Research overview: whole-prey and balanced nutrition for captive felids

Feeding captive big cats appropriately requires meeting their obligate-carnivore nutritional needs, with debate and research around whole-prey versus formulated diets, calcium-phosphorus balance, taurine adequacy, and the dental and behavioral benefits of feeding whole carcasses or large bones. Nutritional deficiencies historically caused metabolic bone disease in hand-reared or poorly fed captive cats. This overview compiles the zoo-nutrition literature rather than one source, describing how diets are formulated to meet felid requirements, why whole-prey feeding offers dental and enrichment benefits, and how nutritional management prevents deficiency diseases. It matters because proper nutrition underpins the health, longevity, and welfare of captive felids, and zoo nutrition science has evolved to provide diets that better match the biological needs of these strict carnivores.