Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Want to kill your cat? Just feed it Cat Food

james t kirk · 06-10-2005, 01:30 PM

I am the proud owner of two used felines that came into my life about a year and a half ago.

One is 12 and is my ex's cat. She's (the cat) is very affectionate, lovie, and makes me laugh with her behaviour. She came to stay with me cause my ex just didn't want her anymore and was going to get rid of her (aka, put her down) Anyway, she's happy to be with me, and I am happy she is here

The other cat is my dad's cat whom I inheritted when my father passed away last april. She's very cat like, and a bit on the nasty side, but always good for a laugh.

Anyhoo, the older one developed an ongoing sinus problem that caused her to sniffle constantly, especially at night, so I took her to the vet to get her checked out. While there, the vet asks me what I feed her.

I answer, Diet Eukanuba in the morning (she's a little on the chubby side) and tuna in the evening. (You have never seen a cat that loves tuna so much. Normally she is a silent cat, but crack open a can of clover leaf and she will sing at the top of her lungs for it.)

Anyway, the vet says to me, "oh my no, a cat needs a special diet, you should be feeding her Hills G/D (geriatric diet - I don't think of my cat as being a geriatric.) Anyway, she says, "we sell Hills and it's the best on the market, only available from vets, blah blah blah.) I tell her that I don't know if I believe in the quality of cat and dog food from a factory that it's all probably the worst crap going. She tells me, "Oh no, I can assure you that they are the best out there, the recipe is designed by vets" yadda yadda yadda.

I dunno.

I must admit, the Eukanuba is pretty easy to feed her in the morning, you just pour a scooop out of the bag and off you go.

Well, my cat had a tarter build up on her back top teeth which the vet said was a result of (guess what) not feeding her the food that they sell.

"Well, how much to clean her teeth I ask"

The vet comes back with a quote of $865.00 to $1,100 based on what they have to do (blood work, anti-biotics, anethesia, scraping, polishing, pulling teeth if necessary, etc. etc. etc.

I could see her teeth were tartered up and her gums red, so what the hell, I love my cat, get it done.

They start with the blood work to make sure that she doesn' t have anything.

A few days later the vet calls me up to tell me that my favourite cat has kidney problems that her Urea level is high as is creatine (spelling), etc. etc. and that they will have to use a special anesthetic on her now that isn't so hard on her kidneys. She also now tells me that I have to put my cat on narcotics for the rest of her life, and by the way, I should be feeding her "Hills K/D" (kidney disease). Seems a lot of cats get kidney disease these days.

By now I am starting to spin, so I call a friend of mine who is an animal NUT and has a good friend who is a vet, who is according to my friend one of the best vets she has ever met in life. (My friend is an animal NUT, so if anyone knows her vets, it's my friend.)

Anyway, my friend listens to my case and gets me to fax the lab results to the other vet. I make an appointment to take my cat to see this lady.

I meet with the second vet and she talks to me (and talks to my cat) for 2 hours at her farm. (She has 25 or so horses on her farm, 4 or 5 cats, and 4 or 5 dogs, and a pile of chickens rescued from the local university (the chickens are pets too.)

Anyway, I am quite impressed with this second vet. She seems to really have a way with animals. (My friend claims that she can communicate with them, and I don't doubt it.) Anyway, we talk about my cat, her problems, including her teeth. She opens the cat's mouth and picks the tarter off of my cat's teeth with her finger nail. At first I thought she pulled out her back teeth, but no, she just pulled off the tarter. (the cat didn't appreciate that, but hey, I don't like the dentist either.)

The verdict was that her teeth are fine, her gums are a bit red, but just put a little hydrogen peroxide on her gums for a week or so with a Q tip and she will be fine.

For this 2 hour consult, and fixing my cat's teeth, the bill was $48.00

My vet wanted $865.00 to $1,100.00

But that's not the point of my diatribe.

The point is that this 2'nd vet told me that my cat's kidney problems stem from her diet of cat food over the years. She told me that all processed animal foods that are widely available are just complete utter poison for your animal. The pet food industry is part of the human food chain; it is there simply to provide a market for the crap that they can't sell you or I. Doesn't matter how they bag it or market it, it's all poison. First off, the bulk of the processed pet food is just filler, usually grains, etc which cats and dogs aren't supposed to eat. Cats and dogs are carnivores. Secondly, everything is laced with perservatives and chemicals that are very bad for the life of your pet. Third, the meat that they use is the worst of the worst of the worst. Forth, there is virtually no enforcement of any sort of minimal quality in pet food production.

Lastly, she said to me, "How much did they want for that bag of Hills K/D food?"

I said around 30 bucks.

"Ok, she says, that means that the vet probably buys it for $15.00.

Add in all the middle men, and such, the bag of cat food probably costs about $1.00 to make

It was a very convincing arguement.

Capped off with the question, "would you eat cat food?"

Anyway, I was doing some googling on the pet food industry and I have found that there is a considerable amount of information on processed pet food out there.

It's interesting to contrast what the animal food manufacturers say verses those who are trying to expose the pet food industry for what it is.

Don't get me wrong, I am not some tree hugger walking around in Birkenstocks, but there is a lot of sense to my second vet's arguement. It makes me sad to think that my cat's problems are the result of her diet.

Anyway, the second vet gave me a recipe for cooking my own cat food which if anyone is interested, I will post.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that if there are animal lovers out there, and I am sure that there are, you may want to re-think using processed animal feeds. You will be poisoning your pet. Of that I am convinced.

Here's a link I found to an interesting site that makes some good points..

http://www.wholisticanimal.com/processedpetfood.html

06-10-2005, 01:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
james t kirk Junkie Location: Toronto	Want to kill your cat? Just feed it Cat Food I am the proud owner of two used felines that came into my life about a year and a half ago. One is 12 and is my ex's cat. She's (the cat) is very affectionate, lovie, and makes me laugh with her behaviour. She came to stay with me cause my ex just didn't want her anymore and was going to get rid of her (aka, put her down) Anyway, she's happy to be with me, and I am happy she is here The other cat is my dad's cat whom I inheritted when my father passed away last april. She's very cat like, and a bit on the nasty side, but always good for a laugh. Anyhoo, the older one developed an ongoing sinus problem that caused her to sniffle constantly, especially at night, so I took her to the vet to get her checked out. While there, the vet asks me what I feed her. I answer, Diet Eukanuba in the morning (she's a little on the chubby side) and tuna in the evening. (You have never seen a cat that loves tuna so much. Normally she is a silent cat, but crack open a can of clover leaf and she will sing at the top of her lungs for it.) Anyway, the vet says to me, "oh my no, a cat needs a special diet, you should be feeding her Hills G/D (geriatric diet - I don't think of my cat as being a geriatric.) Anyway, she says, "we sell Hills and it's the best on the market, only available from vets, blah blah blah.) I tell her that I don't know if I believe in the quality of cat and dog food from a factory that it's all probably the worst crap going. She tells me, "Oh no, I can assure you that they are the best out there, the recipe is designed by vets" yadda yadda yadda. I dunno. I must admit, the Eukanuba is pretty easy to feed her in the morning, you just pour a scooop out of the bag and off you go. Well, my cat had a tarter build up on her back top teeth which the vet said was a result of (guess what) not feeding her the food that they sell. "Well, how much to clean her teeth I ask" The vet comes back with a quote of $865.00 to $1,100 based on what they have to do (blood work, anti-biotics, anethesia, scraping, polishing, pulling teeth if necessary, etc. etc. etc. I could see her teeth were tartered up and her gums red, so what the hell, I love my cat, get it done. They start with the blood work to make sure that she doesn' t have anything. A few days later the vet calls me up to tell me that my favourite cat has kidney problems that her Urea level is high as is creatine (spelling), etc. etc. and that they will have to use a special anesthetic on her now that isn't so hard on her kidneys. She also now tells me that I have to put my cat on narcotics for the rest of her life, and by the way, I should be feeding her "Hills K/D" (kidney disease). Seems a lot of cats get kidney disease these days. By now I am starting to spin, so I call a friend of mine who is an animal NUT and has a good friend who is a vet, who is according to my friend one of the best vets she has ever met in life. (My friend is an animal NUT, so if anyone knows her vets, it's my friend.) Anyway, my friend listens to my case and gets me to fax the lab results to the other vet. I make an appointment to take my cat to see this lady. I meet with the second vet and she talks to me (and talks to my cat) for 2 hours at her farm. (She has 25 or so horses on her farm, 4 or 5 cats, and 4 or 5 dogs, and a pile of chickens rescued from the local university (the chickens are pets too.) Anyway, I am quite impressed with this second vet. She seems to really have a way with animals. (My friend claims that she can communicate with them, and I don't doubt it.) Anyway, we talk about my cat, her problems, including her teeth. She opens the cat's mouth and picks the tarter off of my cat's teeth with her finger nail. At first I thought she pulled out her back teeth, but no, she just pulled off the tarter. (the cat didn't appreciate that, but hey, I don't like the dentist either.) The verdict was that her teeth are fine, her gums are a bit red, but just put a little hydrogen peroxide on her gums for a week or so with a Q tip and she will be fine. For this 2 hour consult, and fixing my cat's teeth, the bill was $48.00 My vet wanted $865.00 to $1,100.00 But that's not the point of my diatribe. The point is that this 2'nd vet told me that my cat's kidney problems stem from her diet of cat food over the years. She told me that all processed animal foods that are widely available are just complete utter poison for your animal. The pet food industry is part of the human food chain; it is there simply to provide a market for the crap that they can't sell you or I. Doesn't matter how they bag it or market it, it's all poison. First off, the bulk of the processed pet food is just filler, usually grains, etc which cats and dogs aren't supposed to eat. Cats and dogs are carnivores. Secondly, everything is laced with perservatives and chemicals that are very bad for the life of your pet. Third, the meat that they use is the worst of the worst of the worst. Forth, there is virtually no enforcement of any sort of minimal quality in pet food production. Lastly, she said to me, "How much did they want for that bag of Hills K/D food?" I said around 30 bucks. "Ok, she says, that means that the vet probably buys it for $15.00. Add in all the middle men, and such, the bag of cat food probably costs about $1.00 to make It was a very convincing arguement. Capped off with the question, "would you eat cat food?" Anyway, I was doing some googling on the pet food industry and I have found that there is a considerable amount of information on processed pet food out there. It's interesting to contrast what the animal food manufacturers say verses those who are trying to expose the pet food industry for what it is. Don't get me wrong, I am not some tree hugger walking around in Birkenstocks, but there is a lot of sense to my second vet's arguement. It makes me sad to think that my cat's problems are the result of her diet. Anyway, the second vet gave me a recipe for cooking my own cat food which if anyone is interested, I will post. I guess the point I am trying to make is that if there are animal lovers out there, and I am sure that there are, you may want to re-think using processed animal feeds. You will be poisoning your pet. Of that I am convinced. Here's a link I found to an interesting site that makes some good points.. http://www.wholisticanimal.com/processedpetfood.html Last edited by james t kirk; 06-12-2005 at 07:22 PM..