Should You Be Using Holistic Cat Food?

December 21st, 2009 by Christine Pinkston

Holistic cat food means that the food is all natural and yes you should be using it.

The cat industries food producers are one of the biggest culprits in the early deaths of our lovable furry family members.

A cat should live on average a quarter of a century but strangely enough the average life of a house cat is only eight years. This might be because of the nutritional value of the food we give them. Most store bought food is equivalent to a well known brand of junk food with creamy insides and a golden cake on the outside.

Fortunately for us we eat other things besides Twinkies or our life span might not be much better off then the average cats.

Anything holistic means that it is void of all artificial ingredients. The thing about cat food is that even if it says that it is holistic that does not automatically mean that it is good for your cat. The cat food companies have different laws they follow then food for human consumption does.

Here’s what the law says, if at the many stops on the way to the companies processing plant things get added to the meat and meat byproducts it doesn’t have to be claimed. The only things that the producers have to state as being in the food are what they personally added.

What they consider meat for cat food is another problem. Animals put down at the pound, parts of cows not usable for us, and road kill are all used for the meat and meat byproducts.

When they put the animals down at the pound they use a poison. This poison does not get cooked out in the processing plant so the food you feed your cat everyday may contain active poison in it.

So what should you do?

Well if you want your four legged family member to live a long and healthy life you might want to consider using a combination of homemade food and safe commercial food. With homemade food you don’t have to wonder what’s in it because you put it their.

Get more information about natural cat food to allow your cat to live his life to the fullest. Find out if natural cat food is the right direction to go for your cat.

Have Fun Using Small Cat Food Tins for Deodorizing

October 15th, 2009 by Moses Wright

Using small cat food tins for deodorizing is a quick and easy craft project. The reuse of objects that would otherwise be garbage is considered thrifty fun by many people.

The first step to reusing cat food tins is to wash and dry them thoroughly. After the tins are completely dry, the cat owner may want to apply spray enamel as a quick way to color the inside and outside of the tins.

Cat food tins can also be decorated with gift wrapping paper, colored paper, or wallpaper. When decorating the tin cans, the person may want to consider which colors are in the desired location for the tin.

Numerous types of craft supplies can be used to decorate the cat food tins. Craft accents such as small floral appliqu?s, buttons, foam letters, and other craft supplies can be glued to the tin after it has been sprayed with enamel or covered in paper.

White vinegar can be poured into a recycled cat food tin that is to be placed in an area that tends to have a strong odor. Some cat owners place cat food tins containing vinegar near the litter box.

A favorite perfume or pine cleaner can be added to cotton balls that are then placed in the cat food tin. Scented oils can also be used to add scent to cotton balls that are placed in the tins.

Using small cat food tins for deodorizing can be done by decorating the outside of the tins and filling them with potpourri. Potpourri may be made by adding a scent such as vanilla to pine cones or dried flower petals.

Decorated cat food tins can be used in holiday decor by matching the color of the enamel or other decorations with the holiday theme. The tins can hold seasonal potpourri.

Whole coffee beans can be used as scented filler for reused cat food tins. The cat owner can squeeze and break some of the coffee beans to reactivate the scent once the coffee scent is no longer noticeable.

Cat food tins can be recycled as candleholders with a little care. Nothing flammable can be used to decorate tins used as candleholders. The tins must be placed on a heat-proof surface since the can may heat up when the candle is burned.

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Cat Health Care on a Budget

May 7th, 2009 by Robert Hart

In tough economic times, one of the first places people look to cut expenses is pet health. The purpose of this article is to help you realize that cutting corners and buying pre-packaged cat food is the worst thing you can do for your cats health and well-being, and your budget.

Prevention is Key

Sadly, and solely through lack of knowledge, many cat owners put their companion down because they could not afford the vet bills associated with a disease. Most chronic disease takes a long time to develop to a point where your cat begins to show signs of illness. When it does, vet bills can overwhelm the family budget. It is ONLY through prevention that you will be able to greatly reduce the potential of life threatening illnesses, and subsequently, your vet bills.

How Important are Annual Exams?

A veterinary exam can only assess your cats health at the time of the exam, plus cats are adept at hiding their illness as a defense mechanism. Chronic illnesses and disease typically develop out of view, deep within the gastrointestinal and immune systems, making them almost impossible to detect, even with expensive testing. The best approach is to watch your cat for signs like a change in energy, or behavior. However, be aware that they are very good at hiding pain and illness as a defense mechanism.

A well thought out budget can save you a lot of sleepless nights. Take a vet visit for example: first you have the obvious cost of the visit which typically costs $50-100, but you also need to factor in the hidden costs, like time lost from work (average time door-to-door is 4 hours), gasoline, vehicle wear and tear…

Better Health through Nutrition

The old adage you are what you eat is five times more applicable to your cat. Why? Because cats age five times faster than we do! Chronic illness and disease seem to come on suddenly, when in fact they develop slowly, below the surface.

The pet-food recall of 2007, put the ingredients in pre-packaged pet foods under a microscope. This was actually a good thing. While prepackaged cat foods today are considered safe, they are the equivalent of eating fast foods for every meal.

If you havent yet seen it, the documentary Super Size Me is a must see! For those who havent; the film maker made a documentary of himself eating nothing but McDonalds food for 30 straight days. Prior to starting, he had a battery of tests by physicians, who also monitored him throughout. A mere two-weeks into the experiment his doctors urged him to stop immediately as his overall health was deteriorating rapidly, and yet, this is exactly what the overwhelming majority of owners feed their cats daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. The connection between food and health can be ignored, but it cannot be denied!

By far, the best way to safely stretch the time between annual exams, and to minimize the risk of your cat getting a serious disease is to improve their diet!

The most effective way to restore or maintain your cat’s health is with a diet that includes human grade meats, fowl and fish, combined with daily supplements like; soil-based probiotic supplements, and high performance oils, or vital pet lipids, which are essential to maintain every aspect of your cats health- joint, skin, digestive system, immune system and all internal organs.

When transitioning, you can avoid, or minimize GI upset by mixing the old cat food with the new in a 50/50 ratio for a week, then making the full switch to lightly cooked meats; then, after one month, transition the same way to a raw meat diet, again with daily supplements.

The Bottom Line

Quality cat health care on a budget is possible once you realize that you cannot do it by cutting corners on food or supplements! The actual cost of 3 vet visits a year (including annual check up) is hundreds-of-times more expensive than the difference in cost between pre-packaged cat food (which should only be fed in times of emergency) and better food combined with a high performance supplement program.

Spending more upfront, for better cat food and proper supplements, will not just minimize your vet bills; doing so will reward you with a happy and healthy cat that will live 5-7 years longer than if you dont!

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Organic Pet Food Supplement

May 3rd, 2009 by Claude Edwin Theriault

Since they age so much faster then we do , anti-oxidents are of the prime importance as are gastro health to absorb the nutrients. Many claim to be all natural however that has become simply a standard applied marketing term made famous in tha 1970’s health and fitness boom. To get real organic quality pet supplements on has to look fro a food source like Super Blue Green Algae. It is a food source that grows wild and is simply harvested .Therefore having non of the toxic fertilizer stuff found in food sources grown by big corporaete farming operations. It’s processing is freeze dried preserving it in all it’s nutritive integrity.

Since they age so much faster then we do , anti-oxidents are of the prime importance as are gastro health to absorb the nutrients. Many claim to be all natural however that has become simply a standard applied marketing term made famous in tha 1970’s health and fitness boom. To get real organic quality pet supplements on has to look fro a food source like Super Blue Green Algae. It is a food source that grows wild and is simply harvested .Therefore having non of the toxic fertilizer stuff found in food sources grown by big corporaete farming operations. It’s processing is freeze dried preserving it in all it’s nutritive integrity.

Since they age so much faster then we do , anti-oxidents are of the prime importance as are gastro health to absorb the nutrients. Many claim to be all natural however that has become simply a standard applied marketing term made famous in tha 1970’s health and fitness boom. To get real organic quality pet supplements on has to look fro a food source like Super Blue Green Algae. It is a food source that grows wild and is simply harvested .Therefore having non of the toxic fertilizer stuff found in food sources grown by big corporaete farming operations. It’s processing is freeze dried preserving it in all it’s nutritive integrity.

Super Blue Green Algae is an excellent source of Beta Carotene,Chlorophyll,amino acids,essential fatty acid,mineral and trace minerals,vitamins,enzyme,as well as the important probiotics for digestion. All contributing towards reducing the aging and degenerative breakdown processes of your pets.Makes for a serious nutritious treat as well as a constant form of pet health insurance. For pedigree breeder types it will soon be your secret feed tip weapon that gives the serious competitive edge.

Plain fact;animals need basic nutrition to keep their systems running smoothly.They need nourishment from all-natural sources that can help fill in the nutrient gaps when diet alone isnt enough. For general well-being, there are probiotics to supply friendly bacteria that are essential to the health and balance of the gastro intestinal track.Organic wildcrafted food sources are simply the best sources of antioxidants,which are a major defense against free radicals that can cause oxidative damage to cells responsible for negative changes associated with aging and various health problems.Look for product formulated to give your pet a superior combination to balance their bodys internal ecosystem naturally.

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Holistic Cat Food: Is Holistic Cat Food Right For Your Cat?

January 2nd, 2009 by Scott Evans

Holistic cat food is the absence of unnatural ingredients in the food. Unnatural ingredients are not good for your cat so he will definitely benefit from better food.

One of the reasons cats live such a short time is because most cat food produces don’t make nutritious food.

A normal cat only lives to about the age of nine but the natural life span for cats is around twenty eight years. One of the contributing factors for how long a cat lives is the nutrition of the food he eats. The majority of the commercial food is no better for your cat then feeding him Twinkies.

You better believe that if you ate nothing but Twinkies for the next ten years you would not be doing much better then most of the cats.

When you have food that is free of everything that is not found naturally then you have holistic food. The problem with cat food being holistic is that you never know what is actually in it. The cat food company’s only have to claim the ingredients that are put into the food after it reaches their plant.

That means that if the meat (I’m using that term loosely) was brought to the plant with preservatives in it that they could still claim that it is preservative free. By law this is okay for them to do.

Another thing to consider is the quality of meat that is put into cat food. Basically, if it can’t be sold for human consumption (i.e. it is bad for us) then they put it into your cats food. This could be a range from anything like road kill to euthanized animals from the pound.

When an animal is euthanized at the pound they use poison. Unfortunately for your cat the poison does not cook out when they process the meat. You might unknowingly be poisoning your cat when you feed him.

But what are your options?

One of the things you could do is to start making your cat homemade cat food. While this might sound like a time consuming option it really isn’t. When your cat starts getting the proper nutrition he will eat less food so you will only need to feed your cat once a day.

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