I have always taken care to eat a healthy diet and for the past 2 years my kitties have been on raw too. I talk to my local farmers and know who they are and how they manage their small family run operations. They know I’m coming to them for chickens to make cat food; and surprise, well they feed their ferals the same thing, toss out the scraps to the cats that roam around their barn, looking for prey.

We have all become far too disconnected from our food sources. I think the pet food recalls had a positive impact in that it served to wake people up to the negative aspects of processed food and the globalization of our food supply system. We can change this — eating local, organic and avoiding processed foods for ourselves and our kitties.

“Feed animals anything you want,” say the experts, “and it makes no difference to their meat, milk, or eggs.” Because of this mindset, our animals are being fed just about anything that enhances the bottom line, including chicken feathers, sawdust, chicken manure, stale pizza dough, potato chips, and candy bars.

Here’s a glaring example. A 1996 study explored the desirability of feeding stale chewing gum to cattle.

(1) Amazingly, the gum was still in its aluminium foil wrappers. Wonder of wonders, the experts concluded that bubblegum diet was a net benefit—at least for the producers. I quote: “Results of both experiments suggest that [gum and packaging material] may be fed to safely replace up to 30% of corn-alfalfa hay diets for growing steers with advantages in improving dry matter intake and digestibility.” In other words, feed a steer a diet that is 30 percent bubblegum and aluminium foil wrappers, and it will be a more efficient eater. With a nod to public safety, the researchers did check to see how much aluminium was deposited in the various organs of the cattle. Not to worry. The aluminium content was “within normal expected ranges.” As always, there was no mention of the nutritional content of the resulting meat.

When I first read the bubblegum studies, I assumed that no one would actually feed bubblegum to their animals, despite the “positive outcome” of the research.. Then a professor of animal science drove me by a Beechnut gum factory in upstate New York where dairy farmers bought truckloads of bubble gum to feed to their cows.”

Of course we then get to eat these poor creatures.

This came from this site (not mine)
http://www.betterliving.co.nz/content/atHome/Animals/animal-eating-habits.aspx

I have put a link to your site on my cat health blog and am spreading the word whenever I can.

I still see vet info that says “never feed your cat raw food” or recommends dry food. What do they learn at veterinary school I wonder?

I’m sure my kitty appreciates the pretty colors.

http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2008/5/17/why-do-they-want-to-scare-and-deceive-us-the-ftcldf-argument.html

I find it very interesting (and annoying, frustrating, maddening) that the govt & industry people who claim that food (for people or pets) that comes from outside the typical industrial processed food chain is somehow more dangerous because it isn’t industrial and tested. Heck, it’s the industrial food that is causing the vast majority of all food-borne illness problems, not small pasture based farms that sell raw dairy or families that feed their pets raw meat. And those illnesses caused by industrial foods that are sold far and wide, are no longer restricted to a few folks who ate at the local church pot-luck, or a local cafe, or even a few counties, no, these illnesses affect much higher numbers of people scattered all over the country (& beyond, in the case of exported food items), making food-poisoning data tracking slow, laborious, and late, very late. Most of the food in recent recalls had already been consumed.

I have far more concern about contracting food-poisoning eating in the restaurant supplied by a semi from US Foods than I do from making my weekly batch of mayonnaise with raw eggs from a local hobby farm.

I wonder when the American public will wake from their stupor and see what is happening, but truly, I’m not very hopeful. The average American is too easily placated by industry and government promises of additional testing, new technologies, higher penalties, and stricter enforcement, because they don’t see how the whole industrial food system is so flawed that industrial solutions only scratch the surface.

Speaking of scratching the surface, I find it interesting that people show more outrage about crappy industrial pet food that is poisoning their pets, then they do about similarly bad industrial food for people.
They still shovel processed cereals, grains, and lab-created food products (I can’t call it food) into themselves and their kids, but can’t see the connection to the chronic diseases that skyrocketed in the last century and continue into this century. Basically, it’s the same stuff as the pet food, with a different label and marketing spin (it’s a little too much like the movie Soylent Green).

Ok, I’ll wind my rant down, but I think it’s important to understand, this issue isn’t just about pet food, it’s about all food. The irony is that it might be dangerous pet food issues that make people take notice of the dangerous situations with people food.