As a medical provider, mother, and health advocate, I know that preventing chronic disease begins with high-quality nutrition and minimizing exposure to unnecessary chemicals. I carefully choose clean, nourishing food for my family — so it felt natural to do the same for my cats, Mick and Dot.

But the more time I spent researching commercial cat foods, the more disappointed I became. Many formulas contained:

• fillers
• low-quality meats
• preservatives
• grains
• ingredients I’d never consider feeding my human family

As someone who believes deeply in aligning nutrition with biology and genetics, I couldn’t imagine my cats — obligate carnivores — eating peas, corn, and starchy fillers in the wild. Yet that’s exactly what I was seeing in their bowls.