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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / October 2005diet and immune system
My little cat Charlotte died a few days ago having endured through her life hyperthyroidism, weakened kidneys, IBD probably due to both food allergy to tuna and years of neomercazole possibly resulting in lymphoma of her gut, and ultimately liver failure. A few years ago our cat Harvey died of various cancers and he too had a bad reaction to the thyroid medicine--all his cancers may have had lymphoma in his gut as the originator. I know that cats eventually die of something but I want to learn from the deaths of my cats for my current and future cats. I have been reading up on the contribution of food to the illness in cats and am convinced of that argument. The discussion on this subject in this newsgroup goes back a few years. What is the current thinking? Are commercial foods still as bad as they were? What exactly are the harmful ingredients that are causing modern cats to experience so many common illnesses such as cancers, hyperthyroidism, IBD and the like? I want my cats to have the healthiest diet possible to allow them to live the longest and to help them avoid the common diseases that seem to come from a weakened immune system. As a vegetarian I do not like the idea of having to buy and cook fresh meat for them but I would do that if that was the only way to reach my goal. I know that many people subscribe to the idea that raw meat is best for cats but I can't accept that since raw foods can carry disease. I live in the UK. Can anyone suggest the best tinned food to buy? How does Yarrah compare with Denes? What ingredients on the label should influence whether I buy or don't buy a brand of cat food? James Wellbeloved dry food purports to be wholesome and beneficial--any opinion on that claim? If the most natural food for a cat is a mouse, how come none of the food producers make a cat food with the same levels of protein, carbohydrates, etc that are found in a mouse? Thanks for your input. Zoe Zoe, The arguments you have accepted are prcisely the same as the following paragraph. "My father ate green peas as a child. He died of colon cancer at age 34, therefore green peas cause colon cancer." While the first two segments of the argument are true, they do not make the third segment "therefore green peas cause colon cancer" true. Review the arguments you have accepted and look closely - in every case they rely precisely upon this very same faulty logic. As for mouse food - it apparently doesn't have much consumer appeal. Prescription Diet c/d first formulated in the late 1950's was precisely the same nutrient values as mouse carcasses. Since the 1950's we have learned a lot aboout feline nutrition. Those feral cats that ate only mice had much shorter life spans than owned cats do today. Todays cats live far longer than they did in 1950, owing in part to better nutrition, better veterinary care, and better medical solutions to various disease issues. All living things must eventually expire. Over the past fifty years we have eliminated many of the common causes of death in cats. Rancid foods used to be huge killer of cats in the 1950's. Trauma - hit by car - etc has declined tremendously over the past 20 years as pet owners keep cats inside far more than they used to. As we eliminate common causes of death other causes must necessarily increase. The use of higher levels of antioxidant vitamins introduced in some commercial cat foods ten years ago will likley increase longevity once again. Talk to your veterinary surgeon and seek thier advice on what types and brands of food they recommend. > As for mouse food - it apparently doesn't have much consumer appeal. > Prescription Diet c/d first formulated in the late 1950's was precisely > the same nutrient values as mouse carcasses. Since the 1950's we have > learned a lot aboout feline nutrition. I sure hope so! Many cats developed feline central retinal degeneration and went blind, and many others developed dilated cardiomyopathy and died from the original c/d as a result of the lack of taurine. Hill's finially wised up in 1987-- only took them almost 40 years. Those feral cats that ate only > mice had much shorter life spans than owned cats do today. LOL! You're doing the same thing you accused the OP of! "My father ate green peas as a child. He died of colon cancer at age 34, therefore green peas cause colon cancer." "Those feral cats that ate only > mice had much shorter life spans"--- Feral cats live shorter lives than pet cats due to environmental hazzards, exposure, illnes and lack of medical care, predators, cars, psychos-- not because they eat mice-- unless the mice ate poison. Cats evolved and survived on mice for millions of years! You come out with some real silly sh.t sometimes. > > As for mouse food - it apparently doesn't have much consumer appeal. > > Prescription Diet c/d first formulated in the late 1950's was precisely [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the original c/d as a result of the lack of taurine. Hill's finially wised > up in 1987-- only took them almost 40 years. What kind of cheap shot is this? Hill's was the ONLY company that pulled all feline foods off the market and replaced them with elevated taurine foods. Nobody else bothered to do that. And before you spout off, no other company had higher levels of taurine at the time either. > > > As for mouse food - it apparently doesn't have much consumer appeal. > > > Prescription Diet c/d first formulated in the late 1950's was precisely [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > What kind of cheap shot is this? What cheap shot? Hey- you brought up the first formulation of c/d as "precisely the same nutrient values as mouse carcasses"-- which of course it wasn't since mouse contains taurine and the original c/d didn't- and many cats went blind or died because of it. You can't possibly deny that *fact*. Hill's was the ONLY company that > pulled all feline foods off the market and replaced them with elevated > taurine foods. Ex post facto-- after many cats went blind or died. Of course Hill's pulled c/d from the market and reformulated it- they had no choice! Nobody else bothered to do that. And before you spout > off, no other company had higher levels of taurine at the time either. Ex post facto-- after many cats paid for Hill's' mistake with their eyes or lives. > > As for mouse food - it apparently doesn't have much consumer appeal. > > Prescription Diet c/d first formulated in the late 1950's was precisely [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the original c/d as a result of the lack of taurine. Hill's finially wised > up in 1987-- only took them almost 40 years. Thanks to this Dr. Pion, it seems. This is a rather long article, but well worth the read: http://www.catnutrition.org/diabetes.htm#_ftn2 > My little cat Charlotte died a few days ago having endured through her > life hyperthyroidism, weakened kidneys, IBD probably due to both food > allergy to tuna and years of neomercazole possibly resulting in > lymphoma of her gut, and ultimately liver failure. Zoe, I am so sorry for your loss of Charlotte :( I want my cats to have the healthiest diet possible to allow them to > live the longest and to help them avoid the common diseases that seem > to come from a weakened immune system. As a vegetarian I do not like > the idea of having to buy and cook fresh meat for them but I would do > that if that was the only way to reach my goal. I know that many people > subscribe to the idea that raw meat is best for cats but I can't accept > that since raw foods can carry disease. I did a lot of reading and research after my last cat passed away, and I decided I wanted to try a raw food diet. I started my present cats on it when they were about 3 months old, and they are now 5 1/2 years. They have been doing great on their homemade raw diet, although sometimes I wish they didn't have so much energy, lol. It's something that I wanted to do for my cats and something I believe is the most beneficial to them. Having said that, I don't recommend it for people who are interested in the convenience of commercial food. Making a homemade diet isn't rocket science, but it does take some work. As far as disease from raw meat, yes, for people eating raw meat can be dangerous. But cats have a different, and much shorter, digestive tract than we do. They are carnivores and were meant to eat a raw meat based diet. One needs to handle the meat in a safe manner, just like you would do when making your own food. I belong to a list that has about 1,000 members, and I don't recall hearing about cats getting sick from raw meat. The problems I see are problems that the cat had before starting on the raw diet, or ones that aren't diet related. Just wanted to give you another view. Again, I am sorry for your loss. Lauren See my cats: http://tinyurl.com/76tg8 |
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