[主題] 書籍分享：Your Cat

還在研讀中，暫無完整的心得分享。
但本著一顆愛貓的心，摘錄此書的一些文句跟貓友們分享。

書名：Your Cat
作者：Elizabeth M. Hodgkins, D.V.M.,Esq.

寫在前面：為尊重智慧財產權，僅將此書最後一大單元也是常見的重要觀念「貓咪照護的十大迷思」進行摘錄跟翻譯。敝人才疏學淺，若有誤譯，以原文文意為主。

MYTH #1: Pets Are Living Longer Today Because of Commercial Pet Food
迷思一：因為有寵物食品，寵物活得長久

I have heard cat lovers, some of them experts in feline health, say that cats are living longer today than ever before.
我已經聽到太多愛貓人士甚至貓科健康專業人士說現在的貓活得比牠的前輩們長。
Truth is, we don’t really know that for a fact, unfortunately.
不幸地，我們沒有看清事實的原貌。
Evidence about changes in the life span of cats over the past several decades is sparse, and we cannot draw the conclusion that cats today live longer on average than cats thirty to forty years ago, for example.
關於貓科動物壽命變化的証據並不足夠，我們不能倉促的下結論認為現在貓咪的平均壽命比起三、四十年前的貓咪來得長。
What does seem clear is that today’s indoor cats live much longer than do cats that live outdoors.
而什麼是明確的結論──現代顯而易見的事實是：室內貓活得比室外貓長。
The evidence for this conclusion is strong.
這個結論有著強而有力的証據支持著。

Those who would give commercial pet food even partial credit for this increase in life expectancy in the indoor pet cat, however, have absolutely no evidence to back up this conclusion.
給予商業化的寵物食品，同時預期寵物會因此延長生命週期，這種常見推理，並沒有証據支持。

There are many factors that affect the life span of cats under indoor and outdoor circumstances.
在比較室內貓跟室外貓生命週期的時候，必需考量許多影響因素。

Indoor cats are more protected from death due to automobiles and predators, they are more protected from exposure to infectious disease, and often they receive more medical care than do outdoor cats, to name just a few of the important differences between these two groups.
比起室外貓，室內貓受到更多的保護。除了因在室內而避免車禍跟捕食者造成的生命傷害外，室內貓也因此避開了傳染性疾病，還有，室內貓通常遠比室外貓得到更多的醫療照護。上述幾個保護性差異的例子只是列舉了室內貓、室外貓這兩大族群的其中幾個差異因素而已。

It is easy to sweep commercial food consumption right along with all of these other factors as contributing to longer life in today’s cats.
將現代貓咪的長壽歸因於商業化寵物食品，未免太過籠統跟粗糙。

Unfortunately for this particular factor, there is no reason to believe it has anything to do with the longer life of the house cat.
更進一步的說，我們沒有理由相信單一一個飲食的改變足夠完整的解釋家貓壽命比較長的現象。

Let’s look at an analogy to understand how this might be so.
舉一個淺顯易懂的例子好了。

Humans in the United States enjoy longer life expectancy today than they did fifty years ago.
比起三十年前，現代的美國人享有更長的壽命。

During those decades of improving average life span, those same people have consumed ever-increasing amounts of fat-laden, sugary, carbohydrate-rich fast food and other types of overprocessed convenience food.
這幾十年的壽命延長的同時，同樣的一群人消費並食用高脂肪、高糖、富含碳水化合物的速食，還有各式各樣的再製食品。

We are far more obese today than in decades past, and human nutritionists nag us endlessly about changing our diet to include better-quality, fresh, whole foods.
人類營養學家的叨唸不休使我們飲食習慣跟以往不同，我們遠離了高價值、新鮮、完整的食物，同時，我們也比幾十前的人來得胖！

Imagine anyone believing that this increasing consumption of highly processed fast foods and increasing obesity actually contribute to our increasing life span!
若照原先的推理，我們可以想像一個謬論：速食消費的增長跟肥胖延長了我們的壽命！？

We are living longer in spite of our diet, not because of it.
儘管食物可以延續我們的生命，但生命的長壽不僅僅因於食物。

Many other factors, such as less tobacco smoking, the use of seat belts, better prenatal and postnatal care, and astonishing high-tech medical advancements for defeating disease and injure, account for our increasing longevity.
還有很多因素，例如戒煙、上車繫安全帶、良好的產育護理，以及不斷進步的醫療技術，這些因素加總起來使得我們現代人比起過去的人來得長壽。

Our convenience-oriented diet is actually working against longer life, but cannot defeat all of these other strong protective factors in our lives.
以方便快速為導向的飲食習慣其實對長壽無益甚至有害，但即使如此，上述幾項(如戒煙、繫安全帶、護理跟醫療進步)強而有力的預防性因素仍能保護我們的生命。

So it is with our cats.
貓咪壽命的議題也同理可証。

When they live indoors, they may live longer than if they lived outdoors, but commercial foods, particularly dry kibble, have no part in adding those extra years.
貓若能生活在室內，會活得比生活在室外來得長。而商業飼料，特別是乾燥碾磨製品，無助於增加貓咪的年歲。

If anything, they are depriving our felines of even greater health and longevity.
如果它有任何作用，那就只是剝奪我們小貓活得更健康更長壽的機會。

tbc.

這篇文章被編輯了 1 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/24/12 7:09 PM

MYTH #2: Dry Food Is the Best Form of Food for Cats
迷思二：乾燥食物是貓食的最佳型式

Some experts recommend feeding dry food because owners can leave it out during the day without concern about spoilage.
一些專家建議餵貓乾食，因為這樣做可以讓飼主外出時不用擔心食物腐敗。

The idea that cats must have constant access to food is illogical and unnatural, however.
這種「貓必需不斷獲得食物」的想法，不符合邏輯也不符合自然法則。

This belief in a house cat’s need for food on demand is nothing more than a myth perpetuated by pet food companies to sell billions of tons of pet food.
「家貓對於食物有著不斷的需求」這種*任食制的概念，是一種迷思。而這種迷思是由那些藉由宣傳這個迷思賣出數萬噸、獲利數十億美元的寵物食品鼓吹的說詞所建立出來的。

In the wild state, the cat eats when it as a successful hunt.
在自然界時，貓只有成功狩獵後才有得吃。

This is certainly not a constant occurrence.
狩獵自是有成有敗。

Long periods of time may elapse between meals for cats, large or small, that must fend for themselves.
更多時候，有一餐沒一餐。無論大貓(如獅、虎)或小貓(如野貓、家貓)，都得自食其力。

Meal feeding simulates this natural cycle of feasting and fasting that is the cat’s heritage.
狩獵生活的節奏不外狂吃與捱餓這兩種，而這正是貓的自然節奏，這節奏也代代相傳。

Free-choice dry food feeding creates unnatural and physiologically damaging imbalances within the cat’s body.
對貓的身體來說，毫無選擇性的乾糧不但不自然，更對身體生理的平衡有害。

Dry cat foods deprive the cat of moisture needed for all bodily functions and create a nearly constant alkaline urine pH that can lead to disease.
乾燥貓食的害處不僅僅在於使貓的身體缺乏所需的水份，更使得貓的身體長期地製造鹹性尿液，而這會導至貓咪生病。

Some manufacturers try to overcome this alkaline pH by adding acid to their dry diets, but this acidification can lead to other equally serious problems.
有些貓食製造商試圖克服這個問題，而在貓食中添加酸性物質，但這種酸性添加物依然會對貓咪的身體造成嚴重的問題。

Dry kibbled cat foods have substances called “digests” sprayed on the outside of the kibble.
乾燥碾磨的貓食(顆粒)通常在外層噴上了一層”動物內臟(的再製品)”。

This digest is fermented by-products of meat-processing.
這種”動物內臟(的再製品)”來自於肉類加工產業的發酸產物。

While digest has no nutritional value, it is specifically designed to be highly palatable for the cat and can even cause actual addiction to dry foods.
這種專為貓食設計的食品添加物沒有任何營養價值，而且，還會造成貓咪對乾燥食物上癮。

This explains why some cats refuse to switch from high-carbohydratedry cat foods to more healthful wet foods.
有些貓不肯從高碳水化合物的貓食口味改變回健康溼糧，就是因為如此。

Dry kibbled cat foods also dump unnatural amounts of sugar into the cat’s bloodstream, completely upsetting its natural metabolic processes.
乾燥碾磨的貓食通常也含有不自然的高糖份，這些糖份進入貓的血液後完全打亂了貓咪的生理代謝。

This imbalance can, and often does, lead to obesity, diabetes, and other serious disease conditions.
生理代謝失衡往往造成肥胖、糖尿病還有其他嚴種的疾病。

Ironically, some experts are beginning to recommend mealtime-only feeding of even dry cat foods, in response to the epidemic of obesity in pet cats.
有些專家針對吃乾糧的糖尿病家貓的建議，是定時餵食法。諷刺的是，這個建議跟乾糧貓食鼓吹的任食制互相違背。

If the convenience factor of dry kibble is gone, what possible advantage can such foods possibly claim over more digestible, lower-carbohydrate canned foods?
如果乾糧的方便性優勢不再，這種食物還有什麼優點比得上那些高內臟低碳水化合物組成的罐頭食物？

No convincing studies have been done to prove that dry kibbled cat foods are anything more than the nutritional equivalent of junk food for cats.
對貓的研究中，沒有証據可以推翻下句：「乾燥碾磨食物的營養價值對貓來說不過是───垃圾食物。」

tbc.

*附上註明，從前後文章的文意來看，此任食制應指的是過量餵食，也就是在一般寵物店常聽到「放多一點(通常是過量給予)飼料在碗裡，貓想吃就會去吃、想吃多少就吃多少」的這個說法
因個人解釋能力有限，若有誤譯還請以原文文意為主。

其實貓的耐餓
我本身就有親身經歷
之前我家有一窩浪貓
幼貓叫了五天四夜
第五天貓全部從窩裡跑出來
我才想說貓媽媽可能不在了把幼貓們集合起來
我奶奶看到說
那窩幼貓的媽媽五天前被車撞死了
所以一直叫
隨後把他們送給隔壁的親戚養
連幼貓沒東西吃都能五天四夜的嚎叫
而且第五天叫聲也沒比較小
何況成貓

感謝版主用心翻譯~

讓我受益良多

貓咪的耐餓能力真的很強悍！我在我家老大身上完全得到証實！
只能說…貓科這種獵食動物的生理本能可以讓牠捱過很長一段時間的"等待獵物"時期，除非真的捱到最後身體撐不住，不然貓咪就算餓也還是很有活力的。

因為本身的英文閱讀能力有限，只瀏覽一遍往往有看沒有懂，故乾脆藉由逼自己至少把後面十大迷思看兩三遍之後翻成中文，讓自己讀懂(傻笑)。

這篇文章被編輯了 1 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/24/12 5:59 PM

MYTH #3： Dry Cat Foods Are More Economical than Canned Foods
迷思三：乾燥貓食比罐頭貓食更經濟

Some experts claim that dry kibble is a better value for the pet food purchaser.
一些專家主張對購買者來說，乾燥碾磨飼料比罐頭食品更符合經濟效益。

They point to the fact that kibble has less water, therefore the purchaser is buying less water with each pet food dollar.
他們主張：乾燥碾磨飼料的水份極少，故購買者花的錢是買糧食而非買水份，如此才稱作錢花在刀口上。

Because the cat evolved consuming prey with 78 percent or more water, however, feeding a dehydrated food simply forces the cat to try to consume more water to make up for this abnormal dietary moisture intake.
然而在貓的演化史裡，牠的獵物通常身含78%的水份；若給予脫水的貓糧，勢必迫使貓咪不得不藉用額外的飲水來補充這種非自然且缺水的處境。

While it may be true that a cereal-based food is cheaper than a meat-based food, pound for pound, who would consider feeding a child nothing but breakfast cereal just because breakfast cereal is cheaper than a more balanced diet of meat and fresh vegetables?
單就重量而論，穀類製品的確比肉類製品便宜許多。但誰會因為沖泡穀片比由肉和新鮮蔬果組成的早餐便宜，而選擇只給孩子吃沖泡穀片當早餐？

Such economy would clearly be false economy, even though most breakfast cereals have lots of added vitamins and minerals to make them seem to be good nutrition.
儘管沖泡殼片總是添加不少維生素跟礦物質使產品看起來富含營養，(但眾所皆知的是)這種只依價位而論的節省理論，並非真正的經濟實惠。

Like children, cats should not be fed foods with the least expensive ingredients, just to save money!
如同養孩子一樣，我們不應該只是為了省錢而餵貓咪們吃廉價食品。

In humans and in animals, the costs of treating the chronic diseases that would result from such a “least-cost” diet far exceed the short-term savings.
無論人或動物，這種吃廉價食品以期短期省錢的吃法，時日一久往往造成慢性疾病的發生。

tbc.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!
所以任食是錯誤的!?
之前有人說貓咪吃飯本來就會不專心
而且少量多餐對他們來說才是好的
看來都是以訛傳訛?

這樣一來就不能給予定量任食了嗎?

這篇文章被編輯了 2 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/24/12 6:50 PM

s8661035 wrote:!!!!!!!!!!!!!
所以任食是錯誤的!?
之前有人說貓咪吃飯本來就會不專心
而且少量多餐對他們來說才是好的
看來都是以訛傳訛?

這樣一來就不能給予定量任食了嗎?

建議弄清楚任食制的目的
以及理由再對照文章內容
應該沒有拮抗

這篇文章被編輯了 1 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/24/12 6:51 PM

我還沒有看過全部的書，故沒辦法回答任食/定食的問題。
不過單就文章的上下文判斷，作者指的應該是"商業化貓糧"的廣告手法與貓患糖尿病後所謂專家給的建議(我們都知道，得到糖尿病的貓通常會被推薦餵食"處方飼料/乾糧")是互相矛盾的

這篇文章被編輯了 2 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/24/12 7:12 PM

s8661035 wrote:!!!!!!!!!!!!!
所以任食是錯誤的!?
之前有人說貓咪吃飯本來就會不專心
而且少量多餐對他們來說才是好的
看來都是以訛傳訛?

這樣一來就不能給予定量任食了嗎?

抱歉，剛剛按太快…(汗)

我還沒有看過全部的書，故沒辦法回答任食/定食的問題。
不過單就文章的上下文判斷，作者指的應該是"商業化貓糧"的廣告手法與貓患糖尿病後所謂專家給的建議(我們都知道，得到糖尿病的貓通常會被推薦餵食"處方飼料/乾糧")是互相矛盾的。
若說一般乾燥貓糧可以任食，那處方飼料為何不行？
醫生通常會說：「因為要控制熱量。」

單就組成而論，一般乾燥碾磨製成的貓糧跟獸醫院所專們販賣的處方飼料…成份上是大同小異的，也就是說…都是碳水化合物的比例佔很高…
無論是去寵物店問店員還是一般新手養貓四處打聽得到意見，我們常聽到的說詞不外乎是「乾飼料不容易腐壞」、「乾飼料可以一次放很多量讓貓餓了就可以去吃」…
但如今遇到狀況(ex.貓得糖尿病或過胖)，醫生跟專家給的建議是"定時"餵"定量"以控制血糖跟熱量時…
乾飼料的便利性就不復存在了。

即然乾飼料比較便利的神話消失，為何不考慮餵(較具營養跟水份的)罐頭？我想這才是作者想表達的意思。

少量多餐的確是貓科動物的常態，這也是乾糧商或寵物店店員說「放多一點，貓餓了自己會去吃」的可能依據之一。
同理，罐頭放下去，貓也是吃自己當下想吃的份，吃飽去梳個毛、跑一跑，很可能半小時之後又會回來繼續吃。

這並沒有違背定量餵食/定時餵食的假設，飼主的確可以決定罐頭種類、餵罐頭食物的量跟罐頭放下去餵的時間，
不過我們沒辦法改變貓咪吃完想玩、玩累了繼續吃的本性(無奈笑)。

以上是我的心得，給大家參考一下

1. 非常謝謝樓主的分享,您辛苦了...(看到那些英文字我頭都暈了.....)
2. 老早我就覺得飼料是種古怪的東西.可是飼料有其方便性.....(如果依上文所述,那是不是,就算得晚歸,也不要放乾乾給貓吃,讓牠餓到回家再弄罐罐給牠吃?)
3. 乾乾雖不好,但至少能讓可憐的浪浪有一頓飽...

有人分享耶~ 感謝分享我想看這本很久了:)

same2 wrote:1. 非常謝謝樓主的分享,您辛苦了...(看到那些英文字我頭都暈了.....)
2. 老早我就覺得飼料是種古怪的東西.可是飼料有其方便性.....(如果依上文所述,那是不是,就算得晚歸,也不要放乾乾給貓吃,讓牠餓到回家再弄罐罐給牠吃?)
3. 乾乾雖不好,但至少能讓可憐的浪浪有一頓飽...

若要打個比方的話，乾飼料應該可以類同為軍用乾糧(軍人作戰時帶在身上的那個)，熱量、營養(含蛋白質、礦物質跟維生素)都濃縮在一起。
緊急時刻(ex.沒辦法吃到每日所需熱量、每日所需營養基礎時)，乾飼料對浪貓/狀況不好的貓如同軍糧對身處戰區的軍人一樣，可以救急，讓身體撐過這段時期。
但長期來看的話，只吃乾飼料/乾糧對生物身體的需求顯然是不夠的。

我也是今年才剛給家裡三隻寶貝轉換成溼糧為主/乾糧為輔(其中老大需要增肥的關係…)，對這方面的經驗不是很夠…
或許獨養貓這種比較容易計算熱量/營養所需的飼主可以用定時定量的方式來餵？我不確定。
我自己家三隻是個個情況不同(老大要增肥跟多喝水、老二太胖、老么是未滿一歲的成長期幼貓)，
為免老么吃不夠跑去搶老大的食物或老大臨時又想吃東西，每日兩次罐頭中間跟人去睡覺的時候我會多放0.5~1杯乾飼料。
不過不管是乾飼料還是溼罐頭，這三隻都只吃當下的份，剩下的分次慢慢吃完這樣…

搗蛋撒嬌鬼娘 wrote:有人分享耶~ 感謝分享我想看這本很久了:)

剛剛上博客來查了一下，還剩4本~
個人極力推薦~ ^^/

MYTH #4: Dry Cat Food Cleans a Cat’s Teeth
迷思四：乾飼料有助貓齒健康

Pet food companies tell us that dry food has a cleansing abrasive effect on a pet’s teeth.
寵物食品商告訴我們：乾飼料對貓的牙齒有磨擦刷牙的功效。

While this idea has a momentary intuitive appeal, the truth is that the evidence in practice refutes this idea.
雖然這種符合直覺推論的想法很吸引人，但事實告訴我們：並非如此。

Today, most cats eat dry cat food, yet veterinarians continue to see tremendous numbers of patients with serious dental and periodontal disease.
今日大多數的貓都吃乾飼料，然而，獸醫們依然見到許多患有嚴重牙疾的貓病患。

Clearly, these diets are not protective against these conditions.
顯然，(乾糧)飲食無法預防牙疾的發生。

Many of the very serious conditions we see in cats’ mouths, such as the gum-line cavities called *resorptive neck lesions, occur in cats eating dry food.
嚴重的病例中，例如一種稱為*貓破牙細胞再吸收的貓咪齒科疾病，常見好發於那些吃乾飼料的貓咪中。

I have never heard of any human dentist telling a patient to eat potato chips, corn chips, or dry breakfast cereal to clean the teeth.Have you？
你可曾聽過哪位人類的牙醫說洋芋片、穀片或任何乾穀類早餐可以清潔牙齒而推薦病人吃這些東西？

In fact, dry kibble, like those snack foods, becomes a very sticky paste when mixed with saliva in the mouth, and adheres to the teeth and gums to a greater extent than does wet food, which is swallowed more completely after chewing.
事實上，乾燥碾磨製品，例如零食，在口腔中與唾液混合後會變成極具黏性的物質，比起那些經咀嚼與完整吞下的溼性食物，(這種乾燥碾磨製品)更會附著於牙齒和牙齦上。

The processed carbohydrates and sugar in the dry kibble paste can then support bacterial growth.
乾燥碾磨飼料的組成裡，碳水化合物與糖類經過(咀嚼)過程後的黏性物質甚至有助細菌的生成。

Dry cat foods are also coated with very acidic substances to make them palatable to cats.
乾燥貓糧的(顆粒)外層通常噴塗了一層非常酸性的物質以增加適口性。

When these foods are the main diet of the cat, the oral environment can become more acid than normal, and damage can result to the enamel, possibly even causing the resorptive lesions.
以這種(塗了酸性物質的食物)為主食的貓，牠們的口腔環境會比正常情況來得具酸性，而且這種情況會損害牙齒的琺瑯質，同時也有可能造成貓破牙細胞再吸收的這種病。

If anything, dry foods may even promote plaque and tartar formation, with the resultant gum disease and enamel erosion.
若要說乾飼料有什麼效用的話，有的，乾飼料可能促進牙垢和牙菌斑的形成，進而造成齒科疾病跟損害琺瑯質。

* the gum-line cavities called ,resorptive neck lesions,我從網路上查的資料(http://www.gigavet.com/vet/eNews.asp?ClassName=A&Page=21)看起來應是指貓的牙齒疾病—貓破牙細胞再吸收病症; FORL(Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion)

但我不是很肯定。希望能有專家/獸醫可以指正。

tbc.

這篇文章被編輯了 2 次. 最近一次更新是在 12/26/12 1:04 AM

破骨細胞的牙炎，是先天性的體質關係（是之前帶去給有x博士之稱的醫生的解釋），之前身邊有六隻都是吃飼料的，只有一隻是這樣（平均貓齡都差不多），而且是從小就這樣……。所以飼料造成破骨細胞侵蝕牙齒，這一點不太正確。