventional “cat food” in pouches either, but he’ll nibble at it when he’s hungry. Trying to stop using that altogether though. We’ve only had him a few weeks.
 
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