After I switched my cats from Hill Science dry food to raw meat, my Egyptian Mau, who was previously fat, has now become heavier, leaner and definitely more muscled. I've rarely seen a domestic cat, in such good condition, that you can see their muscle tone through their fur, but this is now the case with my Egyptian Mau. I believe in keeping my cats fit and healthy and I believe that raw meat IS the best way of achieving this. I do not believe animals should be lethargic/fat/spoiled. They should be strong, fit and disciplined.
We got Florence from people living in a kind of self contained way. A bit like The Good Life, but on a slightly larger scale. All of their cats, including the litter that Florence came from, were lean and fit looking. They were all fed on the offal and left over cuts of meat from their pigs, ducks, chickens, goats etc and the kittens had milk from the goats as it's lactose free.
Since we've had her, Florence has never been keen on dried food and I think the one time she had bad guts was when we got lazy and gave her gocat. All my friends that have cats give them dried food and they're all big, fat, round balls of fur.
Maybe domestic cats are evolving to be used to a different diet, but luckily for us Florence seems to be from a family that is still very much carnivore!
I've always wondered what the difference between kitten food and adult cat food is. Even now, I have no idea.
I think it's just chunk size and things like that to make it easier to eat and digest. Possibly a little less fat too.