The Tizzie Bazalcat Shelter for Homeless
Cats
Anyone who has ever enquired about adopting one of our
cats has discovered how strongly we feel about the importance of feeding
premium quality cat food. Since all
brands of cat food claim to be 100% nutritionally complete and veterinarian
approved, consumers generally don=t realize
that most of the readily available, inexpensive brands of food are not what
they claim to be. Remember that a food
can contain the basic nutrients a cat needs without providing their full daily
requirements, and it=s easy to
fulfill government guidelines which are ambiguous or which are not
enforced. It really is a Abuyer-beware@ market.
Take the time to educate yourself about what those seemingly innocuous
things on the ingredients label are.
For example, corn meal is taco chips. It contains no food value that is of any use
to cats. Cats are carnivores. At least
75% of their diet must consist of real meat.
Do not buy cat food that lists any kind of grain product as one of its
first three ingredients. Corn meal is
what you will usually find as the first or second ingredient in store
brands. Pet food companies use it as
filler because it is cheap.
Also, steer clear of any kind of meat >by-product=. By-product is scary. It comes from rendering plants, where meat
that is deemed unfit for human consumption as well as the entire carcases of
animals (including road-kill, animals that died of disease, and euthanized dogs
and cats) are dumped into a big vat with nasty chemicals and slow-cooked at a
low temperatures until they are stewed into a goo, then sold to pet food
companies as Ameat
by-product@.
Disgusted yet? Don=t believe me? Read Ann N. Martin=s book called Food Pets Die For (New Sage Press, 2003) for more
shocking details.
You can see and buy this book, and
read extracts here.
If you avoid corn meal and by-product, you will
quickly discover that you will not be able to buy the cat food that is normally
sold in grocery stores. Only specialty
pet stores and veterinarians sell the good stuff. Yes, it is more expensive, but at least you will not be wasting
your money on garbage that will compromise your cat=s health and ultimately send it to an early
grave. Additionally, because it is so
much more nutritious, cats need less of these foods that the ordinary stuff.
Brands to Look For: Brands to Avoid:
Nutro Natural Choice Whiskas
Authority Purina
Eukanuba Mainstay
Medical President’s
Choice
Science Diet (good nutrients, still has cornmeal) Friskies
Iams
Any ‘no-name’ brand
These lists are, of course, not
complete.
The advantages to choosing a
premium quality pet food make it impossible for a responsible owner to feed
anything else. Since we only feed the
best foods to our shelter cats, we have an excellent opportunity to see how
they improve on a good diet.
1. Our cats don=t reject their food. We just don=t have
picky eaters. Cornstarch is not part of
a cat=s natural diet; they are predisposed to prefer
meat.
2. All of our cats have
gorgeous, glossy coats. We see this
especially with black cats, who look brown when they first come to us. After about six weeks on our blend of
premium brands, their coats are shiny, silky and blue-black.
3. Cats fed high
quality diets don=t shed as
much and tend not to have problems with dry, flaky skin. This is especially important for cat owners
who have mild allergies, for the dander in the skin is what actually causes
allergic reactions. Less dander means
less allergy medicine.
4. Better concentration
of nutrients in the good food allows you to feed your cat smaller meals, which
is important for plump or less active indoor cats. You can cut down on calories without compromising nutrition.
5. Many of the
illnesses that cats get are caused by what they eat, such as urinary tract
infections, kidney failure, and gastro-intestinal disorders. Many of these problems can be avoided by
feeding a good diet. Cats with food
allergies usually react to some unidentifiable protein in their food, or
sometimes to certain preservatives. We
have found that our one-and-only food-allergy sufferer is still able to eat
Nutro Natural Choice, which contains no grain and no by-product. This means that, in his case, we do not need
to buy him a special veterinary diet.
So when we insist that our cats continue to eat
premium quality food in their new homes, we are not just being difficult. Many of the cats that come to us are not in
good physical condition, often as a result of poor nutrition. We really don=t want to be in a position where we restore
them to health just to send them to a home where they will be fed poorly.
Some people avoid the better foods because of the cost
and the inconvenience of going to the stores where they are available. We would ask these people to reconsider
their decision to adopt.
Most people buy store brand food because they don=t realize the problems associated with it. This is why it is so important for cat
owners, as consumers, to educate themselves about the products they are
buying.
Check the ingredients list on
your canned or dry food.
If it does NOT say meat as one of
the first three, or says meat or chicken by-product -
DON’T
BUY IT!