A List Of Foods You Should Never Feed A Cat

Firstly make no doubt about it, cats are complete and true carnivores. Cats need to eat meat and high quality, hormone free and if possible organic or at least free-range, ethically reared meat.

It is also crucially important to know what never to feed your cat, as some foods can make a cat very ill or even cause death.

Never Feed Your Cat The Following

Cows Milk Is Not For Cats – Cats should never ever be given a bowl of cows milk! For decades the image of leaving a saucer of milk out for the neighbourhood cat has endured, but the fact is most cats are lactose intolerant and the only milk a cat should ever drink is the milk from its feline mother as a young kitten.

Cooked bones are dangerous they become brittle and can splinter and break getting stuck in your cats throat or causing obstruction and scarring in the digestive tract, requiring life saving surgery.

You should never give your cat meat leftovers from a meal if they have been sauteed in onions, garlic and chives or any sauces or gravies.

Fruit is not appropriate for cats and grapes and raisins can even cause kidney failure in cats.

Chocolate like with dogs is lethal to cats and should never be given.

Alcohol and the yeast in bakers dough is poisonous to cats.

Tuna based cats foods if the main source of their diet while not provide them with adequate nutrition and as well as mercury poisoning it doesn’t have the necessary vitamins and minerals they need.

The Health Hazards Of Cheap Cat Food

Cheap cat food is just that cheap and often nasty too. The pet food industry is big BIG business, with multi-billions of dollars involved and unfortunately it is not always our beloved pets health that is the manufacturers no.1 priority. Our pets are basically eating the massive amount of waste product from the meat and poultry industries and very little ‘real’ meat (animal flesh), which is the one ingredient they actually need.

Animal by-products used for pet food are made up of all manner of ‘rendered’ animal parts, including the following; feathers, feet, fur, bones, heads, organs, unborn fetuses and even diseased animals that were considered unfit for human consumption. Add to these animal by-products, anti-biotics and growth hormones, which are commonly used in the rearing of non-organic cattle and poultry and then top it off with the wide array of synthetic chemical additives, preservatives and emulsifiers used to make the food into its processed state and of course the necessary flavour enhancers so that your dogs and cats will actually willingly eat the food, therefore it is no wonder our pets are getting sick.

Many brands of cheaper pet foods can contain animal by-products from slaughterhouses and other such places, which are collected then they are first rendered, which means, all the parts are heaped together and boiled at extremely high temperatures in a vat. The extreme, prolonged heat damages the proteins and destroys the enzymes that carnivores such as dogs and cats need for good health. Veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker has written this insightful article for Dr. Mercola’s site and we feel it is information that all pet owners should read.

The Ethical Problem Of Feeding Cats Meat

The ethical problem many animal lovers face is that if we choose to have cats as pets then we will be indirectly perpetuating the slaughtering cycle of other animals for pet food. There is no escaping this fact and the only way around it is to have vegetarian animals as pets; e.g.rabbits and guinea pigs.

What is even more shocking is that the so-called superior, high quality pet food brands, are also know to conduct horrific tests on the very animals they are manufacturing food for e.g. dogs and cats. Read the story of IAMS pet food testing from PETA.

How To Feed Your Cat A Healthy Diet

Many pet health nutritionists believe if pet food is not made using ‘human food grade’ ingredients, then it is not fit for your pet either. The trouble with this term ‘human food grade’ is that it is not an officially, legalized and recognized term, therefore pet manufacturers can easily write this on their packaging. Also in the US organic pet food labeling has yet to be regulated, so many companies claim organic and may have none, or a very small percentage of organic ingredients. Read this interesting article on labeling pet foods by The Bark.com

In Australia we are lucky enough to be able to obtain fresh organic meats for our cats and dogs. Check out Organic Paws and also BIOpet make a range of organic cat food.

If you can’t get organic, then at least a free-range meat, diet is healthier and a little more humane, than animals that are produced for food in battery style farms.

Cooking some meals for your pet is fine, but you need a high quality pet food that includes all the vitamins and minerals they need as the main part of their daily diet.When buying pre-prepared food for your pets, it is in the best interest of your pets health to always know where the ingredients came from and what they actually are.

Organic is always going to be the healthiest option, but a little more costly. Pre-packaged and dry foods can also be healthy if made with only completely natural, high quality ingredients.