Category Archives: Food & Nutrition

Probiotics for Cats Helps Build a Healthy Digestive System

Probiotics are the “friendly” desirable bacteria that boost digestion, build a healthy digestive/intestinal and immune system, and reduce the harmful bacteria and organisms that can invade the body and cause infections and disease. Probiotics work to enhance the right balance of GI bacteria.

I have learned through my two cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), that probiotics given daily in their food really helps to strengthen and build their intestinal tract and reduce the symptoms and suffering caused by IBD. In cats, IBD is caused by intestinal disorders that increase inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract. Food sensitivities and allergies can contribute to IBD, and chronic diarrhea and/or vomiting are typical symptoms that result in the inflammation and scar tissue in the lining of the intestines.

Who Needs Probiotics?

Not all cats need probiotics, but if your cat has loose or smelly stools, chronic diarrhea, lots of gas, is taking steroids for prolonged periods of time for a chronic medical issue, or is on antibiotics for an infection—probiotics can help get their intestinal and digestive system health back on track and ease any suffering they might feel.

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Causes and Treatments of Food Allergies in Cats

Allergies are caused by our immune system overreacting to an allergen and triggering a reaction—to a specific food or type of food, airborne or environmental substance. The reaction is an intolerance or hypersensitivity to the allergen, and it can be immediate or delayed depending on the allergen. Cats are not born with food allergies but develop them over time and at any age.

Causes of Food Allergies in Cats

Food allergies in cats have increased in recent years with commercial diets using processed meats, bone meal, meat by-products, grains and cereals as fillers, yeast and artificial preservatives. Cats do best on a diet that most closely mimics nature as they’re carnivores, but the pet food industry has built a $15 billion dollar industry around producing a commercial diet that many cats cannot eat or tolerate well.

Domestic cats have not evolved to consume a processed, cereal-based diet but it’s convenient and available—but it will make some cats highly allergic with an inflammatory response to the ingredients used.

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Cats Need Clean Water Daily to Maintain Their Health

Cats are made up of about 70% water, so they need clean, fresh, cool water daily to maintain their health. If you feed your cats dry food, then water is even more critical as dry food has a very low water content (about only 10%), so they will need an additional supply of water.

It’s critical to always provide your cat plenty of fresh water in various places of your home. Make sure that the bowls are large enough and be sure to clean, wash, and refresh the water bowls at least every other day.

Just because you have larger bowls doesn’t mean you should wash them less. Be sure to wash bowls with soap and water. Bacteria and germs develop quickly when water sits still after a couple of days.

Cats Need Clean Water Daily to Maintain Their Health
Pyrex Glass Bowls for Cats Water

Consider using only glass, stainless steel, or ceramic bowls for water—avoid using plastic for water or food. Plastic can leach out chemicals and can hold bacteria.

The more cats you have the more water bowls you need. We have several in each area of our house and refresh them daily. I like and recommend using large Pyrex glass bowls, they’re very inexpensive, strong, ample, and safe for cats to drink from them.

Important Reasons to Follow Cat Food Expiration or Best By Dates

How long does cat food last and when is it no longer good any more? There are several different opinions about how long pet food lasts beyond the “Best By” date that should always be printed on canned and dry pet food. In this article, I will try to provide information that is important to understanding the “Best By” dates, and why you want to pay attention to and follow the “Best By” date on your cat food packaging.

“Best By” Dates
Important Reasons to Follow Cat Food Expiration or Best By Dates
Cat Food Best-By Dates

 

First, always check the “Best By” date stamped on both canned and dry cat food when shopping at your local pet food store. It’s usually printed at the bottom of canned food with the month/year and printed on dry food bags on the side toward the bottom of the bag. Continue reading Important Reasons to Follow Cat Food Expiration or Best By Dates

Pet Fooled – How Commercial Pet Food is Making Our Pets Sick

“I don’t trust companies anymore. They don’t care about me or my pets, they only care about my money. That’s a terrible thing.”

“Once you start digging the evidence becomes overwhelming that the industry has significant issues.”

Domestic cats and dogs in the U.S. are experiencing an epidemic of health problems at levels that have never been seen before. Increasingly, our pets are more diseased than ever, getting chronic illnesses very similar to those in people. The rates of cancer, kidney and liver disease, arthritis, chronic degenerative diseases, auto-immune diseases, allergies, pancreatic disease, Inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal lymphoma, and diabetes—have all skyrocketed in recent decades, and all of them are linked to diet say veterinarians. Pet obesity is at epidemic levels. Yet, Americans have never spent more on their pets and on pet food. So why is this happening?

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) says that cancer in pets now accounts for almost 50% of all deaths of cats and dogs over 10 years of age in the U.S.

Consumers may think the pet food industry is heavily regulated with strong federal oversight. But that could not be further from the truth. The FDA, the federal regulating body with oversight for the industry, allows harmful standards of toxic and carcinogenic ingredients set by the Association of American Feed Control (AAFCO) and created by the pet food manufacturers themselves, for pet food in the U.S. That’s where the problems start. They end with sick pets being diagnosed with chronic health problems requiring long-term medical care because of the unhealthy commercial pet food they are eating. Continue reading Pet Fooled – How Commercial Pet Food is Making Our Pets Sick