Feline health problems are on the increase, at an alarming rate. This phenomena seems at odds with all the amount spent on veterinary research and on all the pet foods that veterinarians assure you are the best and the healthiest. What’s going on?
When you talk to retired or older vets, they will tell you that the incidences of feline ill health was much lower than it is today. Some diseases did not exist at all, such as stomatitis (mouth disease). Cancer rates were much lower than they are today. They will also tell you that it wasn’t for a lack of use of vet at the time either. The feline health problems were just at a much lower incidence.
Mostly cats in bygone years were free to roam (and so hunt), were often fed table scraps (which were healthier than they are today) and rarely saw a vet for anything.
Therein lies the clue to the problem.
The commercial pet food industry came into earnest only a few decades ago. Advertising has since been polished. Psychological persuasive influence has been honed. But are all the claims they make true?
The most common ruse the commercial pet food industry uses is to bring in a vet to endorse their product. But vets know little to nothing about diet. This incredibly important subject is not taught at veterinary college. Instead, the commercial pet industry offer their services, in addition to financial support.
They know this is money well spent. They work to get the students converted to their way of thinking, then sit back and let them do all the hard work, when they graduate.
They work hard to instill fears into the students minds, that natural diets are harmful, full of nasty pathogens that can make your cat sick. The fact is, cats fed a natural diet don’t provide an income for the commercial pet food industry.
You may be aware of the constant pet food recalls due to infections found at the processing plant. Does this sound like healthy cat food to you?
The other aspect that has changed in the world of feline health is that veterinary procedures have increased rapidly. There is now an industry, where there never was before. Before, it was a worthy profession.
In my area, there is a veterinary practice that boasts winning the small business award two years running. To my mind, medical and veterinary practices should be aiming to reduce patient visits, due to their excellent advice. But, of course, this doesn’t make money.
People are often caught in a quandary – who do they listen to? My answer to that is not to listen to anyone. Do your own research and ask searching questions.
Some of them could be:
- if natural diets are so dangerous, wouldn’t cats have died out long ago
- what (enforceable) laws exist in your country regarding the ingredients of commercial cat food
- and what is the penalty, if flouted (as well as the likelihood of being discovered)
- if veterinary medication is so good, wouldn’t every practice grow ever smaller
- who profits by your choices
Keep digging deeper. Be annoying. Those who want to hide something are easily irritated by searching questions. Those with nothing to hide, welcome them.
My advice for your feline health problems is to switch to a quality, natural diet, in keeping with your cat’s evolution. But you may prefer to research more, before you trust me. I totally endorse that.
