“Do you see more serious disease among cats now than when you started practice?” I asked this question of every veterinarian interviewed for this book. Some of them have been practicing for half a century, most of them for twenty or more years. The status of cats, from their collective clinical perspective, is this:

* There are more chronic diseases.

* There are more animals with weakened immune systems and, as a result, more infections. “I am constantly treating chronic ear, urinary tract, and skin infections, situations where every scratch turns into a sore,” says Joseph Demers, DVM, of Melbourne, Florida.

* There is more cancer. Some veterinarians speak in terms of an epidemic. They say their practices are inundated with cancer cases.

* There are more allergies.

* There are more skin problems. There is more itchy skin and severe disorders, and not just related to fleas.

* There is more tooth decay and periodontal disease.

* There are more serious conditions among young animals that were previously seen mostly among older animals.

* There are more middle-aged animals with the appearance and organs of old animals.

“Why is this so?” I asked the veterinarians. They cited combinations of the following:

* Improper breeding practices. Animals are bred today for looks, beauty, salability, and physical criteria to win show ribbons. “Kitty mills” then mass-produce the same designer cats. Such practices include inbreeding, where brothers and sisters, fathers and daughters, are bred with each other, and line breeding between cousins, grandparents, and grandchildren. Cats are being created with an emphasis on good looks rather than good health. This activity, ongoing for years, is perpetuating widespread genetic weakness and ill health. Each generation of cats appears to be potentially more susceptible to illness.

“A genetic time bomb is going off at an earlier age, in alt breeds, among animals being programmed for death and not for life,” says Alfred Plechner, DVM, of Los Angeles.

Young Abyssinians and Persians are plagued with tooth decay and periodontal disease. Persians often develop chronic upper-respiratory problems from breeding for a pushed-in face, which causes persistent eye discharge and constant snuffles. The anatomical deformity has undermined a first line of defense in the immune system. Maine Coons are predisposed to heart disease, which can strike down a cat at an early age.

The genetic fallout of poor health is seen not only with purebreds, but increasingly even with mixed breeds from the pound or shelter. They are carrying the purebred defects in their blood, and they are being affected also. Similar problems are occurring among feral cats, the street cats that have a high rate of inbreeding within their own families. This creates the same kind of narrowing gene pooling that you see with purebreds.

* Poor-quality, high-processed, and chemically preserved diet. Veterinarians say they repeatedly treat problems related to food, such as skin, urinary tract, and cardiac disorders. In the wild, cats are not falling over dead with heart problems and urinary blockages.

* Over vaccination. The proliferation of vaccinations is a major problem. Vaccines trigger skin problems and other disorders and have been definitely linked to fibrosarcomas, aggressive cancers of the connective tissue that are intractable and resistant to treatment.

* Too much medication.

* Environmental pollution. Cats are very sensitive to the environment, to urban pollution, to pollen, and to the gasses emitted by a new carpet in the house. They have a delicate system that is finely tuned and balanced.

* Stress. Cats by nature are predators. A confined apartment existence may contribute to a variety of health problems.

The health status of cats, as described by this cross-section of veterinary clinicians, is not a pretty picture. It is, as Karen Bentley, DVM, of Guelph, Ontario, puts it, “a massive health mess.” The commentaries from the veterinarians add up to a loud and clear wake- up call to pet owners to become smarter and better-informed caregivers.

{citation: chap.2, pp. 8-10}

The Problem with Pet Food

If you ask a holistic veterinarian how to improve the health of your cat, the first question he or she will ask you is this: “What are you feeding your cat?”

As a group, holistic veterinarians are keenly interested in nutrition and diet. To them, food is a primary healing tool, ?the mother of all natural remedies.” Without good nutrition a pet cannot thrive. It won’t be able to resist infections, fleas, or parasites. Medications and natural remedies won’t work well.

The veterinarians I have interviewed are consistently critical of the quality of most commercial pet food. They doubt whether the overcooked, chemicalized, refined, and “scientifically formulated” products you buy can ever create radiant health or maintain a state of harmony in a cat. They are concerned that long-term feeding of inferior ingredients that are typically used in pet foods render animals toxic and disease-prone. Bill Pollak, DVM, of Fairfield, Iowa, says flatly, ‘The diseases we are treating is the food we are feeding.”

Critics like Pollak point out that food has to be more than just the quantity of proteins, fat, carbohydrates, and added vitamins. It’s the freshness, wholesomeness, energy, and digestibility of food that counts also. In these categories the veterinarians give failing grades to most commercial foods.

If this assessment comes as a surprise, then you need to know a little about the nature of the ingredients contained in the bags and cans you buy for your animals. The industry digestibility of food that counts also. In these categories the veterinarians give failing grades to most commercial foods.

If this assessment comes as a surprise, then you need to know a little about the nature of the ingredients contained in the bags and cans you buy for your animals. The industry behind these products is big, big business-topping sales of $10 billion a year in the United States alone. Competition is fierce among the major manufacturers. They try to win your allegiance and misleading nutrition claims, and cute names for products. In this competitive scramble, however, quality and good nutrition are often sacrificed to economics and profit. Unfortunately there are no government standards regulating quality, which changes ingredients are constantly sought to replace more expensive ones.

If you think you are feeding the equivalent of sirloin steak out of those bags and cans, think again. The ingredients generally used are from sources unfit for human consumption. They include the following:

* Meat. Condemned and contaminated protein from slaughterhouses. Road kill. Four-D livestock, meaning dead, diseased, disabled, and dying. And even euthanized companion animals-dogs and cats! These sources are rendered-that is, mixed together and “sterilized-for use in subsequent processing into pet food. Many of the meat sources contain levels of drugs, hormones, and pesticides considered too high for safe human consumption.

* Grains (carbohydrates). Two of the top three ingredients listed on the labels of dry pet food (kibble) are generally some form of grain. They tend to be the cheap dregs from the human food chain. Frequently the grain is corn, such as ground yellow corn or corn gluten meal. Cats are true carnivores. They need meat. A diet high in corn, or any grain, makes no sense for a cat. But from the manufacturing standpoint, corn and other cereals being used to replace meat provide much cheaper and inferior protein sources than meat.

According to a 1996 report by the Animal Protection Institute of America, what you purchase and what the manufacturers advertise are two entirely different products. The difference is threatening your animal’s health, cutting short any chance of him enjoying old age, and maybe even killing him now,” the report said. ‘The ingredients they are using are not wholesome, and the harsh manufacturing practices that make those nifty little shapes, the ones companion animals surely love to eat, destroy what little nutritional value the food ever had.”

The institute report described pet food manufacturers as “masters” in the art of taste enhancement-that is, getting animals to eat something “they would normally turn up their noses at.” One way they do this is to spray kibble with discarded restaurant grease that has been stabilized with powerful chemical antioxidants. “Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed fats,” the report said. They want a food that animals will eat eagerly, and hopefully become addicted to, so that you return again and again to buy their product. Taste appeal, not quality, is paramount.

Many other chemical additives are used that increase the palatability, extend the shelf life, and improve the appearance so the product will look good enough to eat (but more important, will look good enough for you to buy). The pet food manufacturing process enlists some of the biggest names in chemical coloring of our time. Some of these dyes can actually make susceptible animals hyperactive. Sodium nitrite may be present to prevent fading colors. Or Red Dye #40 may be used to create the appearance of a fresh, meaty look. Both these agents have long been linked to cancer or birth defects in laboratory animals and are even banned in some countries. Is color important to animals? Not as much as to you. The cosmetic effect is all for you-the buyer. Other chemical additives used to create an appealing finished product include anticaking, antimicrobial, coloring, firming, flavoring, drying, pH control, and surface finishing agents, and emulsifiers, sequestrates, synergists, texturizers, lubricants, and sweeteners.

PETS AS PET FOOD

You are probably not aware of the questionable nature of pet food. Why would you be? You are obviously interested in the well being of your pet, but you also want to feed conveniently and inexpensively. So you purchase the commercial pet food that is readily available, assuming that it is good for your pet.

That is jus3what Ann Martin thought. Like most pet owners, she fed her household animals-two dogs and four cats-with pet food she bought at the store. When the dogs became ill in 1990 after eating a popular commercial pet food, the Canadian woman had the food analyzed. The results disturbed her, and she started asking questions of people in the pet food industry and the government. The answers didn’t satisfy her, So Martin set out on a personal fact-finding investigation of pet food that lasted seven years. Eventually, she put her experience and findings into a book that every pet owner shouldread: Food Pets Die For-Shocking Facts About Pet Food (New Sage Press, Troutdale, Oregon).

Martin says that her investigation revealed that “just about anything and everything is fair game for use in pet food. Labels do not indicate the hidden hazards that lurk in most cans and bags.” One of the most shocking practices that she learned about was the use of euthanized pets as part of the rendered mix that goes into pet foods. Despite the denial by the industry that this is happening, says Martin, “dogs and cats from shelters, pounds and even veterinary clinics are ending up in pet food. Some people seem to feel that this is not a problem: after all, dogs and cats are a source of protein. What they neglect to consider is that 90 percent of these animals have been treated with high levels of drugs prior to their demise. These drugs, antibiotics, hormones, and so on all withstand the rendering process and in fact can become more toxic. The companies selling the dyes and flavor enhancers are doing a landslide business, and as long as consumers are not offended by the smell and look of pet food, they assume it is a good quality.”

In 1990 San Francisco Chronicle investigative reporter John Eckhouse brought this practice to public attention. He found that each year millions of dead American dogs and cats are processed along with biilions of pounds of other animal materials into tallow and meat meal used for thousands of items, including cosmetics and pet food. The practice is not Illegal and probably accounts for only a very small percentage of the protein content of pet food, Eckhouse reported. One veterinary official who confirmed the practice said that “when you read pet food labels and it says meat or bone meal, that’s what it is- cooked and converted animals, including some dogs and cats.”

Ann Martin once believed that she was buying quality. Now, her opinion is that “most pet food is garbage-unregulated garbage.” Her animals now are fed only home-prepared food.

THE MOST HIGHLY PROCESSED FOOD ON THE PLANET?

The Animal Protection Institute report concluded that more than 95 percent of pets receive their nutritional needs from a single source-commercial pet food. This, then, is what most of our pets are eating-probably the most highly processed food on earth, where the magic of food technology sanitizes and camouflages the impurity of the product. Is there any wonder, holistic veterinarians ask, that chronic disease is so rampant?

Many animals are intolerant to the ingredients. This rejection is often expressed as violent illness or chronic health problems and often triggers a hypersensitivity and overreaction to flea and insect bites, pollens, soaps, sprays, and environmental contaminants. Dry food is a major offender because it is a concentrated collection of many foods that are the most allergenic for animals. Moreover, and particularly for cats, a constant ration of dry food is a sure invitation to health problems.

Holistic veterinarians say that commercial food just doesn’t support organ function well. They frequently see cats that are middle-aged yet have the decrepit liver, kidneys, and other vital organs of very old animals, along with dry, lusterless skin.

If the pet food picture seems bleak, don’t be discouraged. Read on. Increasingly, health-conscious consumers are demanding more quality. They are realizing that food is causing many problems. Fortunately there is an industry response to this growing demand and awareness in the form of higher-quality products and more natural pet foods on the market. These, and other simple dietary options covered in the following chapters, will show you how to improve your cat’s nutrition and prospects for better health.

{citation :chap.3, pp. 11-15}

Dentifrice to Counteract Plaque-Alfred Plechner, DVM

Polish your cat’s teeth and gums regularly with Pearl Drops, a dentrifice available in drugstores. This does a good job to clean the mouth and counteract plaque formation. Apply the drops with gauze or a washcloth.

If you are interested in performing a more rigorous form of oral housekeeping, ask your veterinarian to show you how to use a dental sealer on your animal. Scaling the teeth once a month is a good way to prevent plaque buildup.

{citation: intro. part two, p.134}