A Brief History of Pet Feeding

If you've ever wondered how cats went from eating whatever they could catch, to scraps from the kitchen, to little bags and cans of carefully formulated food, the short answer is: pet feeding as we know it is relatively new.

Cats have lived alongside people for thousands of years, but for most of that time, nobody was measuring out a specific "cat food" formulated for a particular life stage. Cats largely ate what they could catch, what people gave them, and whatever scraps were available.

The way we think about feeding pets today developed much more recently.

Before There Was Cat Food

For most of history, cats weren't dependent on commercially manufactured food.

Domestic cats lived around farms, homes, barns, ships, and marketplaces, where they had plenty of opportunities to hunt mice, rats, birds, and other small prey. They might also receive scraps or leftovers from the people they lived with.

Their diets weren't necessarily perfect or carefully balanced. They were simply eating the foods that were available to them. And in many cases, that meant a combination of hunting and scavenging rather than one specific diet.

As cats became more fully integrated into homes as companions rather than primarily working animals, the way people fed them began to change too.

The Beginning of Commercial Pet Food

Commercial pet food began appearing in the 1800s, initially aimed primarily at dogs.

One of the earliest commercially produced dog foods was introduced in England in the 1860s, and the idea gradually spread. Over time, companies began producing foods specifically marketed for cats as well.

Early commercial foods were not necessarily anything like the highly formulated diets we see today. They were simply a convenient way to provide food without relying entirely on table scraps or whatever happened to be available.

Canned pet food became especially popular in the early 20th century, and dry foods eventually became another major part of the market.

Convenience was a big part of the appeal. Instead of preparing meat, saving scraps, or relying on a cat to hunt, owners could simply open a can or pour food into a bowl.

That convenience changed pet ownership considerably.

World War II Changed the Pet Food Industry

One of the biggest turning points came during World War II.

Canned pet food relied heavily on materials that were suddenly needed for the war effort, including metal. As a result, canned pet food production was restricted, and manufacturers increasingly turned toward dry foods.

This helped accelerate the growth of the dry pet food industry.

After the war, dry food continued to become more popular. It was inexpensive, convenient, easy to store, and didn't require refrigeration. Although it did come with downsides including the eradication of moisture, a critical component of a cat's diet- see Water & Moisture in Your Cat's Diet.

Over the following decades, the pet food industry became increasingly sophisticated. Manufacturers began developing diets designed around specific nutritional requirements rather than simply providing something edible for an animal.

From "Food" to "Complete and Balanced"

This is an important distinction.

Feeding a cat something that keeps it alive is not necessarily the same thing as feeding a nutritionally complete diet. As veterinary nutrition developed, researchers learned more about the specific nutrients cats require. Cats have some nutritional requirements that are quite different from those of humans, and even from dogs.

This led to the development of nutritional standards and feeding guidelines for commercially prepared foods.

Modern pet foods can now be formulated to provide specific amounts of protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients. That's a huge advancement compared with simply throwing table scraps into a bowl, but it also changed the way we think about food.

Instead of looking at the animal and the ingredients available to us, we're now often looking at a relatively guaranteed analysis, an ingredient list, a nutritional adequacy statement, and a feeding chart.

Where Raw Feeding Fits In

Raw feeding isn't a new invention.

What is relatively new is the idea of raw feeding as a deliberate, researched feeding method for companion animals.

People have been feeding cats raw meat, prey, scraps, and whole animals for as long as cats have been living alongside people. What's different today is that owners can intentionally choose raw as a diet, purchase premade complete raw foods, formulate their own diets, or study different approaches to raw feeding.

That means modern raw feeding can look very different from a cat simply catching a mouse in a barn.

Some people feed commercially prepared raw diets. Some make their own. Some incorporate whole prey. Some use combinations of different approaches. And, just like with commercial food, there are good and bad ways to do it.

Raw meat by itself isn't automatically a complete diet, just as the fact that something comes in a bag or can doesn't automatically tell you whether it's the best choice for your particular cat.

The details matter.

If you're new to raw feeding, How Raw Feeding Actually Works breaks down what raw feeding actually looks like in practice and the different approaches you may come across.

How We Got Where We Are Today

Today, cat owners have more feeding choices than ever for our domesticated, pampered fur babies.

You can buy dry food, canned food, freeze-dried food, premade raw, individual raw ingredients, supplements, whole prey, or formulate food yourself.

That's a pretty remarkable change from the days when a cat simply ate whatever it could catch. It also means that feeding your cat can feel much more complicated than it used to. We're surrounded by conflicting opinions about ingredients, carbohydrates, protein, moisture, supplements, processing, safety, and what cats are "supposed" to eat.

I think understanding a little of the history helps put all of that into perspective.

Commercial pet food has solved some very real problems. It has made feeding pets convenient and has made it possible to formulate nutritionally complete diets on a large scale.

At the same time, the availability of commercial food doesn't mean it's the only way to feed a cat. And the fact that cats historically ate prey doesn't mean that every modern raw diet is automatically complete or appropriate either.

There is a lot more nuance to feeding a cat than simply choosing between "old-fashioned" and "modern."

That's why I think it's worth understanding what you're actually feeding, why you're feeding it, and what your particular cat needs.

From there, you can start looking at the different options with a little more context—and a lot less marketing noise. Comparing Homemade Raw, Premade Raw, Freeze-Dried, Wet & Dry walks through the major feeding options side by side.