Many cats have joined and left my study group over the last three decades. This page is about every cat that helped shape Feline Future – the teachers who enable me to teach you.

Research Question

Can a prey-model homemade raw diet formulated with TCfeline consistently support normal growth, successful reproduction, adult health, and healthy ageing when fed continuously under ordinary household conditions throughout the lifetime of cats and, in some cases, across successive generations, without evidence of clinically apparent nutritional deficiencies?

Beginning in 1995, this question was explored through a continuously maintained observational cohort of domestic cats living in a single household. The group deliberately included cats of varied genetic backgrounds, random-bred domestic cats as well as pedigree cats, varied geographic origins, ages, reproductive status, and life histories. To observe reproduction, breeding cats were intentionally cross-bred to increase genetic diversity and reduce the influence of hereditary disorders on the observations. The study was deliberately designed to challenge the feeding programme under as many real-world conditions as possible.

At any given time, the study group has averaged approximately twelve cats living in the home environment. This number has proven sustainable over the long term and reflects the ethical limits placed on the group: large enough to observe meaningful biological variation, yet small enough that every cat can be monitored carefully and live comfortably as part of the household.

The Feline Future study group was never intended to function as a randomized controlled clinical trial. It did not compare one diet with another. Instead, it was designed to determine whether cats maintained on the Feline Future feeding programme remained clinically healthy according to accepted veterinary standards.

Rather than relying solely on the author’s personal impressions, health outcomes were assessed through routine independent veterinary examinations using the same criteria applied to any companion cat. In most cases, the examining veterinarian was not informed of the cats’ diet before performing the clinical examination. These examinations included physical assessment, body condition, vital signs, blood analyses, urine analyses, and other diagnostic procedures when clinically indicated.

Across the study group, no cases of obesity, diabetes mellitus, or disorders associated with urinary crystal disease were observed. These findings are encouraging and consistent with the hypothesis that a prey-inspired homemade diet can support long-term health. However, observational studies are limited in their ability to establish causation, and these findings should therefore be interpreted as observational evidence.

Of the 61 cats that have participated over the past three decades, one consistently refused the food despite repeated attempts at transition. Two others accepted the diet but experienced persistent vomiting and frequent hairballs, raising the possibility of an underlying gastrointestinal disorder unrelated to nutritional adequacy. These cats were managed individually on the diet with cooked meat rather than being excluded from the observations.

The study group also serves an ongoing quality assurance role. Every production batch of TCfeline is introduced into the feeding programme and consumed by the study group before and while it is distributed to customers. This provides continuous real-world monitoring of the current formulation and manufacturing process under the same conditions for which the product is intended. Any unexpected change in palatability or practical feeding performance would therefore be detected within the study group as part of normal daily feeding.

Meet the Study Group

Every cat contributed to the observations in a different way. Explore the study group through the cats living here today, those whose legacies shaped the project, and the places where the study evolved over three decades.

If you would like to meet the person behind the study group, visit the Welcome to Feline Future page. To explore how the study group and Feline Future evolved over three decades, continue to the History Archive

Our current facility is Three Gables Farm on Salt Spring Island, which has been home base for Feline Future these past 23 years. It is presently home to 12 study cats that range in ages of a few months old to 17 years.

We love all cats and try not to have favourites from among our cats, but some of the cats we had the privilege of sharing our life with left a deeper impression. They were exceptional, instrumental, and left lasting legacies.

The 1990s are our pioneering years. Driven by conviction and youth, we planted a seed in the right place at the right time that grew into something beyond our wildest imaginings – and so did our study group, then counting 19 cats.

These transformative years built a permanent home for Feline Future and an ever expanding habitat for the study group – from a beautiful glass-walled outdoor enclosure to extensive fenced garden areas on the farm.