Cat Food and Mad Cow Disease

Betsy wrote:

One buys premium cat food with recognizable ingredients,

Exactly right. What little regulation there is for pet foods is mostly
involved with labelling. If the contents are beef, chicken, fish,
whatever, the label must say so. It is the mysterious "meat
by-products" that can legally contain the flesh or rendered flesh of any
mammals, including mink, marine mammals, zoo animals and, as shown by
some well documented instances in the past, euthanized pets.

From: itter (MacCandace)


I've been trying to educate friends and family and whoever
will listen for YEARS that mystery meats in pet food are bad news, Steve
Crane & Hills to the contrary!

Yeah, but it only takes a little beef stock, beef extract, whatever to cause
CJD. You can't know what's in any cat food or what's in your own food.

Perhaps, but you can stack the deck in your favor if you are feeding
unprocessed foods.

Go to
a restaurant, they might have beef stock in a dish that doesn't even have
meat
in it. Cripes, I've been a vegetarian for 15 years and I know full well that
when I go to restaurants, there most likely is beef or chicken stock in any
number of "vegetarian" dishes: soups, all sorts of things.

Now that's a scarey thought. Maybe better to find a vegetarian restaurant?
Although I know in some areas, they are very hard to find.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: itter (MacCandace)


I've been trying to educate friends and family and whoever
will listen for YEARS that mystery meats in pet food are bad news, Steve
Crane & Hills to the contrary!

Yeah, but it only takes a little beef stock, beef extract, whatever to cause
CJD. You can't know what's in any cat food or what's in your own food.

Perhaps, but you can stack the deck in your favor if you are feeding
unprocessed foods.

Go to
a restaurant, they might have beef stock in a dish that doesn't even have
meat
in it. Cripes, I've been a vegetarian for 15 years and I know full well that
when I go to restaurants, there most likely is beef or chicken stock in any
number of "vegetarian" dishes: soups, all sorts of things.

Now that's a scarey thought. Maybe better to find a vegetarian restaurant?
Although I know in some areas, they are very hard to find.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Betsy" -0

That's scary isn't it? After reading the excellent post from Paws for
Thought (Lauren?) I'm reconsidering a lot of what I eat. My new year's
resolution was already to eat only foods cooked at home--to save money! Now
I have another even more compelling reason!

Meanwhile, I've been discovering some more premium pet foods. Anybody have
any experience or knowledge about:

"Precise"
"Verus"
"Chicken Soup..."

They look good, smell good, & the cats actually love them. I also bought a
bag of Innova Lite which they won't touch. Go figure.

Hi Betsy,
I've never used any of these foods because I feed my cats a homemade diet, but
I've heard Precise is pretty good. I have a few friends that feed Chicken Soup
and say their cats really like it a lot. I came across a new food that looks
pretty good. If you are interested and want more information about it, the
company emailed me the analysis breakdown. Here's their website:
www.naturesvariety.com

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: "Betsy" -0

That's scary isn't it? After reading the excellent post from Paws for
Thought (Lauren?) I'm reconsidering a lot of what I eat. My new year's
resolution was already to eat only foods cooked at home--to save money! Now
I have another even more compelling reason!

Meanwhile, I've been discovering some more premium pet foods. Anybody have
any experience or knowledge about:

"Precise"
"Verus"
"Chicken Soup..."

They look good, smell good, & the cats actually love them. I also bought a
bag of Innova Lite which they won't touch. Go figure.

Hi Betsy,
I've never used any of these foods because I feed my cats a homemade diet, but
I've heard Precise is pretty good. I have a few friends that feed Chicken Soup
and say their cats really like it a lot. I came across a new food that looks
pretty good. If you are interested and want more information about it, the
company emailed me the analysis breakdown. Here's their website:
www.naturesvariety.com

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

Anybody have any experience or knowledge about:

"Precise"
"Verus"
"Chicken Soup..."

My cats like the Chicken Soup... cat food. They always have a bowl of
that and Nutro Natural Choice available. One of them prefers the Nutro,
the other two prefer the Chicken Soup, but they all will eat both
kinds.

Finding a canned food they like is a problem. I have tried all the
premium brands and they don't like any of them. Right now they are
eating the various flavors of ProPlan. Each cat has his favorite
flavors. Two of them will eat any of the different flavors, but one of
them won't eat the fish.

Somebody gave me a couple cans of Fancy Feast, and even though I know
it's garbage, I gave it to them any way. Two of them loved it, it made
the other one vomit.

Anybody have any experience or knowledge about:

"Precise"
"Verus"
"Chicken Soup..."

My cats like the Chicken Soup... cat food. They always have a bowl of
that and Nutro Natural Choice available. One of them prefers the Nutro,
the other two prefer the Chicken Soup, but they all will eat both
kinds.

Finding a canned food they like is a problem. I have tried all the
premium brands and they don't like any of them. Right now they are
eating the various flavors of ProPlan. Each cat has his favorite
flavors. Two of them will eat any of the different flavors, but one of
them won't eat the fish.

Somebody gave me a couple cans of Fancy Feast, and even though I know
it's garbage, I gave it to them any way. Two of them loved it, it made
the other one vomit.

Betsy wrote:

One buys premium cat food with recognizable ingredients, or else one cooks
for ones cat. I've been trying to educate friends and family and whoever
will listen for YEARS that mystery meats in pet food are bad news, Steve
Crane & Hills to the contrary!


Do premium cat foods list the parts of the animal that are used?
As far as cooking food for one's cats, how do you ensure they get
the proper nutrients in the proper balance?

And why aren't premium cat foods available locally? Is it the
quality vs. quantity thing?

--
Jean B.

Betsy wrote:

One buys premium cat food with recognizable ingredients, or else one cooks
for ones cat. I've been trying to educate friends and family and whoever
will listen for YEARS that mystery meats in pet food are bad news, Steve
Crane & Hills to the contrary!


Do premium cat foods list the parts of the animal that are used?
As far as cooking food for one's cats, how do you ensure they get
the proper nutrients in the proper balance?

And why aren't premium cat foods available locally? Is it the
quality vs. quantity thing?

--
Jean B.

MacCandace wrote:

I've been trying to educate friends and family and whoever
will listen for YEARS that mystery meats in pet food are bad news, Steve
Crane & Hills to the contrary!

Yeah, but it only takes a little beef stock, beef extract, whatever to cause
CJD. You can't know what's in any cat food or what's in your own food. Go to
a restaurant, they might have beef stock in a dish that doesn't even have meat
in it. Cripes, I've been a vegetarian for 15 years and I know full well that
when I go to restaurants, there most likely is beef or chicken stock in any
number of "vegetarian" dishes: soups, all sorts of things. No one knows for
sure what they are eating.

So it seems almost like we might just as well not worry about it
beyond avoiding the most obvious culprits--unless we can ensure
exactly what is in our foods?

--
Jean B.