Friday, December 19, 2008

Could You Unknowingly Be Abusing Your Cat?

By Ike Lowe

You could be doing it without having the facts?

Don't be offended, I want to educate you on the proper nutrition for your cat. You could be harming him/her without knowing it.

The first thing you must understand is that the physiology of cats is very different from humans. Humans are omnivores - meaning that our bodies are well designed to digest fruits, vegetables and meats. Our bodies have long digestive systems therefore our bodies can extract nutrients from fruits, vegetables and meats and benefit from them.

Feeding your cat, for a prolong period of processed carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables will cause food related illnesses. These illnesses include such problems as; diabetes, IBD and others. Cats are obligate carnivores. Their bodies are well suited for eating and digesting raw meat.

Commercial cat food companies are well aware that convenience and low prices are good selling points and they capitalize on this by producing ads that make you believe their foods are beneficial to your cats. So you purchase their foods that are chocked full of harmful ingredients and over time, these foods cause your cat to suffer from a premature death.

When you enter a supermarket or other places that sell cat food and you see bags of cat food with fruits and vegetables on them, this gives you the false impression that since fruits and vegetables are good for humans, then they must be good for your cat. But this is a wrong and dangerous belief.

If a human was forced to eat a diet comprised of meats and processed carbohydrates, he would face a premature death. This type of a diet for humans would encourage hypertension, obesity, diabetes and as a result premature death. This is the same results you achieve when you feed your cat commercial dry cat food.

Humans cannot thrive on meat and bread alone. We must have fruits and vegetables coupled with exercise in order to live full and productive lives. By comparison, cats must have a meat-based diet coupled with exercise in order to thrive. By feeding your cats a dry commercial food, you are sentencing your cat to a premature and often painful death.

Although the commercial cat food companies are responsible for perpetrating these false beliefs on an unsuspecting public, you have the responsibility of ensuring that your cat's food is nutritional.

The commercial cat food companies do it for money. They are part of a multi-billion dollar, mostly unregulated pet food industry. You do it out of love for your cat. I know you really do believe that by feeding your cat what the commercial cat companies tell you is nutritional is right but that is not true. Do you really know what goes into a dry bag of cat food?

Do you really know what goes into a bag of dry cat food? Your cat could be a cannibal without you knowing it. Yes, dead dogs and cats have been known to find their way into pet foods. It is not uncommon for pet food companies to use the four D's (dead, dying, diseased, disabled) animals.

Ingredients listed on the bag such as meat meal, animal digest, animal bi-product and meat by-product often times include euthanized animals from Veterinarian clinics, dying circus animals, dead farm animals covered with tumors and road-kill (dead animals found on the side of the roadways).

As if this was not enough the commercial cat food companies add toxic preservatives.

In order to lengthen the shelf life of their food they use preservatives known to cause kidney and liver failure in cats such as BHA,BHT, and Ethoxyquin.

How can any food that sits in a hot warehouse for twelve to eighteen months be considered nutritional?

Now is the time to take control of your cats' diet and end the feeding of bad foods to your cat. Always be mindful of the fact that cats are carnivores and in order for them to thrive, they must be fed a meat-based diet and this type of diet will ensure that they will spend many more years by your side.

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