A species appropriate diet is the sum of foods that a species is biologically designed to eat. For example:
- Mice form part of a species-appropriate diet for a snake, but berries and kale do not.
- Fresh hay and vegetables form a species-appropriate diet for a rabbit, but eggs and meat do not.
Our domestic cats and dogs have the anatomy of carnivores (sharp teeth and short intestinal tracts), and are designed to metabolise raw meat.