Cat nutrition is a hotly debated subject! You, as a truth seeker,
can be batted from one opinion to another, getting more and more
confused along the way. You may just end up doing the easiest thing, in
your frustration. But that may not be in your cat's best interests.
I am not a veterinarian. Most people feel that vets are the best people to get health advice from, for any animal. I certainly agree they should be. But in this strange world of ours, you need to be aware of the subtleties that are beavering away beneath the surface.
I hate to be negative, but if you are not aware of what is happening, you will fall into many traps.
Vets (and doctors) have become little more than agents for Big Pharma. Many practitioners get to know this too late (after they have invested too much) often feeling trapped in the system. Some learn better methods (and take a big salary cut in the process). Some opt out altogether.
University courses are always on the look out for more funding. When a large corporation comes along with a fat cheque in their hand, few universities are in any position to decline. But the cheque always comes with strings attached. In this case, they want to influence the students.
So veterinary students are not taught to search for the cause of disease, but rather to name the disease and then match a drug to it. This does, after all, make excellent marketing sense. But the drugs are always suppressive, making sure the animal's health bank (or immune system) declines, all ready for further diseases, and so further treatment.
If you don't believe me, consider this. If a veterinary clinic is doing a really good job, their practice should either be shrinking, or they are becoming very popular and attracting people from other veterinary clinics (not very popular with those vets!).
One veterinary clinic near me boasts that it has been one the fastest growing businesses in the area for the past few years. A business? Is that what health care is now? Just a business?
Cat nutrition has suffered terribly in the past few decades. Yet, another supporter of veterinary schools, Big Pet Food, influences the very basic nutrition content of the education. Again, it makes excellent marketing sense to feed the food that causes health problems, which later need treatment.
So the training your vet has received is unlikely to have equipped them in either the natural nutrition of cats or in the cause of disease. Those vets who quickly become frustrated with the limitations of what they can achieve, go on to study holistic health care. Then they can really help the animal.
So what is wrong with commercial cat food? There are many reasons, but one that is important is the carbohydrate content. Typically, all commercial cat food has a high carbohydrate diet, as this is much cheaper than meat. Grain is one of them that you may be trying to avoid. But grain is now being replaced with other carbohydrates that are just as unhealthy for your cat.
Cats naturally do not eat any carbohydrates other than the very small amount found in the stomach of their prey. Even this may be rejected if they have had a number of successful hunts in a short space of time.
The only other time cats will seek out plants is when they need some form of medicine as treatment, such as eating grass to stimulate vomiting.
Cats are designed with a light body structure, in order to hunt stealthily, to pounce noiselessly. This comes at a price - they are not able to deal with the alkaloids and phenols in plants that omnivores can. Few vets (or herbalists) know this.
It is common for cats with conditions such as diabetes, to be given a high carbohydrate/low protein diet by vets. But this is the wrong way round. It was (partly) the carbohydrates that caused the problem in the first place, so this diet will exacerbate the condition.
The only diet that will support good health in your cat is the one they evolved on. Granted, you can't exactly duplicate that, but you can get so close that it doesn't matter. Natural cat nutrition begins by understanding the origin of cats. The best teacher is Nature herself!
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Madeleine_Innocent
I am not a veterinarian. Most people feel that vets are the best people to get health advice from, for any animal. I certainly agree they should be. But in this strange world of ours, you need to be aware of the subtleties that are beavering away beneath the surface.
I hate to be negative, but if you are not aware of what is happening, you will fall into many traps.
Vets (and doctors) have become little more than agents for Big Pharma. Many practitioners get to know this too late (after they have invested too much) often feeling trapped in the system. Some learn better methods (and take a big salary cut in the process). Some opt out altogether.
University courses are always on the look out for more funding. When a large corporation comes along with a fat cheque in their hand, few universities are in any position to decline. But the cheque always comes with strings attached. In this case, they want to influence the students.
So veterinary students are not taught to search for the cause of disease, but rather to name the disease and then match a drug to it. This does, after all, make excellent marketing sense. But the drugs are always suppressive, making sure the animal's health bank (or immune system) declines, all ready for further diseases, and so further treatment.
If you don't believe me, consider this. If a veterinary clinic is doing a really good job, their practice should either be shrinking, or they are becoming very popular and attracting people from other veterinary clinics (not very popular with those vets!).
One veterinary clinic near me boasts that it has been one the fastest growing businesses in the area for the past few years. A business? Is that what health care is now? Just a business?
Cat nutrition has suffered terribly in the past few decades. Yet, another supporter of veterinary schools, Big Pet Food, influences the very basic nutrition content of the education. Again, it makes excellent marketing sense to feed the food that causes health problems, which later need treatment.
So the training your vet has received is unlikely to have equipped them in either the natural nutrition of cats or in the cause of disease. Those vets who quickly become frustrated with the limitations of what they can achieve, go on to study holistic health care. Then they can really help the animal.
So what is wrong with commercial cat food? There are many reasons, but one that is important is the carbohydrate content. Typically, all commercial cat food has a high carbohydrate diet, as this is much cheaper than meat. Grain is one of them that you may be trying to avoid. But grain is now being replaced with other carbohydrates that are just as unhealthy for your cat.
Cats naturally do not eat any carbohydrates other than the very small amount found in the stomach of their prey. Even this may be rejected if they have had a number of successful hunts in a short space of time.
The only other time cats will seek out plants is when they need some form of medicine as treatment, such as eating grass to stimulate vomiting.
Cats are designed with a light body structure, in order to hunt stealthily, to pounce noiselessly. This comes at a price - they are not able to deal with the alkaloids and phenols in plants that omnivores can. Few vets (or herbalists) know this.
It is common for cats with conditions such as diabetes, to be given a high carbohydrate/low protein diet by vets. But this is the wrong way round. It was (partly) the carbohydrates that caused the problem in the first place, so this diet will exacerbate the condition.
The only diet that will support good health in your cat is the one they evolved on. Granted, you can't exactly duplicate that, but you can get so close that it doesn't matter. Natural cat nutrition begins by understanding the origin of cats. The best teacher is Nature herself!
thank you g-)
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