Cats Hunting and Diet

Relative to size, domestic cats are very effective predators. They ambush and dispatch vertebrate prey using tactics similar to those of leopards and tigers by pouncing; they then deliver a lethal neck bite with their long canine teeth that severs the victim's spinal cord, or asphyxiate it by crushing the windpipe.

The domestic cat can hunt and eat about one thousand species—many big cats will eat fewer than 100. Although, theoretically, big cats can kill most of these species as well, they often do not due to the relatively low nutritional content that smaller animals provide. An exception is the leopard, which commonly hunts rabbits and many other smaller animals.

Cats Hunting and Diet: Cat's teeth are designed for eating meat!
Cats have highly specialized teeth and a digestive tract suitable to the digestion of meat. The premolar and first molar together compose the carnassial pair on each side of the mouth, which efficiently functions to shear meat like a pair of scissors. While this is present in canines, it is highly developed in felines. The cat's tongue has sharp spines, or papillae, designed to retain and rip flesh from a carcass. These papillae are small backward-facing hooks that contain keratin and assist in their grooming. Unlike most carnivores, cats eat almost no vegetable matter apart from that found in the digestive tracts of their prey. Whereas bears and dogs commonly supplement their diet of meat with fruits, berries, roots, and honey when they can get them, cats feed exclusively on meat, usually freshly killed. Cats, including the great cats, have a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness, which is probably related to their meat-only habits.

Cats Hunting and Diet: A cat cannot live on a diet of 'rabbit food'!
In captivity, cats cannot be adapted to an unsupplemented vegetarian diet because they cannot synthesize all the amino acids they need from plant material. Specifically this applies to taurine, the absence of which causes the cat's retina to slowly degenerate, causing eye problems and (eventually) irreversible blindness. This condition is called central retinal degeneration (CRD). Cow's milk is a poor source of taurine and adult cats are generally lactose intolerant. Lactose-free milk is perfectly safe, but still not a substitute for meat. This contrasts with domesticated dogs, which commonly are fed a mixture of meat and vegetable products and have been adapted in some cases to a vegetarian diet. Despite this, however, the majority of brand-name cat foods are primarily grain based, often containing large amounts of corn or rice and supplemented with meats and essential vitamins. Some vegetarian owners feed their cats a vegetarian diet containing supplemental taurine.

Cats are also known to munch on grass, leaves, shrubs and houseplants. They do not eat a lot in one sitting, but prefer to have it as a snack. Eating vegetation in this way may aid the cat's digestive system and can prevent hairballs.

Cats Hunting and Diet: The Fussy Eater
Cats can be fussy eaters. This mostly happens when the vomeronasal, or Jacobson's, organ becomes sensitized to a specific food, at which point the cat will reject any food that doesn't fit the pattern it is expecting. Additionally, cats have been known to develop a fondness for "people food" such as chicken, bread, french fries, pizza, ice cream, tomato soup, carrot juice, olives, and carnitas burritos, as well as cat diet exotica such as corn kernels and diced cantaloupe. Many "people foods" are not good for cats; chocolate, for example, can be fatal due to the theobromine in it (see theobromine poisoning).

Cats Hunting and Diet: The Hunting Instinct
Domestic cats, especially young ones, are known for their love of string play. Many cannot resist a dangling piece of string, or a piece of rope drawn randomly and enticingly across the floor. This notorious love of string is often depicted in cartoons and photographs, which show kittens or cats playing with balls of yarn. This propensity is probably related to their hunting instinct. However, string is more often being replaced with a red dot laser pointer. This is because, if the string is ingested, it can be caught in the cat’s stomach or intestines causing illness or, in extreme cases, death. Some people discourage the use of laser pointers for play with pets, however, because of the risk of eye damage and the loss of satisfaction (especially for cats) associated with the successful capture of prey.

Cats Hunting and Diet:Tip Food may Not be All Your Cat is Ingesting
Be aware of seasonal decorations such as ribbons for wrapping gifts or christmas decorations on your christmas tree. Indoor cats like to amuse themselves and are not aware of the possible dangers, therefore as a pet owner you ought to be. I am aware that during the night my male cat becomes frisky and darts around the house after toys, his or my toddler's. I was not aware however that he had on one of his escapades taken on the christmas tree.
One night he was showing signs of coughing up a hairball and as I fetched the paper towel to clean up I returned for a surprise... No hairball, but a plastic ribbon either from a tree decoration or a gift. I am very relieved that he was able to cough it up. It would have been a stressful and expensive christmas with a sick cat and veterinary bills.

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