Meow-llo It’s time fur Service Cats Furiday. We’ll be wrapping up this mini-series on Pet Feed/Food over the next couple of weeks. So ifin ya’ have any specific questions or questions ‘bout somethin’ we did or didn’t cover, purrlease let us know. ‘Member, you can submit any feline related question or topic you’d like to read ‘bout here by usin’ the form on our Contact page or simply leaving a comment in the comments section below. You can also ketch up on any post you may have missed in this series by clickin’ the links on our Training Tips and Everything Feline page.
The following post will be written in human English for reader and translator ease. Our Service Cat posts aren’t intended to be an all inclusive Training Manual but rather Tips, Tricks and Techniques used/developed by mommy A thru her many years of animal training, cats in purr-ticular. And to offer insight into your questions about Everything Feline. Always remember, successful Training is all about Repetition and Rewards.
Food vs. Feed:
The point of this mini-series isn’t to tell you what you need to feed your pets, or to pass judgment on anyone. We’re merely trying to help educate pet owners to recognize ingredients and make the best choices for your pets. As long as pet owners continue to support big pet companies and remain silent about the quality of pet feed, those companies will continue to provide sub par feed that cause illnesses and kill thousands of pets every day. You may have noticed we refer to these pet foods as feed and not food. The following excerpts were taken directly from Truthaboutpetfood.com with permission. It’s a great article that you might want to read.
Examples of the differences between feed and food…
FDA’s Compliance Policy “CPG Sec. 675.100 Diversion of Contaminated Food for Animal Use” states “FDA does not object to the diversion to animal feed of human food adulterated with rodent, roach, or bird excreta.”
Compliance Policy “CPG Sec. 675.200 Diversion of Adulterated Food to Acceptable Animal Feed Use” states “The Center will consider the requests for diversion of food considered adulterated for human use in all situations where the diverted food will be acceptable for its intended animal food use. Such situations may include:
a. Pesticide contamination in excess of the permitted tolerance or action level.
b. Pesticide contamination where the pesticide involved is unapproved for use on a food or feed commodity.
c. Contamination by industrial chemicals.
d. Contamination by natural toxicants.
e. Contamination by filth.
f. Microbiological contamination.
g. Over tolerance or unpermitted drug residues.
One more, Compliance Policy “CPG Sec. 690.300 Canned Pet Food” states “Pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, which is in violation of 402(a)(5) will not ordinarily be actionable, if it is not otherwise in violation of the law. It will be considered fit for animal consumption.”
One commenter said that in the past many pets lived to be in their teens eating big pet feeds; have they changed that much?. The answer is YES, they have changed that much. The beginning of that change was in the late 1950’s when the AAFCO established a committee to oversee and establish regulations over pet food. Once upon a time, canned meat was the only pet food available. It was mostly horse meat, but it didn’t contain a list of fillers and unnecessary ingredients. A lot of those same pets were routinely fed table scraps as well. Mommy remembers her grandmother throwing out left overs to the barn cats and strays and even to the house poodle, who lived to be 19 years old. Her name was Pepper, and she never ate kibble.
Design and Intention of Teeth:
If you look at your kitty’s teeth, you’ll notice almost all of them are pointed. They’ve been designed to rip and tear meat, skin, muscle, bone, tendons, etc., not chew. A cow on the other hand, has flat teeth like humans. Those teeth are meant to chew food before it gets digested. Often you’ll notice kitty’s regurgitated food looks much like it did in kitty’s plate. That’s because kitties basically swallow their food whole. They don’t have the ability to chew it up. Kitties were never intended to eat pellets or kibble.
These teethies are made fur ripping and tearing, not chewing.
Vit. K (Menadione) and Fish:
We received a question with regard to Vitamin K and fish. The question: Vit. K (Menadione: the only approved source and is toxic to humans and animals) is required by the AAFCO to be added to any food containing 25% or more of fish even though it’s dangerous and can cause illness and/or death. Is that why we don’t/are against eat(ing) fish? The answer isn’t quite as simple as yes. Until recent years we weren’t aware of the dangers of Vitamin K, but still didn’t eat fish. Certainly now that we know, it plays a factor in our choice.
However, mommy never liked to feed fish because she didn’t think it was truly part of a kitty’s proper diet, given that most cats have an aversion to water. The fish used in cat food is generally a cheap substitution for a better meat and brought on by it’s addictive nature by pet food companies trying to sway pet parents from feeding table scraps and human foods. And yes, even when she was feeding kibble or canned pet feed, she stayed away from fish. Long ago when she was a Vet tech, the Vet she worked for told her that fish was a horrible food for cats and caused illnesses because it lacked the proper nutrients. Mommy says most cats left to their own devices aren’t out fishing (there are some wildcats that do fish, but they also hunt land prey as the bulk of their diet). We should also take into account the pollutants and carcinogens found in wild fish and more so in farm raised fish when making decisions about feeding fish to our cats. Occasional fish might be okay, but it shouldn’t make up the bulk of any kitties diet.
We’re gonna wrap fur today, but don’t furget to get your questions in. We’ve got a few more questions on this topic we’ll be discussing next week. Ifin you’ve missed any post in this mini-series or our Service Cat series you can check them out by clickin’ the links on our Training Tips and Everything Feline page. As we do each week, we’re joinin’ Comedy Plus fur Feline Furiday.
Till the next time………………………………………………………Be Blest!!!
Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses
Deztinee and RaenaBelle
Service Cats U.S. 