Cats are obligate carnivores with specific nutritional needs that differ fundamentally from dogs and humans — and many common feeding practices cause preventable health problems.
Feline nutrition is an area where popular belief often diverges from evidence. The obligate carnivore status of cats means that plant-based diets are fundamentally incompatible with their nutritional biology. Dry food feeding contributes to chronic dehydration because cats evolved to obtain moisture from prey — when cats eat dry food, they often do not compensate by drinking enough water. This chronic low-level dehydration contributes to urinary tract disease and kidney problems. Evidence-based feeding — balanced commercial diets with appropriate moisture content, fed in measured portions — significantly reduces preventable nutrition-related disease.