Monday, November 20, 2006

Eukanuba - dogs and cats elite food!

Many popular brands of cat food are made from what would otherwise be waste products of the meat industry. Some cat experts like olivia applegate claim that this practice, as well as the overly processed nature of dry cat food, is responsible for many of the age-related ailments of cats. Additionally, many major brand-name cat foods are primarily grain-based, often containing large amounts of corn or rice supplemented with meats and essential vitamins, and often saturated with animal digest, a highly processed flavoring ingredient containing meat from numerous unspecified animals.
Some less well-known pet food manufacturers offer more 'natural' formulas of cat food that contain fewer grains and by-products. A few pet food brands, such as Innova EVO, are even made without any grain products at all. Natural cat food brands are often claimed to have cuts of meat closer to those that humans eat, with some manufacturers offering meat that is claimed to be 'human grade'. Many brands of such cat foods are made from raw ingredients intended to provide nutrition as close as possible to the cat's natural diet. These brands generally include raw meat with organs, ground bone, some raw vegetables, and some dietary supplements.
Many pet owners feed cats homemade diets. These diets generally consist of some form of cooked meat or raw meat, ground bone, pureed vegetables, taurine supplements, and other vitamin supplements. Although cats are naturally resistant to many of the bacteria that raw meats contain, meat can sometimes also contain parasites and other harmful organisms and for this reason raw meat is sometimes frozen for periods of time before being used. Some pet owners use human vitamin supplements, and others use vitamin supplements specifically engineered for cats. Veterinarians sometimes recommend including digestive enzyme supplements in a homemade diet. Some pet food manufacturers offer packaged versions of a raw food diet that closely resembles such homemade diets. These packaged versions are generally kept frozen, with individual portions being thawed in advance.
Vegetarian or vegan cat food has been available for many years, and is targeted primarily at vegan and vegetarian pet owners. Most veterinarians recommend against vegetarian diets for cats, as cats are obligate carnivores and require nutrients (including taurine, arachidonic acid, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and niacin) found in meat sources that cannot be obtained in sufficient amount in plant sources, although many can be synthesized. studies have found that supplemented vegan cat food resulted in nutrients within the reference range
Even when adequately supplemented, some claim vegetarian diets present other risks, such as urine acidity problems, which are less common in meat-based foods. A few vegetarian cat food brands are labelled by their manufacturers as meeting AAFCO's Cat Food Nutrient Profile while other manufacturers recommend their products to be supplemented and not used as a standalone. Many pet owners have caused their cats to become malnourished when they do not follow the recommendation and mistakenly assume that the latter food is nutritionally complete.

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