Show Your Love for Your Cat by Feeding Him/her Nutritional Cat Foods and Avoiding Bad Cat Foods

Ike Lowe asked:

When you visit a supermarket to purchase food for your family and you see a new product that you think might be a healthy choice, your first decision is to read the label to identify the ingredients and decide if the ingredients are healthy for your family.

Don’t you think it would be prudent to read cat food labels and determine whether it’s a bad cat food or a nutritional cat food? A cat food with any of their first five ingredients listed as a carbohydrate is bad cat food and it is harming your cat.

However, most cat owners fail to read cat food labels and as a result, you feed your cats many bad cat foods with harmful ingredients that are causing premature cat deaths.

Since most cat caregivers consider their feline friends as family members, don’t you think you should show them the same consideration? Feeding your cat bad cat food that leads to premature cat deaths is not showing love for your cat.

Cats are carnivores and their physiology demands a meat-based diet as this will closely mimic their natural diet. It’s imperative that you remember and abide by guidelines that will benefit your cat and help him/her realize their longevity. Bad cat foods will not do this but nutritional cat foods will.

Such foods as carbohydrates will damage your cats’ digestive system and cause food related diseases that will severely shorten his life. These are not nutritional cat foods but rather bad cat foods and they are the main cause of premature cat deaths

For your educational benefit as well as your cats’ lives, let’s take a look at some cat foods and examine their ingredients.

Avoderm

Use of Carbohydrates which include;

Oat Bran and Rice Flour also included is

Avocado oil and Guar gum

Oat bran is the outer husk of the oat grain – it is a carbohydrate.

Rice flour is a form of flour made from finely milled rice – another carbohydrate.

Avocado oil is oil pressed from the fruit of avocados. The fruit, leaves, bark and seeds of avocados have been reported as being toxic to cats. The toxic component in avocado is “Persin” which is a fatty acid preservative. Oat bran, rice flour, avocado oil and guar gum are all bad cat food ingredients

Eukanuba

Use of Carbohydrates which include;

Brewers Rice and Corn Grits also

includes Beef-by-Product, Dried Egg

Product, Dried Beet Pulp and Menadione

Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite

Brewers rice and corn grits are starchy carbohydrates with no nutritional benefit to cats

Beef by-product is the parts of the cow other than muscle meat. It could be organs and skin. Its origin is Rendering Plants.

Dried Beet Pulp is free from crowns and leaves extracted from the process of manufacturing sugar. It’s mostly used as a filler in cat food.

Dried Egg Product – Cheap source of protein – waste product of the egg industry. It could include undeveloped eggs, shells and other tissue deemed unfit for humans. Brewers rice, corn grits, beef by-products, dried egg products, dried beet pulp and MDB are all bad cat food ingredients.

Fancy Feast

Use of a Carbohydrate; Wheat Gluten

also includes Meat by-Product and

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite

Wheat Gluten – The tough, viscid nitrogenous substance remaining when wheat is washed to remove the starch. Wheat gluten is a cheap by-product of human food processing, the starchy liquid left after washing wheat. It is used mostly to bind food together. Wheat gluten is included in a number of human food products, as well as pet foods. Contaminated wheat gluten from China has been found responsible for a large number of the reported sicknesses and death of pets from melamine toxicity.

Meat by-product – Is the product that’s derived from Rendering Plants; road-kill, and the four Ds (dead, dying, diseased, disabled) and decaying animals flesh.

I’ve already explained what menadione derivatives are.

Wheat gluten, meat by-products and MSB are all bad cat food ingredients.

Friskies

Use of Meat by-Products, Poultry

Giblets, Poultry and Bone Meal,

Vegetable Gums and Onion Salt,

I’ve already defined meat by-products earlier and we all know what poultry giblets are, correct? In case you don’t know, it’s the gizzards and hearts of chickens and turkeys provided that’s their origin but we don’t really know, they could come from buzzards as their source is not identified.

Bone Meal is another unidentified ingredient. It could come from the five Ds (dead, dying, diseased, disabled and decaying) animals that are products of Rendering Plants.

Vegetable Gum is another carbohydrate and its main purpose is a thickener or binder and it serves no nutritional purpose for cats and it could be toxic.

Onion Salt – No form of garlic or onion should be used in cat foods. Onions contain Thiosulphate which is toxic to cats.

Meat by-products, poultry giblets, poultry and bone meal, vegetable gums and onion salt are all bad cat food ingredients.

The above cat foods and their ingredients are a mere sample of what’s available as cat foods. Now that you have some information to improve you cats’ diet, use it and your cat will appreciate you taking their health into consideration.

Stop feeding your cat bad cat foods that are harming them. Stop buying bad food for your cats and lining the pockets of commercial cat food companies because they are laughing at how uninformed cat owners really are by actually purchasing the stuff they call food and feeding it to your pets.

It’s unbelievable that caring pet owners could actually create a market for bad cat food. If we don’t stop buying bad cat foods and start feeding our cats nutritional cat foods, our cats’ mortally rate will continue to skyrocket.

Since uninformed cat caregivers are the ones that created the market for bad cat food, what do you think would happen to the commercial cat food companies if suddenly cat caregivers became informed and stopped buying their bad cat foods?

They would stop making bad cat foods and begin making nutritional cat foods or go out of business.

Most cat caregivers are not that responsible. They have refused to stop buying bad cat foods and each year the commercial cat food company’s profits continue to increase. At this rate, the pet food industry will never act responsible enough to produce nutritional cat foods.

Because of convenience, cat caregivers buy bad cat foods that are loaded with toxins. A bag of dry cat food is killing your cat but do you care? Do you prefer your convenience over providing your cat with nutritional cat food?

The commercial cat food industry is banking on their research and it suggests that cat caregivers are uninformed relative to nutritional cat foods and they are more concerned with their convenience. Therefore, there is no incentive for the commercial cat food industry to produce nutritional cat foods so they will continue producing cheap and bad cat foods and you will continue buying it and they will continue laughing all the way to the banks and your cats will continue dying prematurely

Cat and Rat

Does Your Cat Have A Healthy Diet?

Matthew Homfray asked:

They say we are what we eat. This applies to your pet as much as it applies to yourself. A good diet means less health problems, less trips to the vet and lower veterinary bills. But how much thought have you given to what your cat should be eating to maintain optimum health? Ask yourself the following questions.

1) How many times a day do you feed your cat?

Since cats cannot be exercised like dogs can, the only way you can influence your cats weight is by controlling the amount and type of food he or she eats. If the cat is being fed individual meals several times daily, there is often a tendency by the owner to offer the daily supply of food on several occasions rather than divide up the daily feed into several meals. This can also occur with cats fed dry food ad lib. Cats usually regulate their food intake, but continual exposure to large quantities of food may lead to over-eating and subsequent obesity if too many calories are consumed. In short, both several individual meals a day and ad lib feeding are fine, it is the total amount offered per 24 hour period which is the important figure.

Kittens should be fed small meals at regular intervals due to their tiny stomachs. Four or five meals are recommended at eight weeks of age, decreasing to two at six months of age.

2) Is your cats diet manufactured specifically for cats or do you give human food?

Some cat owners like to spoil their cat by feeding them human food as the bulk of their diet. Others have tried feeding their cat regular catfood, but find their fussy cat will not touch it, and prefers to wait for the inevitable human food offering, which soon becomes the staple diet.

Is it really unhealthy to feed cats human food though? Of course it depends what food. Remember that cats are carnivores, and require a high proportion of meat in their diet. They simply cannot adapt to a low protein diet, and will lose bodyweight if deprived of it. In fact, as a species they are relatively unique… a deficiency of the amino acid, arginine, in a single meal can lead to symptoms of lethargy, hypersalivation and vocalisation. Arginine is required by the cat to produce urea, a waste product resulting from the breakdown of protein.

Another essential nutrient for the cat is the amino acid, taurine, which the cat cannot manufacture sufficiently by itself to meet its needs. The cat’s diet must therefore contain taurine in sufficient quantities. If a deficiency develops there is a high risk of serious and irreversible damage to major organs such as the heart and the eye. Taurine is found almost entirely in meat, confirming the fact that the cat is a compulsory carnivore.

Another disease of nutritional origin is that caused by cats eating raw liver regularly, who can suffer from a condition called hypervitaminosis A. Cats suffering from this can present with signs of lethargy, unthriftiness, a stiff neck and other skeletal problems. To play it safe, do not feed your cat liver more than once a week.

Reputable cat foods are formulated after extensive trials by pet food companies to provide the mixture of protein, carbohydrate and fat that suits feline physiology best. It is easier, cheaper and possibly more healthy for your cat to be fed a reputable cat food diet, with occasional treats if desired (tuna, liver etc).

3) Which is better out of dry cat food or wet cat food?

Most vets recommend complete dry biscuit based cat food. This is because studies have shown that cats on dry food diets are less likely to suffer from dental disease than those on wet food from a tin or pouch. The physical motion of biting these biscuits helps prevent tartar from adhering to the surface of the tooth. However, even cats with no teeth can eat biscuit based food without a problem, as they just scoop up the biscuits with their tongue and swallow them whole. Another advantage of dry food is that it does not spoil as quickly which is useful for cats that are fed ad lib.

There are occasionally reasons why a wet food is preferable, as a method to increase the water consumption in a cat with a urinary problem such as cystitis.

4) Which is the best cat food to choose?

There are so many different brands of cat food on the market, the best one is basically a matter of opinion. Certainly palatability is a factor, there is no point in purchasing a particular food if your cat cannot stand it, although this is occasionally a necessity in cats requiring prescription diets. Rather than recommending you a specific brand, we suggest that you choose one which adheres to the criteria below.

Cat foods labeled as complete and balanced must meet standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), either by meeting a nutrient profile or by passing a feeding trial. There are now two separate nutrient profiles for cats – one for growth (kittens) and one for maintenance (adults). Maximum levels of intake of some nutrients have been established for the first time because of the concern that overnutrition, rather than undernutrition, is a bigger problem with many pet foods today. The standards include recommendations on protein, fat, fat soluble vitamins, water soluble vitamins, and mineral content of foods. If you are prepared to get technical, you should choose a food that comes closest to AAFCO recommendations.

In summary, consider the following points:

Choose a food that suits your cats age. Most big pet food companies will have different foods for kittens vs adults. Cats with medical conditions may be recommended special prescription diets.

Choose a food that come closest to AAFCO recommendations.

The ingredients contains the truth about a particular food. Everything else is there only for marketing purposes.

There are no legal and scientific definitions for the terms “premium,” “super premium,” “quality,” or “natural.”

Use dry matter numbers to evaluate and compare foods.

The source of ingredients (e.g. animal vs vegetable) does not matter, except in the case of food allergies.

Avoid supplementation. All commercial cat foods have more than enough protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. Feeding your cat a good food incorrectly can lead to significant problems.

5) My cat is overweight, but no matter how hard I try I cannot get him to lose weight. What can I do?

Your cat is almost certainly being fed too much. Below some common mistakes are listed. Have a good look at these and make sure none of them could apply to your cat.

Not following the guidelines on the packet when measuring a portion. Most cat foods will have a table on the packaging suggesting daily portions for cats of different weights. The weight of food suggested is per 24 hrs, not per portion! Use your kitchen weighing scales to measure out the portion until you are sure of the correct amount.

Using a complete dry diet as a replacement for regular biscuits, and mixing it with wet cat food. If it says complete, you should not mix it with anything or you will overfeed.

Offering inappropriate food that is high in fat, or cream/full fat milk to drink.

Several members of the household feeding the cat at different times, whenever the cat is meows for food.

Giving the cat regular treats in addition to its main meal.

The cat is getting fed by neighbors, who think they are being kind by feeding it and enjoy the attention it gives them.

The cat is scavenging food from outside sources, such as other peoples bins.

The cat is part of a multi-cat household and is stealing food from the other cat(s), or even the dog.

Keep an open mind. If there is a possibility that any of the above scenarios might be the case with your cat, investigate it. If you are still at a loss, consider starting a prescription diet (see below).

6) I have heard you can get special light diets, or prescription diets for fat cats. Do they really work?

Yes they do, if used properly. These types of cat food are available in complete wet (tinned or pouches) form or dry (biscuit) form, and are growing in popularity amongst conscientious pet owners. They are low in calories and high in fibre, and often contain high levels of L-carnitine. L-carnitine has been used to help with fat metabolism in other species and recent scientific work indicates that it helps reduce weight in overweight dogs and cats. The real benefit of these low calorie diets though is that because of its low calories, cats can still eat reasonable sized portions and therefore feel full. This means they are more content and less likely to beg and look for extra food.

These diets are perfectly healthy for normal sized cats to eat too, so if you have a multi cat household and it is unfeasible to separate the cats during feeding time, you can safely feed all of the cats the prescription diet together.

7) Where can I buy this low calorie food from?

Many of the big pet food companies are waking up to the problem of pet obesity, and adding light versions to their range. However, they are unlikely to be as effective as the traditional prescription diets that are on the market.

They are known as prescription diets, because they are a specialist food normally prescribed by a veterinarian. However, you do not need a prescription to buy the food as it is a general sales list product. These foods are rarely available in supermarkets as many supermarkets are keen to sell their own brand, or have deals with the big pet food manufacturers. Many owners but their prescription diet from their veterinary clinic for convenience, whilst others prefer to shop around to get the best price. Many online pharmacies and pet stores are now offering these prescription foods, but whilst they may appear cheaper online, watch out for delivery charges added on top.

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