Feeding your cat a very meaty diet may mean it kills less wildlife

By Layal Liverpool

Domestic cats seem to hunt less when their diets are richer in animal-sourced protein, suggesting that feeding cats more meat could help reduce their impact on wildlife.

In a 12-week trial of 355 cats across 219 households in south-west England, cats fed a grain-free diet in which the proteins were largely meat-derived brought home 36 per cent fewer prey animals on average compared with those that were kept on their standard cat food diet, in which some of the protein is plant-derived.

“In as far as possible, we matched protein and energy content of the food ration,” says Robbie McDonald at the University of Exeter, UK, who led the study.

The study also found that increasing object play, by asking owners to spend 5 to 10 minutes per day playing with their pets using toys, resulted in cats bringing home 25 per cent less prey.

“Predation of wildlife by cats is an ecological and a social problem,” says McDonald. It has been estimated that in the US alone, domestic cats kill at least 1.3 billion birds and 6.3 billion small mammals each year. In New Zealand, there is some evidence that cats have contributed to the decline of native species.

“Our work shows that non-invasive methods, like food and play, can change cats’ inclination to hunt and be positive for cats and their owners,” says McDonald. He says it isn’t clear what elements of the meaty food may have led to the reduction in hunting.

“Some cat foods contain protein from plant sources such as soy, and it is possible that despite forming a complete diet, these foods leave some cats deficient in one or more micronutrients, prompting some of them to hunt,” says McDonald.

“It may well be that the average cat’s diet is lacking in some nutritional areas, leading them to seek out additional dietary benefits of wild prey,” says Hannah Lockwood at the University of Derby, UK. “If this is the case, further research into dietary effects on predation is certainly required.”

McDonald and his team found that whereas 76 per cent of cat owners in the group that trialled increased object play reported that they planned to continue with the intervention, the equivalent figure was only 33 per cent for owners who trialled the meaty diet.

“Perhaps, therefore, more effort is needed to persuade cat owners of the conservation value of reducing predation,” says Lockwood.

Journal reference: Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.044

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