Few people know any of the causes of ill health in cats, including veterinarians. Pet food is one of the greatest problems to cat health.
Pet food recalls happen so regularly, it’s difficult to keep up with them. And since vets tend to sell many of these foods, they don’t always make the link between a sick pet and the food they are given.
The thing is, vets are taught to prescribe drug X for condition Y. They are not taught to think of possible causes. So it’s up to you to ‘think outside the square’. Always, always, first look for the cause of an illness.
Here are the most common causes of ill health in cats, that your vet probably won’t consider.
- ALL dried pet food has a long shelf life because of the preservatives added, DESPITE WHAT THE LABEL SAYS. Most of these preservatives are too toxic to be allowed in human food.
- ALMOST ALL commercial pet food starts off with poor quality food, considered unfit for human consumption. Those that don’t are often bought out by the bigger corporations who do, without you ever being aware of this. Until your cat falls sick.
- Cats need a high animal protein diet. ALMOST ALL commercial cat food has a high carbohydrate diet. This is cheaper to produce.
- Advertising is colourful and attractive and not even skin deep. Advertising is advertising. Nothing more. Clever advertisers can say outrageous untruths and get away with it. At least for a time. Time enough to make your cat sick.
- There are few government agencies in the world who really care about the health of pets. This means anything can happen. In 2007-8 melamine from China was used in pet food and was the cause of the deaths of many cats. This is still happening even today, albeit on a smaller scale.
- Many commercial cat food is now irradiated, in an attempt to rid the food of salmonella, moulds and other pathogens. But many cats die as a result of irradiated food, because the irradiation itself creates toxic food. You may not want to know the origins of cat food, but you might like to ponder on why there is a need to kill off pathogens. After all fresh, quality food doesn’t have any. At least not enough to do any harm.
- All medical drugs have the potential to be harmful. Cats are particularly sensitive to chemicals. Often the drug used to treat a symptom is worse than the symptom. Vaccines are known to cause severe reactions, including neurological problems, even death.
- Heavy metal toxicity is still with us. Even though lead is no longer in fuel or paints, the residue is around and will be for decades to come. When renovating houses, lead from old paint and plaster can be stirred up to beyond safe levels. If your house has been built on previously farmed land, the pesticide residue (arsenic, mercury, lead, etc) could well be beyond safe levels.
- Toxins abound in household cleaning products, furnishings, garden pesticides.
- Not least of all, cats are particularly sensitive to an unhappy, inharmonious, angry or violent family atmosphere. If relationships have changed or a new member has unsettled the old ways, this can be a trigger for ill health in a cat.
Doubtless there are many more pointers towards ill health in a cat, but these are the main ones. Your vet may not know how to be a detective, but you should, for the benefit of your beloved cat.
Natural cat health is all about working out the best and healthiest way to feed and care for you cat, but within normal restrictions of time and money that most people have.
Feeding your cat a home made, fresh diet is not anywhere near as difficult or time consuming as you may think. But you will need help in working out the right balance as well as convincing your addicted cat to real food. Naturally Healthy Cats can get you on the right track within minutes.
