Are We Killing Our Pets??

[Gillian Harvey]

sometimes I even mix 2 or 3 different varieties or brands in 1 bowl. They love it as no two meals are the same. 

I do that too sometimes! I was mixing my last few packs of Bozita with good old Butchers Classic to eke it out a bit until the next delivery - didnt seem to both them and they quite like Classic for a change anyway. I don't usually mix anything with the raw though.

[AliCat]

I imagine there is a bit of scaremongering afoot and I am not inclined to believe it's been overly well-researched.

In the Daily Mail? Never! 

[Fire Fox]

I didn't say we shouldn't eat a diet closer to nature  I've done many nutrition courses and def not advocting junk food,  I rarely eat any -  but I don't think we need to eat the same types/quantities of food we have in the past because eg our lifestyles are different.  I've also heard many times that domestic cats live longer and cats do seem to longer these days although the reason may not necessarily be down to diet or diet alone.

I work in physical activity so I believe that it's the lifestyle more than the diet that needs amending! Western humans certainly need to eat less saturated fats than we did at one time, which automatically means a reduction in the overall calorie intake adjusting for a more sedentary working life (including domestic chores). 

[Janeyk]

I agree, I try to get mine to eat good food but I've got less strict over the years, at the end of the day I don't want them miseable.  We also have ferals who will eat only soft food, some who will only eat biscuits and some eating a mixture.  I also believe just like we don't eat or need to eat the diets we used to, cats too have evolved to eat differently. 

Humans DO need to eat a diet closer to nature, overeating and undernutrition is the causeof / leading contributor to the epidemic of many disease states we are experiencing in the Western world. Cats have not evolvedinto omnivores since the advent of commercial cat food, tho perhaps there is an element of natural selection - the oldest cat ever attained 38 years, which makes me wonder why many domestic moggies have relatively shot lifespans ... 

I didn't say we shouldn't eat a diet closer to nature  I've done many nutrition courses and def not advocting junk food,  I rarely eat any -  but I don't think we need to eat the same types/quantities of food we have in the past because eg our lifestyles are different.  I've also heard many times that domestic cats live longer and cats do seem to longer these days although the reason may not necessarily be down to diet or diet alone.

If you give a certain food too frequently they can become hooked on it and refuse anything else. We went through murder when mine got addicted to Felix Cod in Jelly.  These days they get a mixture of stuff, sometimes I even mix 2 or 3 different varieties or brands in 1 bowl. They love it as no two meals are the same. 

Yep, my cats get a good selection of different foods every day 

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Some of my past puds came down with kidney disease because of biscuits. Mind you that was years ago when the quality of food wasn't as good as now.  Even so, no way would I ever put a pud on a 100% dry diet ever again. I don't trust any of them. Not even the premium brands.  We use biscuits as an occasional alternative to a wet meal, maybe every other day. Once a week they get some fresh fish or chicken for a change as well. 

If you give a certain food too frequently they can become hooked on it and refuse anything else. We went through murder when mine got addicted to Felix Cod in Jelly.  These days they get a mixture of stuff, sometimes I even mix 2 or 3 different varieties or brands in 1 bowl. They love it as no two meals are the same. 

[Fire Fox]

I agree, I try to get mine to eat good food but I've got less strict over the years, at the end of the day I don't want them miseable.  We also have ferals who will eat only soft food, some who will only eat biscuits and some eating a mixture.  I also believe just like we don't eat or need to eat the diets we used to, cats too have evolved to eat differently. 

Humans DO need to eat a diet closer to nature, overeating and undernutrition is the causeof / leading contributor to the epidemic of many disease states we are experiencing in the Western world. Cats have not evolvedinto omnivores since the advent of commercial cat food, tho perhaps there is an element of natural selection - the oldest cat ever attained 38 years, which makes me wonder why many domestic moggies have relatively shot lifespans ... 

[Liz]

I am more fortunate than most we don't have alot left over with 46 mouths to feed - ours have both wet and dry available 24/7 including the outside crew of course they wallop the wet stuff and graze on the biscuits - we tried cheaper things than RC/Hills and couldn't get even the outside ferals to eat it so gave up trying although they do like the odd meal of Whiskas biscuits as well - the wet is whatever Zooplus has and of course the staples Whiskas and felix - we use 9/10 cans a day and 3kgs of biscuits and at the weekend they get a sachet tea depending whats on offer - 72 is one meal for our crew with biccies!

Our vets is quite competative they sell JWB, Burns (our lot won't eat any flavour but he dogs like the Pork and Potato one), and Hills and can get most stuff so sometimes weather dependant we order from the vet as its only 6 miles away and we can usually get out to get it where as some of the delivery drivers never quite make it due to the roads.

The only time all ours eat out of one bowl is the teatime scatter of meat of the human kind and then they are all the best of friends!

[Mark]

The woman doesn't sound like a very responsible owner. I always question vets and doctors. No matter how good they are, they aren't magicians. I wonder if the cat was getting enough to drink. Also, it was quite possibly predisposed to whatever it was. Pet owners need to be a bit proactive. Too many people are always looking for someone else to blame for everything. I know I, and some others will add a splash of water to wet food if we think our cats aren't getting enough or buy a fountain.

I have tried virtually every food under the sun but always end up back with Whiskas & Felix - because they eat it. I keep trying others but don't have much luck. I compromise by tring to feed them decent dry to supplement.

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

I again, think we know most of this already! I personally feed a mainly wet diet (of a high quality) with dry as a little snack but to be honest, liike everything in the mail, I imagine there is a bit of scaremongering afoot and I am not inclined to believe it's been overly well-researched. It is afterall, the paper which prints that it wonders if ME is a makebelieve disease! ( ) and then invites it's readers to take part in a poll on it!
I also think it's irrisponsible to show a photo of a dog and a cat eating from the same bowl and think that that in itself could cause a lot more problems than cheaper cat food brands.

[Gillian Harvey]

Never come across that particular phenomenon in my household! food is never left for 'later' LOL - generally because it wouldnt be there later! 

[Janeyk]

Some cats don't eat their food in one go.

True, mine never eat their food in one go either, they get so much and often go back and nibble, mine seem full after so much and prefer to graze.  I think this way has helped Pepper gain weight too.

[Den]

Some cats don't eat their food in one go. Memphis gets 1 pouch a day, split over two meals - Breakfast and Dinner. If I don't leave his food down until it's gone then he just won't ever eat. It's not that he doesn't like it, he just has better things to do than eat.

He gets a few bedtime biscuits and there is NO way he'd cope without them, they are the highlight of his day. As for raw/homecooked - no chance. He wouldn't even entertain the idea. He's not fussy as I feed him what I know he likes and will eat, so there's never any wastage here.

[Gillian Harvey]

and leaving raw food, or fresh cooked, or high quality canned food down for hours at a time is surely worse than leaving biscuits out

Leaving food down isnt ideal anyway - I'd never leave raw/fresh cooked/canned food down - and if I fed dry, I wouldnt leave that down all the time either (not that I would feed just dry  now) - if you feed regular 'mealtimes' theres no need to leave food down. Cats don't need food available at all times - they wouldnt have it on tap out in the wild.

When I first had cats years ago (30 plus  ) there was just tinned food and very little choice - basically Whiskas Supermeat (no pouches in those days) and KiteKat, so thats what I fed - gradually dry biscuits were introduced - but they were just additional to sprinkle over the wet food - they werent 'complete' in those days. The petfood manufacterures decided well if dogs can have meat and biscuits, why not cats? Then the rot really set in and the dry food business grew out of all proportion and somewhere along the line we lost sight of the fact that cats are carnivores who need to derive moisture from their diet.

[Claire_smc]

Of course, I agree that if your cat only likes certain brands then they should be fed this as it's better than not eating or not enjoying what they eat. But I think what's important is that you're clearly thinking about what's best for your cat and trying to improve their diet, they're just being typical fussy felines  . Most people don't even think about it and automatically feed their cats things like Go Cat, which is why the article was good because maybe people will stop and think, and do a little research. Like I said, ideally I'd like to feed Pepsi raw but judging from the success I've had with things like chicken wings and prawns, I don't think she'd be having any of it   Then there's also the cost of course which a lot of people can't afford.

[Janeyk]

I think its far better for a cat to eat than not eat, go cat or whatever

I agree, I try to get mine to eat good food but I've got less strict over the years, at the end of the day I don't want them miseable.  We also have ferals who will eat only soft food, some who will only eat biscuits and some eating a mixture.  I also believe just like we don't eat or need to eat the diets we used to, cats too have evolved to eat differently. 

[Mark]

I think its far better for a cat to eat than not eat, go cat or whatever

Even my vet says that. He says we can try to steer them in the right direction but at the end of the day, the most important thing is that they eat. I think the 4% is a misconception that I hear of all the time. the 4% only applies to the minimum amount of the meat of the named flavour - required by law. There is a lot more meat than that in cat food. That is why when you see a 2-flavoured food, ie rabbit & chicken, there is a minimum 4% of each flavour. Whiskas supermeat is all meat & meat byproducts.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My bloomin post replying to Liz has not posted..getting fed up with so many posts not posting! Cant be botered to write it again.

Any way agree with trigger cos mine will only eat certain things too and its useless buying loads of high quality good that sits in the draw uneaten at great expense.

I think its far better for a cat to eat than not eat, go cat or whatever

[Leanne]

that's it isn't it - I've umpteen brands but still have two who eat felix, one of eats whiskas and one who eats rc

Same here, Milo will eat anything, Jess however won't touch anything but felix.

[Dawn F]

that's it isn't it - I've umpteen brands but still have two who eat felix, one of eats whiskas and one who eats rc

[Kay and Penny]

I'm ready to believe every word, and change my cats to raw food and high quality canned tomorrow

trouble is, I've tried it already more than once, and they won't even taste any of it

and leaving raw food, or fresh cooked, or high quality canned food down for hours at a time is surely worse than leaving biscuits out

horses and water,  and all that

[Claire_smc]

The thing is, I think there's a difference between living and living well. A person could eat nothing but McDonalds for the entirity of their life and live to 80, the same age as someone who eats a more healthy and balanced diet. Just because they're showing no outside signs of illness or disease doesn't mean it's actually good for them, it just means it's not bad for them. If I thought that there was a higher chance of Pepsi getting ill on one type of food over another, I wouldn't feed it. It might not definately happen, and there are lots of stories of cats living to ripe old ages and never getting ill from 'bad' food, but it can't be doing her any good either? I'd rather feed something which is as close to a cat's natural diet as possible.

I think it was a very interesting article, I'm surprised they ran it actually. A lot of people do automatically just feed their cat the cheapest most rubbishy food out there, I know that personally I started feeding Pepsi Whiskas pouches because I thought that they were a more expensive well-known brand, therefore better for her, but they're only 4% meat  Considering in the wild a cat's diet would be made up of nearly nothing but meat, it seems quite poor in comparison! Now I've done my research a bit, I'm going to use up what Whiskas I've got left and buy a high-meat wet food. I'm hoping to try and move onto raw, but Pepsi isn't convinced yet  I think it's a bit annoying of them to try and put people off feeding a cat a raw home prepared diet though, by saying it's too difficult. As long as you do a bit of research I think it could be easy, especially with places like food4cats providing mixed packs with all of the components your cat needs.

[Liz]

I'm not convinced either - some of my feals wills till crunch the dog food despite having their own food!

Gill - vets supply food for cats and kittens of all ages including some prescription ones - ours does currently we still get a better deal but with the weather ours have had food from the vets as no deliveries would come up the track

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

I'm not conviced.

Having known cats that have lived to good old ages that have been feed on dry food only (and some on food as crap as Co-Cat)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I dont think its telling us anything we didnt know but was horrified to see the cat and dog apparently eating the same food.

Food from the vets is not normally something that would be fed from kittenhood and afraid that lady should have joined Purrs!

[Leanne]

Very interesting

[mervyn7451]

Interesting article in The Daily Hate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244595/Is-food-youre-feeding-pet-killing--making-vet-rich.html

Is the pet food you are serving up killing your four-legged friend? (and making your vet rich)

By Alison Smith Squire
Last updated at 10:30 AM on 20th January 2010

Like millions of pet owners, Fiona MacMillan was anxious to do the very best for her cat. 'When I got my first kitten, Jaggers, I asked the vet for some advice on feeding, and when she directed me to a well-known brand of dried food, I was happy to take her professional advice,' she says.

'My vet said she gave it to her own cats and had never had any problems. I was delighted. It never smelled, I could tip some in Jaggers' bowl before I went out to work in the morning and leave it out all day without any fear that it would go off. And he loved it.'

Today, Fiona, 59, a former university librarian, bitterly regrets her decision to feed Jaggers on the convenience food. For when he was just seven, Jaggers was diagnosed with kidney disease. The same vet prescribed some more dried food, especially designed for cats with urinary problems.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244595/Is-food-youre-feeding-pet-killing--making-vet-rich.html#ixzz0d9PhobjL