Your Cat by Dr. Hodgkins

"Your Cat" by Dr. Hodgkins DVM is a book about cat health and nutrition. It discusses cat health from the perspective of a cat's diet. It doesn't exclusively focus on diet but the thread going through the book is how diet can be utilized to improve cat health.

Dr. Hodgkins is critical of the cat food industry generally and in respect of dry cat food in particular. This is called "kibble". There is no doubt that she has started a debate on the rapid growth in use of dry cat food. It is better for the manufacturers and consumers but it not better for the cat, according to Dr. Hodgkins.

I have found this book very interesting and useful. Her views are not shared by everyone (least of all the cat food manufacturers no doubt!). However Dr. Hodgkins has a lot of experience to call upon having worked at a senior level in the pet food manufacturing business. And, of course, she is a fully qualified and experienced veterinarian.

One slight criticism I have and this is personal, is that it is a little "wordy" for me. I prefer my reference books to be just that, a reference work that I can pick up and in which I can find answers quickly to cat health problems. The book is written in a narrative style when I would have preferred a bulleted type style (or tabled, for example). Also, rather ambitiously, this book sets out the URL (web address) of a number if website pages where further information can be obtained. This is unlikely to be successful as it is all but impossible to copy type a long URL accurately out of a book and in any case web page addresses tend to change.

That said, it is an eye opener for those of us who blindly go to the supermarket to buy our food and cat food at the same time. It has made me consider making my own homemade cat food. Homemade is best provided it is done with care.

Your Cat by Dr. Hodgkins is a book that I recommend.



See Cat Food Recipe