Hi,
They eat nothing else but meat with bone in or fish, absolutely nothing except the occasional raw egg. No tinned, no dry. We only use human grade meat.
Cats are obligate carnivores, they have to eat meat to survive. Dogs can survive on a vegetarian diet, cats can't. There's an amino acid only found in meat called Taurine as you probably know, and without enough Taurine cats suffer vision problems and can die from a deficiency.
Our cats are fed on bone-in raw chicken thighs, drumsticks, a very small amount of liver and kidney for vitamin A and D. Basically they eat what they were designed to eat including the bones. Raw bones are safe, cooked bones aren't. They dry and splinter and are VERY dangerous.
The trays are MUCH 'nicer' if that makese sense. They also drink very little water because they get so much moisture from the meat. Their teeth are in excellent condition and their coats are fabulous.
Dry food has a lot of cereal in it and very little meat content. It also contains carbohydrates like wheat, which cats don't need, and which can make them obese and give them allergen related problems like IBS and skin issues.
If you think it's odd to feed cats no commercial diets, imagine the Servals, Golden Cats, Asian Leopard cats etc in zoos being fed on Iams and Whiskas
There is nothing physiologically different in terms of dentition, or digestion, between those wild cats and our own furry kids.
A lot of vets are horrified at the thought of feeding raw meat. There is a lot of research out there, and for one, I believe it's truly the best way to feed cats. The results we've had from our own cats is proof in my mind.
From a purely cynical point of view, look what most vet's waiting rooms are full of.. bags and bags of dry food.
Here are a couple of links you might find interesting. One is primarily a dog site, but there is a section on cats too.
Get The Facts - What’s Really in Pet Food
The Many Myths of Raw Feeding
Diane