1 post tagged “qotd”
Have you been affected by the pet food recall? Has it changed the way you feed your pets?
As a veterinary technician, cat rescuer and behaviorist, it had a tremendous impact on me. My first emotion: sheer frustration. The misconceptions are running rampant. I wish to share my knowledge with others. The two most important concepts that I learned: 1. Cats, dogs, rabbits, etc are each extremely unique in their needs. 2. Nutrition is an exact science. The wrong amount of nutrients, either too much or too little, can cause fatal heart damage, blindness, toxicity, etc. Good intentions do nothing for an animal's physical health. Work with an animal doctor so you don't kill your pet.
After years of independent study, it was clear that guardians' misconceptions about nutrition for their companions is killing their pets. It's not as simple as cooking at home for companions, and it's also not as simple as "all pet foods are the same".
My next emotion was anger. The fact that several companies, who shall remain unnamed, tested the contaminated products and hid the facts from pet owners, resulting in thousands of deaths, did not surprise me but gave me major palpitations. It's criminal, period.
Then, panic. I emailed the company who make the pet food that I use for my cats. They assured me that their food is inspected by a human food auditing company, and no corn or wheat is used in their products. They do, however, use the same manufacturer implicated in the recall.
I am seeing the sharks emerge in this fiasco, raw pet food companies playing on people's fears for their own profit, people embracing blind mistrust in perfectly good and nutritionally advanced pet food that has managed to extend domestic animal's lives by many years, and general rumors and misinformation spreading everywhere.
* I should mention that there are new reasons to avoid feeding fish to cats. Besides the fact that fish contains thiaminase, and is a very common allergen in cats, there is research being done which suggests that a diet high in fish may be responsible for feline hyperthyroidism.
There is a very good article online called "What's Really In Pet Food". I urge people to read the entire document, and educate themselves for the sake of their pets. http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1
