The pet-food industry conspiracy, and Candy’s tale

reply to post by shimmeringsilver73


I figure that if he appears healthy most of the time, why bother trying to change things? Wet cat food does contain ash and I had a cat that could not handle high levels of ash.

The food I buy isn't even that great (Innova Evo) but I've yet to find anything that will work better. If you can suggest any dry foods that might be somewhat better than the majority, let me know.

Originally posted by Saucerwench
Always bothered my conscience that my cats were getting crap from the factory farms, those Industrial Age monstrosities of the previous century. I don't eat meat anymore, beef, pork, and chicken from cruelty farms. But I give my cats cold refridgerated -purified- water, and they gobble it up, but I'm no one of means, though I wish I was. However, I keep a great big huge litter box for them, full of the more -expensive- scoopable fine litter, and I notice that they like to often go "big bathrooms" in it, relative to the refreshed cleaned 'box', and when I neglected it, they hold their "bathrooms" more, which I believe is not good, just like for people.

Yeah - it is a really sad sad story. I don't eat meat either anymore - my reasoning also being mostly due to the meat coming from cruelty farms. And it is ridiculously sad that society feeds their beloved fur-babies what is dished up as "balanced and nutritional food" without question - simply because the professionals say so, and simply because it is so convenient.

Kudos to you for the huge litter box. My kitties have to make do with standard size boxes, but they definitely don't like the smell of a "stinky bathroom". Keeps my busy around the clock scooping those things!

reply to post by ofhumandescent


A cat I had lived to be 15-16 on dry cat food and the occasional wet food.

I don't think it's as cut-and-dry as some think. If I'm correct, wouldn't cats have evolved out of their natural diet to adhere to a wet diet, dry diet or combination of both?

Originally posted by Amanda5
reply to post by shimmeringsilver73

 

My boy cat suffered from FUS - watching him I knew something was wrong but could not work it out until he tried to wee on the carpet one day and only blood came out. Off to the vet for a lesson and explanation of - too much magnesium in the processed cat food (wet food in tins) was causing the crystals to form around the urethra. The vet explained that it is very common and more so in male cats. Also he added that by the time people realise something is wrong the cat is very ill and operating is not really an option.

Yes - FUS in male cats are a very very serious situation and needs urgent attention.

So - medicated dry food it was and as I had four cats then it was one in all in. They all love the dry food but I cannot help wondering - after reading your story about my female who died two years ago. She had renal failure and went down fast. I noticed she had lost weight but she was the eldest and it was as if it was overnight - I had her on my bed and straight to the vet - took samples and said it was not good and even in humans the kidneys cannot be repaired. I vowed my pets would be put to sleep if they were suffering and could not be helped - she died in my arms.

Gosh - I am so sorry to hear about Woosti. I feel very sad for your loss now. I also had to be with one of my kitties about three years ago when she was put out - some kid in the road took a potshot at her with a .22, and her organs were punctured in 9 places. It was such a traumatic experience for me that I vowed that my cats would never leave my property to wander about in the roads again.

So after Woosti died I started to feed the others wet food - I thought sardines. At the moment they still eat the medicated dry food - to benefit my boy - but lots of sardines. They are kept inside of a night but will catch frogs and lizards and birds from time to time. I am actually starting to question vaccines for my pets. I will never have another vaccine myself and am struggling to work out what I will do when next my pets are due.

I have to wonder abou the fish though. I have read in a couple of places that fish is not beneficial to a cat, as it inhibits calcium-absorption, and destroys thiamin in their bodies. It is also apparently a great causative contributor to FUS.

Eight strikes against fishy feeding

But it is wonderful that your kitties are hunting. That is the best diet possible for them.

I also have the vaccine question. I can vouch for the fact that my vet did warn me against vaccinating Candy - as her immune system was simply not up to it at that point. I have read up enough about it to be totally in two minds about the process - too many people have reported their cats getting ill after a vaccination.

Thanks for your post. Keep shining!

Originally posted by CitizenNum287119327
reply to post by shimmeringsilver73

 

Perhaps you should have thoroughly researched BEFORE you got a cat.
It's a CAT. CAT's eat MEAT.
Surely something that any three year old would know.
Iv'e watched my little one's sneaking handfuls of mince out of the fridge,
trot out back and feed cats through the fence.

All cats in my family since i was a child have been feed MEAT from a butcher. raw meat.

Glad to see your cat is finally getting healthy

Perhaps my veterinarians should have studied their subject properly for the approximate 7 - 9 years plus of study BEFORE prescribing my "nutritionally balanced" dry diet to me time and time again and again.

It is not only just that a cat must eat meat. A diet based solely on muscle-meat will kill a cat - they will go blind from taurine deficiency and then other bodily failures will follow. Also - minced meat from big animals such as a cow is not appropriate either in the long-term.

The best diet for a cat is nature-appropriate - i.e. whole poultry carcasses with bits of organ meat - bits of blood here and there. Taurine supplemental should be included. I also put in some cold-pressed Norwegian salmon oil for the omega 3 and 6 qualities.

You may think that it is common sense to arrive at these conclusions. Yet the pet-food industry foods prescribed by dozens of thousands of veterinarians each day are supposedly the result of "years of research and scientific design". We as a specie have been trained to trust those individuals with the knowledge...

Originally posted by The Sword
reply to post by ofhumandescent

 

A cat I had lived to be 15-16 on dry cat food and the occasional wet food.

I don't think it's as cut-and-dry as some think. If I'm correct, wouldn't cats have evolved out of their natural diet to adhere to a wet diet, dry diet or combination of both?

I think it just basically comes down to the sensitivity of the individual. As with humans - some people just have greater food intolerances than others, and the same would go for kitties.

If your cats are thriving on the wet / dry food combination - then I would say stick with it. The main thing with a dry food brand is that the grain / plant content should be kept at a minimum, and that there should be more "meat" listed as the main ingredient and less "animal by-products". But even so - the animal by-products are healthier than the "grains / fillers / extenders" listed. The internet has been a valuable tool in researching from a user-experience / review perspective - well worth just quickly looking up some main brands in your country. The main thing to look out for though apparantly is the grain content.

I feel compelled to comment as I am cat owner myself. At home we have three cats and we give them daily wet food and dry food. Our cats eat mainly wet food, dry food is there mostly for claning teeths so there is very little of it. I don't know about USA, but here in finland cat food seems much healthier, I mean I know that cat food has much less additives than our human food, at least here. From time to time our cats get also raw chicken and natural yougurt - and they love it. Most of the time we feed them with Purina's Latz wetfood, it's not ideal, but it's cheap. For example it contains wheat, which is something cat's should avoid, but we think that those doses are okay. Of course, when we can we buy wetfood without corn or wheat. Additionally we give them special oil made for cats, which makes they fur look wonderful, and i guess makes our cats healthier too. Our cats like salad and cucumber so we give them that too...

I'm sorry for your cat. I feel your vet's are kinda indoctrinated to think that dry food is best. Our veterinarian's (we know few of them) tell exactly opposite, avoid dry food and give ti from time to time to keep cat's teeth in good condition.

reply to post by shimmeringsilver73


Thanks for your response - trading information and experience is good. I have not heard that fish contributes to FUS. The vet was very explicit and explained it is the magnesium in tinned cat food that causes the reaction - there is too much magnesium. It reacts by forming crystals in and around the urethra - so they can wee for awhile but as the crystals keep forming the opening gets smaller and smaller and eventually the poor cat cannot wee.

Thankfully my boy showed that he was unwell and the vet said it was early days - he said that most people bring their cat in and it is too late because by that time the poor animal cannot pass urine at all!

Water in their bowl disappears so I know they are getting enough moisture. I am still not sure about the vaccines because if I ever need to take them to the pet motel they will not be accepted. Another government rort. Please share any information on cat vaccines as I am interested in learning about the subject.

Hope Candy is in good health and going from strength to strength.My boy Amikas has been away for a few days he visits the lady behind and a block over - her husband is a butcher so me thinks he might be getting spoiled.

Much Peace...

My fifteen year old Siamese eats mostly wet food. We go through a small bag of dry food every six months or so. She's been healthy pretty much the whole time. Having all the problems you've had would make me cry and I'm a grown man. When I first saw your kitty's photo I thought, "what a sweetheart." About ten years ago I brought some doughnuts home after work. My cat Chichi got interested, so I gave her a little piece and she ate it right up. That was weird, so I went online and did a little research. I found out that cats crave fat. Doughnuts are mostly fat. Thank you for sharing your story, it was a very interesting read.

reply to post by ofhumandescent


I'm afraid it wasn't the cheap dog food that was killing pets a few years ago. It was indeed iams and hills. They were getting theyre protein from china and no one was watching what they were putting in it to make it go further.I was feeding my dogs science diet at the time (dry) and was getting worried cause I saw iams was one of the foods that pets were dying on. Then it came down to pets dying on the science diet canned food and I got really scared. So I switched my dogs to blue buffalo and have kept them on it since. its all natural and made in the usa. I really hope there doesn't become a problem with it.

Thanks for sharing this story. Really happy for you and your cat

Seems we are surrounded by conspiracies. All about the benjamins...

Star for you.

I'm a total cat-lover and have two cats as well. Thank you for taking the time to tell your story and ordeal as this is the second time I have heard about such an incredible turnaround with changing a cat's (or dogs) diet.

Over the last 2 weeks, there have been several recalls of various pet foods for Aflatoxin. I suggest anyone who has a pet subscribe to the fda recall list and/or another source that will email you about any recalls.

www.petsitusa.com...
www.accessdata.fda.gov...

Regarding canned foods, research where the food is canned. In 2007 Menu Foods the largest canner of wet pet foods recalled over 60 million containers of food as aminopterin, melamine and/or cyanuric acid was identified in the food.

en.wikipedia.org...

These chemicals were also identified in several dry foods.

Many companies purchase the vitamin/mineral premix contained in pet food from China. Melamine and cyanuric acid adulterants can be used to inflate the apparent protein content of products, so that inexpensive ingredients can pass for more expensive, concentrated proteins.

en.wikipedia.org...'s_Republic_of_China
www.petfoodrecallfacts.com...

Please research the brands prior to feeding it to your pet.

I Hope this will help

www.google.com...

sorry wrong link this is it


www.google.com...

reply to post by Dimithae


you can download the complete list here and Blue Buffalo was also on the list.

playingbig.com...

At the time we were told Iams was not on the list.

All I can say is our Odie lived 18-20 years of age (and was euthanized due to a medical condition not in connection with his food). Odie would have lived longer.

Jack the cat we got at the same time (also a rescue) is still alive on Iams and he is around 22 years old and going strong.

According to the list and my research, between the China recall and our rendering practices of collecting animals euthanized (with Sodium Pentobarbita) which than passes into the "meat".

Almost everything done now is for profit.

I have had several of my dogs that had to be euthanized, and each time (except for Odie and my husband was there) We watched and made sure they were floated down and than the final stage of death.

With all our dogs, except Pudge who got hit by a car and is buried in the back yard. We have spent the extra money to have them cremated and put in a inexpensive urn with verification that they were privately cremated.

Their ashes will be mixed with ours and we will be buried together, my husband, me and our dogs......we're a pack after all.

Iams Pet Food Recall Details The Iams pet food recall was issued when it was discovered that an ingredient used in the production of the pet food was contaminated with an industrial chemical called melamine. Melamine is not approved for use in the production of either human food or pet food, even though it is not considered highly toxic. The melamine had contaminated two specific ingredients used in the production of the pet food; wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate. Both of these ingredients are added to pet food during manufacture to provide the pets with proper nutrition. In the Iams pet food recall, both dog and cat foods were affected, including some treats for each type of animal. The manufacturer acted quickly to issue the Iams pet food recall and remove any tainted products from store shelves. The US Food and Drug Administration released an alert warning about the risk and advising individuals whose pets may have eaten the contaminated pet food to seek medical attention for their pets immediately at the first sign of poisoning by melamine. The consumption of melamine is believed to cause kidney damage and in a small number of cases it can cause kidney failure and death. The symptoms that pet owners should be on the lookout for include vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. The ingredients suspected of being responsible for the Iams pet food recall has been traced to a manufacturing facility located in China. This Chinese manufacturing facility produces both the wheat gluten and the rice protein concentrate that was contaminated with melamine. The contaminated ingredients were then imported to the United States through a company located in San Francisco, California and distributed to various manufacturers. All of the manufacturers that were affected by the recalls, including the Iams pet food recall, have canceled their orders for products manufactured by the plant in China. The Iams pet food recall is just one in a string of recent recalls associated with products imported from China. Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste from China was found to contain a chemical that is commonly found in antifreeze, which sickened and killed a number of individuals in South America. A multitude of children’s toys imported from China was also recently recalled due to the toys being painted with paint containing lead. Although the Iams pet food recall is the latest recall issued, it will not be the last. One can only hope that the problems will be found before many people, or pets, are injured.

Source: wellnesspetfood.hubpages.com...

Again, Odie lived to 18-20 and would have lived longer had we been able to carry him up and down stairs, his back legs like Sinbad (age 12 / Shepard/Husky) needed a hip replacement we could not afford and he was in pain as well as the vet said he probably would not do well after surgery, he was in pain).

Lucy seems to be doing well on Iams and I did write these folks who say that now they are keeping a closer eye on the quality of their food.

Yes you can cook your dog or cat's food yourself, but again, my vet, who I feel really cares for my dog - uses Iam's herself for her two Goldens - and she says the vitamin and minerals added you don't get from normal home cooked meals.

Now on Sunday morning when we have a egg beater omelet, for my husband and I, I make a little extra for Lucy as a special Sunday morning breakfast treat.

Her blood work came back late September and she was healthy.

Thanks for the post. Candy kitty had a long, difficult road, but you saved her life.

I have 9 rescue cats. We moved out to the country last year, partially because we were sick of the city, and partially because the neighbors were not cat lovers and we were tired of having Animal Control called on us because our cats would visit the neighbors yard. Cats don't understand property boundaries.

We live 1/2 mile off the road and the nearest neighbor is a mile away. We let our cats out in the morning and collect them as the sun is going down to save them from the coyotes. Our kitties eat a mixture of wet and dry food, but all of them hunt outside and usually catch rats, mice, moles, birds and lizards. I notice they are a great deal healthier since we moved out here. I know that cats need fresh, raw kill, and I think the warnings about cats getting worms from fresh kill are somewhat overblown.

I do have one rescue that has feline AIDS. I had two, but the with the other one, I constantly took her to a vet, who shot her up with steroids every time. That kitty died quickly from a tumor in her mouth which spread into her skull. With the remaining AIDS kitty, I never take her to the vet. I use liquid samento (a derivative of cat's claw, no pun intended), which I put in her water when she slows down. It perks her right up. I have had her for almost 5 years and she shows no signs of the disease progressing. Samento cranks up their immune system, which is the opposite of steroids, which dampens it.

Vets have become like our doctors.....clueless about chronic disease, and their advice is worthless.

If I were to start a cat company, I would make cat trees that actually look like trees, and mouse cat food

reply to post by The Sword


Agree, We feed Lucy 1/2 can of Pedigree in the morning at 6:00 AM and 1/2 can at 5:00 PM.

During the day she has 1 cup of dry Iams.

And she prefers Milk Bones, the big gravy ones.

Now as our Lucy is walked an average of 4 miles a day, her muscle mass and heart sounds are very good even at 7 years of age.

Below, Lucy all tucked into bed (it was a cold night here in Chicago).

And she prefers to sleep in her crate having been use to being a prison puppy all 5 of her 7 years.



Lucy's very favorite treat is when we can afford Panera's Chicken and wild rice soup and I pour some of that over her dry Iam's kibble......she likes carrots.

She even ate a teaspoon of my oatmeal pumpkin power bars I made for my breakfast the other day.

Vet recommended food: trash,I heard the main reason science diet is recommended is because they donate a lot to Vet schools.

Raw food= Your best option for cats and dogs. Right now I am in a position where I can't feed my dog raw food due to financial issues but whenever I can afford it I do. She has just about refused dry food on a few occasions after being fed raw it really bothers me that I can't afford raw right now but I am working on it. I go to the butcher daily and ask if he has meat that he doesn't need...I get a little something here and there.

reply to post by shimmeringsilver73


The food I feed my cat is low in carbohydrates and claims to have no animal byproducts.

Of course, I question why they need to include certain grains.