THE REAL DANGERS OF FEEDING A MAINLY DRY FOOD DIET
Kibble, otherwise known as “dry food’ is the most commonly fed cat and dog food in North America. Sadly, many consumers fall prey to marketing schemes and cleverly worded labels. Sadly, most of the cat and dog food companies that are advertised have little to no interest in your animal’s well-being and are only interested in profit.
DID YOU KNOW that “more expensive” doesn”t always mean “better quality”? In North America, allopathic veterinarians will most often recommend certain brands of cat and dog food. Did you know that these very same cat and dog food companies CREATE the veterinary university curriculum? These food companies FUND the North American veterinary universities. This means that these companies create the veterinary textbooks and curriculum. Because they do this, they have the ability to create whatever information the prospective veterinarians learn in university. They have the ability to teach their students that their brands are the healthiest and foremost brands to feed companion animals. However, when we examine the ingredients of these veterinary recommended brands we will see that they are mostly dry foods with the primary ingredient listed as CORN. Corn is not an appropriate main food source for any living being. The first ingredient itself is a filler. Corn in cat and dog food is not a protien source. It causes diarrhea, inflammatory diseases and an overall digestive system malfunction. The protein source, which is the most crucial aspect of cat and dog food, is maybe five ingredients down the list and listed as “by-product” which vets will argue is mostly organ meat. There is much controversy regarding the allopathic view that its “organ meat” versus the holistic view which understands by-products to refer to chicken beaks, feathers, pig hooves and other insoluble ingredients that result from the processing of the meat. I encourage you to do your research and you decide whether you want to blindly believe someone who has been taught from a school system that has been funded by these cat and dog food companies, whose textbooks and learning materials have been created by these companies in order to push their products.
Did you know that feeding your cats and dogs a mainly kibble (dry food) can be hazardous to their health? The side effects of a kibble based diet are plenty and they can be disastrous to your animal’s well being and quality of life.
Most dry foods claim to have “natural flavour”. But what does that really mean? Believe it or not, “natural flavour” means spray on flavour. These food companies have machines in their manufacturing plants that spray on the taste of their dry foods. As its processed from what whatever dregs of meat and fish into the dry kibble you buy, all flavour and most nutrients are lost during the processing and reprocessing. As the meat is cooked and then dehydrated, the healthy parts of the food are processed out of the food. Each time the meat changes form (raw meat to cooked, cooked to dehydrated), the nutrients are burned away and the remnants of food are left with very little healthy components. The flavour the food as is sprayed on with chemicals. These chemicals are cleverly disguised on the ingredients list as forms of harnful salt, inflammatory substances and “natural flavor”. There is, at this time, no regulation as to what companies can call “natural” on an ingredients list. Be mindful that just because your cat and dog foods say “natural flavor” does not mean that it’s derived from a natural food source. It’s a clever way for them to market sprayed on flavor to make consumers believe that they’re making a healthy choices.
It’s also important, as consumers to understand exactly onto what they spray these chemicals. If you are not paying attention to the ingredients you’re purchasing for your companion animals, you may be interested to know that many of these cat and dog dry food products contain HUMAN GRADE CEREAL. Yes, common brand use cereals such as Roce Krispies and Corn Flakes as fillers in dry food. As surprising as that may be, these fillers can be very dangerous to our cats and dogs. Animals are not wired to digest human cereal. For example, cats CAN NOT DIGEST GRAINS. Cats lack the enzyme known as ‘amylase’ that is responsible for the breakdown of grains. This means they their digestive system are intolerant to grains such as cereals, oats, rice etc. When their do eat these grains, especially daily, they can easily become obese. Because cats can’t digest grains, when they eat them regularly and are intolerant, this messes with their insulin levels. This is why felines diabetes is so prevalent. Cats MUST eat a COMPLETELY GRAIN FREE DIET. Kibble is deadly for cats when its not grain free. If you are feeding your cats any grains such as brown rice, oats, barley, wheat, wheat germ or any other grain you will want to cease immediately and research the effects that eating grains have on cats.
Many lower grade cat and dog foods contain dangerous dyes. They are used to lire the consumer in due to their “fun” colours. However, in addition to their complete lack of nutrition, they are quite harmful to our animals. Blue 2, red 40, yellow 5 &6 are common ingredients in lower grade kibble. They are known to cause allergies, behavior problems and have been repeatedly linked to cancer. Caramel colour is a known carcinogen and can cause cancer.
For both dogs and cats, dry food can and will wreak havoc upon their bodies. Dry food is full of inflammatory substances such as human grade cereal and other cleverly worded inflammatory substances. One very common inflammatory substance found in dry food is powdered cellulose. Marketing companies cleverly disguise this ingredient to sound like it’s healthy however what you’re actually feeding them is sawdust. Yes, powdered cellulose is actually sawdust! And you are feeding this to your beloved animal companions. As you may imagine, consuming sawdust every day can cause severe damage to the body. Inflammatory diseases such as allergies, yeast infections, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, diarrhea, constipation and many more horribly painful circumstances for your animal. It is ALWAYS important to read and research ingredients.
One incredibly noteworthy component of any mainly dry food diet is early stage organ failure. By feeding your animals dehydrated food every day, you are creating a serious imbalance in their digestive systems. When the gastrointestinal system tries to process the dry food through the digestive tract, it draws moisture from all of the major organs – including skin and coat on order to pass through the body. Because by definition, dry food is devoid of all moisture, the gastrointestinal system require moisture from somewhere in order to pass it through. Thus it takes moisture from all of the other organs to do so. This leaves your furry friends extremely dehydrated. After years and years of feeding them dry foods, their organs become so depleted of moisture that they fall into disrepair. Often this leads to early stage organ failure. And to think you could have added years to your animals’ lives with a simple diet change!
Particularly in male cats, dry food has been linked to bladder crystals, UTI’S and kidney dysfunction – including kidney stones. This is once again due to the gastrointestinal system drawing moisture from the bladder and kidneys in order to process the dry food through its system. This digestive process leaves the animals’ body and organs depleted of moisture which ultimately causes them to fail. The kidneys are responsible for removing toxins of the body, food water and air through the urine. If the kidneys fail, the body inevitably dies of toxicity.
With all of the confusing information out there, how do we protect our animals from all of these detrimental dry food related illnesses?
It is CRUCIAL that all cats eat a 90% grain free wet food diet in order to significantly lessen the possibility of the illnesses stated above. As far as digs are concerned, canned dog food is not at all ideal. All animals should be eating a SPECIES APPROPRIATE DIET. This means that for the healthiest results, both cats and dogs should be eating a diet that most closely resembles what their ancestors ate in the wild. For dogs this means either a raw food diet or as many whole foods as possible. Whole foods include cooked meats, poultry and fishes. To feed them a balanced diet it is IMPERATIVE to do your research about how to cook your dog a balanced meal. By only feeding meats you may be missing vital nutrients. There are many sources that outline how to cook your dog a balanced and nutritious meal that include all of the vital vitamins and minerals for your dog to live a long and healthy life.
As always, I will recommend thoroughly researching any diet that you wish to feed your animals. Read ingredients. Ask more than one trusted professional to obtain a full spectrum of information. Do not be fooled by the bright lights and colours of marketing schemes. Generally speaking, the healthiest brands are not advertised because their ingredients speak for themselves. Do not buy your cat and dog foods at a human grocery store. Go to a specialty store that focuses on companion animal foods and ask the staff about holistic nutrition. After all, wouldnt you agree that your companion animals deserve the very best life? Your animals would most certainly do the same for you!
SOULSTICE SPIRIT 