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We see a lot of cats in the sanctuary, who look old although they're still quite young. They're often brought in because someone has passed away or gone into hospital or the people are moving house and can't take the cat with them - or as frequently is the case, their is a new partner who doesn't like cats. Yes, you can imagine what I'm thinking but I have to stop myself saying it..... Anyway, I look at this poor unhealthy, tight skinned, emaciated ancient looking cat (or dog) and ask about diet. Oh no bother at all, he just eats biscuits and a bit of canned food now and again. Aaaargh! This is just no good at all. A young cat might survive alright on a factory manufactured diet but as time goes on the unnatural manufactured food takes its toll on the elderly digestive system and the old stager looks a wreck.
Getting them back into shape after years of poor nutrition is
difficult. Improvements can be made only gradually. Better to feed
your cat well all his life. But I feed him the best cat food I can buy. O.k.
Let's think about cat food for a moment. What do pet food
manufacturers have in mind when they start up in business. Is it
welfare of the nations cats? Providing cheap nutritious food for our
pets? Benefiting the feline species? No, not any of these. It's
all about money. The pet food industry is a very profitable one.
And to think that only twenty or thirty years ago, there wasn't a pet
food industry. What did we feed our cats on then? No problem.
There were butchers shops and fishmongers in all the villages and local
communities. Within a short walk of my childhood home there were three
butchers shops, a fishmongers and a delicatessen. Loads more a bit
further on. So scraps of meat and fish were our cats diet. There
weren't any visits to the vets unless the cat had an accident. And our
cats often lived to be over twenty years old - and still went mousing
to the end
So what is the difference between those scraps and the present days
canned and dried food? The fish bits and stew meat we bought were all
fit for human consumption. You could see what they were. Chunks of
meat and fish trimmings. Perfectly good to eat.
So what's in the cans and bags of pellets everyone buys today? Do
you think it's slices of free range reared chicken breast? Cuts of
beef? Fish fillets? That's what the hype and multi million
pound pet advertising industry would have us believe. But now is the
time to get real. Pet food, no matter how glorious and technicolour
and emotive and hyped up the ads are, is made from by-products and meat
that is unfit for human comsumption. Did you read what happens to the
millions of feathers at the intensive turkey factories? They're
ground up and used as filler in pet food! Ugh. So that's good for
your cat and dog isn't it? How could the public have become conned
into feeding pets on the by-products from factory farmed animals that
have had miserable, pathetic and cruel lives? The power of
advertising has led us all down this crazy road.
Our Kimme cat looks well because he eats meat and fish and a bit of
wholemeal brown bread mixed in and some grated veg. He is a carnivore
and his diet is mainly meat. If we fed him dry biscuits it is
unlikely he would drink enough for his digestion to cope with them at
his advance age. I do not want to feed him by-products that are
unfit for human consumption and from intensively farmed animals. I do
not want to damage the environment by feeding pets on the by-products
of meat that has been frozen and flown to this country. I do not want
to feed pets on such rubbish food that it has to have artificial
additives to make it palatable and provide vitamins.
If you want your cat to live long and healthy you can do this
by providing food that is wholesome, fit for human consumption and you
know what it is! The feline species has survived thousands of years
without the pet food industry. You might think you can't give up the
cans and pouches because they're so easy. But feeding natural is just
as simple. More about this coming up.
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