The Holistic View of Good Nutrition for Your Cat

Just like people, cats and kittens need good nutrition for a healthy life. Unhealthy diets can lead to nutritional deficiencies that can cause illness or shorten your cat’s life.

According to Martin Goldstein, DVM, in his book “The Nature of Animal Healing,” Knopf, a link exists between diet and disease, and the right diet can both help prevent and reverse disease. A graduate of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and holistic veterinarian, Dr. Goldstein recalls a time earlier in his career when he saw just a small number of cases of severe disease like cancer or kidney or liver failure. They were diseases seen in older pets. In recent years, however, he notes that he is seeing younger cats and dogs affected and often not surviving beyond five years old. He also notes that the diseases seem to be more aggressive.

As a holistic veterinarian, he views these illnesses as “the ultimate manifestation of ill health.” He feels that pets are getting more cancer and other degenerative diseases because their bodies are being hit with more toxins, beginning with the processed packaged food fed to them. He describes the processed meat unfit for human consumption, chemical additives and preservatives as accelerating a pet’s already short lifespan. He explains that disease is the body’s failed effort to eliminate toxins and unhealthy cells. He says that with the right diet, pets may never need veterinary care beyond the annual checkup. He maintains the health of his own cats through nutrition.

Holistic veterinarians view disease as the absence of health. An immune system is weakened by poor nutrition and toxins. Dr. Goldstein recalls his brother’s dog who, at 7 years old, suffered from hip dysplasia and severe allergies. Being a conventional veterinarian at the time, he used cortisone shots to control the allergies. But the dog suffered so badly that they were considering euthanizing him. But he and his brother decided to cease feeding the regular fake burger-looking dog food and instead feed a homemade diet of brown rice, vegetables and hamburger. Within days of the diet change, the dog’s discomfort eased, he walked with less pain, he had renewed energy, his skin improved and hair began growing back. They threw out the rest of his old dog food and maintained him on the homemade diet, and the dog lived a full, happy life for another 10 ½ years.

Dr. Goldstein describes his research into pet food labels and what goes into pet food. He mentions Ann Martin, author of “Food Pets Die For,” New Sage Press, and her investigation into the rendering of euthanized companion animals into pet food. In fact, they both address an article from the March 11, 1997, New York Times that reported that Los Angeles was sending about two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to West Coast Rendering each month. And these pets are euthanized with sodium pentobarbital, which is dangerous to animals if absorbed indirectly days later. So, if the term “meat” is in the pet food ingredient list, who can say what kind of meat and from what source?

According to Dr. Goldstein, the commercial food pets eat today is unhealthy and the animal absorbs toxins that he struggles to eliminate, which appears as early symptoms like flaky skin and diarrhea, among other signs.

All this bad news, but there is good news! Your cat’s health can get a significant boost if you do just one thing—change his diet from an unhealthy commercial brand to something healthier.

Dr. Goldstein promotes a homemade diet of real food. He feeds his pets a mix of cooked and raw items, but he is especially a proponent of a raw diet.

But what about when you can’t provide a homemade diet to your pet? Dr. Goldstein is heartened by the newer premium pet foods that clearly state the kinds meat the protein comes from.

He mentions Innova in particular. In looking at the Innova EVO, marketed as the next best choice to raw diets, dry cat food label, one sees the first couple of items are: turkey, chicken, chicken meal, herring meal, potato, chicken fat preserved with mixed tocopherols [vitamin E], eggs, turkey meal, natural flavors, apples, carrots, tomatoes, cottage cheese, dried chicory root, taurine, herring oil, DL-methionine [an amino acid], lecithin, rosemary extract…following these ingredients are a list of vitamins and probiotics.

Other premium cat food manufacturers include Wysong, Pet Gold and Wellness, among others.

Poor nutrition can lead to greater susceptibility to illness, parasites and chronic disorders. Though the AAFCO has a nutrition guarantee for “crude” analysis, this analysis does not consider digestibility of the ingredients or source nutrient quality. By reading your cat food labels, you can ensure that your cat receives the best nutrition possible. Cats who are given the building blocks of sound nutrition are better prepared to handle illness, stress and aging.

Next article: Preparing A Nutrition Diet To Feed Your New Kitten

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