Worried Sick That I May Be Killing My Cats

[1 bruce 1]

I was reading a bit on this earlier today, and someone elsewhere made a good point.
Brand X (a high quality brand) has a grain free line and a grain line. The grain free line has a lot of peas, pea proteins, lentils, chick peas, potatoes, etc, listed and the grain food has a lot less. Yet the protein percentage is the same, despite the high amount of plant proteins in the grain free line.
Personally I think there's something to all those plant proteins somehow blocking taurine absorption because later it was stated that supplementing these diets with taurine on its own doesn't solve the problem.
A grain free food I think is fine as long as the meat content isn't sacrificed to keep the protein levels higher and looking good on the bag.

 

[tabbysia]

So, Wellness Core dry anyone?

 

[Kflowers]

Here is an article about the 2018 lawsuit. I couldn't find anything more recent about the outcome. I'm sorry, this is where it pushes us toward insanity.

Wellness Pet Food Lawsuit Continues

 

[Jem]

Personally I think there's something to all those plant proteins somehow blocking taurine absorption because later it was stated that supplementing these diets with taurine on its own doesn't solve the problem.

I remember reading that somewhere.

I wonder if the solution (until studies show us the answer) would be to add taurine to wet foods that don't contain ANY carbs/plants - the absorption would not be affected at the time of eating and digesting. I have also read that whatever the body does not absorb, it just gets eliminated thru the urine - so no worries about toxic levels.
And those who need to do grain free, due to allergies, wouldn't have to worry about the legumes limiting the absorption during the eating/digesting of the grain free foods.
That way kitties get an extra boost of taurine during wet meals to counteract the "possible" lack of taurine being absorbed during dry feedings.
Just a thought....

 

[maggiedemi]

Here is an article about the 2018 lawsuit.

Aresenic & Lead?! Good Lord.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I remember reading that somewhere.

I wonder if the solution (until studies show us the answer) would be to add taurine to wet foods that don't contain ANY carbs/plants - the absorption would not be affected at the time of eating and digesting. I have also read that whatever the body does not absorb, it just gets eliminated thru the urine - so no worries about toxic levels.
And those who need to do grain free, due to allergies, wouldn't have to worry about the legumes limiting the absorption during the eating/digesting of the grain free foods.
That way kitties get an extra boost of taurine during wet meals to counteract the "possible" lack of taurine being absorbed during dry feedings.
Just a thought....

It probably would be a good idea, the recipes for Alnutrin and the like always contain taurine and those home made diets are just meat and organs (and sometimes bone depending on if you use calcium or not.) No legumes or even grains.

 

[tabbysia]

Here is the FDA report detailing all of the foods involved and information about each pet's illness. It is 78 pages long, so scroll through it at your own risk! You may notice that just about every "healthy, "high-end" food is involved, including Blue Basics, which my cat who died of cardiomyopathy ate for his entire short life. The only foods not involved seem to be the "junk" foods, such as Meow Mix, Kit & Caboodle, 9 Lives, Cat Chow, etc. Maybe we should all start feeding our cats wheat gluten, corn and red dye #40! Before I knew anything at all about cat nutrition, I fed my cats foods like these, and they all lived for a long time. One cat lived for almost 20 years on Iam's--by-products, corn, and all. Wellness is not included, so I had hope until Kflowers provided a link to the article about them being sued for having lead and arsenic in their food! I'm never going to sleep again!

https://www.fda.gov/media/128303/do...8nyZw4UXAXpvSVHCPEMMFsK7-6TzOSgT99WyRsCaqkIow

 

[tabbysia]

 

[JamesCalifornia]

They have found increasing amounts trace Roundup in flour now. SO the practice helps out farmers to get the crops in but is also contaminating the food. Is it an issue for cats? Who knows.

~ It seems this herbicide could be causing many health problems.

 

[maggiedemi]

red dye #40!

The Purina Naturals, Purina One, and Purina Pro Plan have the dyes taken out. My cats prefer the regular Cat Chow though.

 

[Kflowers]

I would approach Fancy Feast with some caution right now.

Top 166 Reviews about Fancy Feast

 

[maggiedemi]

That website says that every food brand kills cats though. I stopped reading it.

 

[Kflowers]

Okay, yes, but the similarity in symptoms is what I find most disturbing. If it was chance cat ate the stuff and died, you would expect the symptoms to differ from cat to cat.

It would also help if there was a large 'clearing house' web site for reviews and discussions of cat food or even dog food. If there is, I haven't found it.

 

[maggiedemi]

If I listened to that consumer affairs website, I would have nothing left to buy my cats though.

 

[Willowy]

If you think too much about food (yours or your pet's), you wouldn't be able to eat anything.

~ It seems this herbicide could be causing many health problems.

Unfortunately, it's the safest herbicide out there. There are many that are MUCH nastier.

 

[Kflowers]

If you trust Nestle, you trust Nestle.

 

[hiya_unicorns]

The Purina Naturals, Purina One, and Purina Pro Plan have the dyes taken out. My cats prefer the regular Cat Chow though.

Same, When I first got cats I fed them Cat Chow and then as I starting reading more on cat health I attempted to put them on some grain-free types foods - but they wouldn't have it and are on cat chow to this day. I know it's a junk cat food but it's so hard to make them change.

 

[maggiedemi]

I know it's a junk cat food but it's so hard to make them change.

I don't think it's junk anymore after reading about all those fancy kibbles killing pets.

 

[Willowy]

I've been using canned Friskies and dry Purina ONE for a while now, after trying probably every single brand out there. Maybe the ingredients aren't the best but I have the best results with them. Maybe Purina is magic or something, lol.

 

[Purrrfectttales]

Now this is just my opinion - but in your case with your cat being so young it seems to me that it would be more likely to be genetic? If he were older when he died I think lifestyle factors such as diet would seem more likely to me. I think for a food to cause death in 3 years it would have to have a serious imbalance of nutrients or toxic ingredient (which I don't think those articles are alleging). I read an article that suggested the foods listed were based upon a small sample of several hundred animals. There could be confounding variables and it is not definitive that any one particular food is harmful. (At least that was what I was getting from the information).

I would not stress out about it but consider all of the available evidence and read as much as you can on the subject. Just try to pick the best food you can with the knowledge you have. I initially fed my cats Blue but they weren't able to tolerate it so now I feed them Purina One. It seems to work the best for them....