For many years my first cat absolutely loved to eat the crunchy commercial pet foods, even when I supplemented that with lots of fresh meat, fish, eggs, and cheese. This is what started my search for the best possible dry cat food that I could find on the market. There was one brand from Canada supported by the world’s leading holistic veterinarians that had a lot of high quality natural ingredients and preservatives With delicious items like real chicken, chicken livers and fat, turkey, salmon and whitefish, eggs, alfalfa, kelp, and other fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, this cat food’s ingredients was like a gourmet degustation menu.
Sadly, some foods were also required by law to be irradiated when imported into the country. While such human foods as herbs and tropical fruits are irradiated, many imported pet foods receive radiation doses many times that given to the human foods. Yet, because this process makes foods toxic, many cats and other animals end up getting poisoned by eating the irradiated foods. A great number of cats that have eaten such processed foods have developed very serious neurological diseases and must often be euthanized.
I, unknowingly, included these foods as about half of my cat’s daily meals. She was one of those that developed neurological problems, all because of my ignorance. Her hind legs started to become wobbly, it became difficult to swallow food, urinate, and defecate properly, and her weight declined dramatically. When she started having trouble simply breathing, I really began to fear the worst. Since she was not responding well to any of the treatments we tried, her veterinarian advised me to euthanize her and give her relief from any pain and discomfort she was experiencing.
From this experience I learned the great importance of natural and balanced pet diets, especially those that are homemade. With only a couple rare exceptions, I almost always advise my veterinary patients to provide fresh, home-prepared foods for their pets’ diets.
Even with all of the available evidence to the contrary, many vets continue to suggest that store-bought, “premium” dry pet foods are better choices for your pet than a home-prepared pet diet. The producers of these commercial brands market them as the optimum, healthiest choices for your pet, though this certainly is not accurate. An overwhelmingly amount of research shows a strong connection between a dramatic decline in our pets’ overall health and the increasing use of those “premium” processed pet foods. While poor genetics, inappropriate lifestyle, and over-vaccination are contributing factors, most pet health issues are attributable to the pet’s diet. Improper nutrition can be linked to the majority of increasingly common pet health problems, such as skin disease, arthritis, teeth and gum disease, obesity and diabetes, renal failure, anal gland blockages, even epilepsy and cancer. With all of the information now available, we can no longer dismiss the connection between decreasing pet health and increasing use of mass-processed pet foods.
If you want your pet to enjoy a long and healthy life, it is essential that you provide it with a balanced, natural diet made with fresh, real foods. I now prepare my pets’ food myself using tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes with any number of the following ingredients: raw chicken necks or wings for cats, whole raw chicken carcasses for dogs, raw fish, raw organ meats from beef, lamb, and chicken, raw eggs, and also yogurts and cheeses. Part of the balanced diet also includes a variety of vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, celery, sweet potato, and fruits like apple, pear, and pineapple. I will also add a range of vitamin and mineral supplements to their daily meals, as well. I only use human-grade ingredients, and usually prefer them to be organic.
Whatever your lifestyle, providing your pet with a healthy, natural diet does not have to be a long, expensive, nor difficult process. Providing your pet with such life-extending nourishment, you can take joy in knowing your pet will be around that much longer to love and care for.
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