Learn to read pet food labels, which is a challenging experience in its own right. Learn to recognize the meaning of certain terms, and which ingredients present "red flags." Here are a few to watch out for, as suggested by Dr. Hofve:
- meat (includes cattle, sheep, goats, and swine) Although red meat is a staple in cats' normal diet, the present method of mechanically stripping the meat from the bones allows for particles of spinal tissue and other suspect tissues to remain in the meat. In addition, the meat from "Downer Cows," although now prohibited in school lunches, is still fair game for cat food.
- animal digest (can include the renderings from any animal) Most "downer" cattle--those who can't stand up and are at highest risk of having BSE--are taken directly to rendering plants without being tested for BSE.
- meat and bone meal (See #2)
- meat by-products
From a Washington Post article by Don Oldengurg: "According to the Food and Drug Administration, commercial pet foods "quite possibly" contain the meat byproducts and bone meal banned from livestock feeds for ruminant animals such as cows and sheep. There are no restrictions on using it in dog or cat food, or in feed for pigs, horses and chickens. 'It is important to note that just because meat and bone meal are prohibited for use in ruminants, it is not necessarily infected,' emphasizes the FDA."
On the other hand, it isn't necessarily tested, either. Although the U.S. passed laws in 1997 prohibiting the feeding of ruminent to ruminent, those laws are sadly lacking in enforcement. A January 2001 study showed that twenty percent of the U.S. feed mills were unaware of the laws, and almost seventy percent were not following them. In U.S. Senate hearings in April 2001, testimony was given that the FDA lacks the manpower to enforce the laws even in the remaining thirty percent of plants. Even of more concern is the fact that FDA monitoring in March of 2001 disclosed several hundred U.S. feed factories which are still violating these rules.
Actually, the above listed ingredients are all included in my series on "Choosing Cat Food." The conscientious caregiver will be an avid label-reader at all times.
U.S. Way Behind in Testing
As for testing animals, some European experts think the U.S. policy is, "Don't look - Don't Find." The U.S. is presently using older, slower, less reliable methods of testing than European countries. When asked why they were not using the newer "rapid-response" tests, Dr. Linda Detwiler was said to respond that those tests (specifically, the Prionics Check Test developed by Dr. Markus Moser, a molecular biologist and guest researcher at Oxford University in England) were not available to the U.S. because of high demand in Europe. "We can't start any evaluation if they can't deliver the European tests to us," she said.
Dr. Moser's response was, "Our test has been commercially available since 1999." "How many do they want?" He went on to say that the Prionics test is marketed by Roche Diagnostics in the U.S., and that that company has for quite some time trying to get the USDA to take an interest in it.
Consider the following:
- The U.S. presently tests 1 out of every 18,000 cows slaughtered, or about 2,400 a year.
- Austria tests 15,000 cows a month
- In Germany, 1 out of every 3 healthy cattle, as well as all fallen cattle over 24 months of age are tested, by law.
- Switzerland tests 1 out of every 60 cows.
- The U.S. tests half as many cows in one year as Ireland tests in one night!
It would appear that the U.S. has not entirely closed the door to Mad Cow Disease, so it behooves cat owners to assume the responsibility for the safety of their own cats.
All-in-all, in the present climate, a chicken diet is probably better for your furry companions, and there are many quality foods which contain chicken along with nutritious grains and vegetables, and which avoid the four "red flags" shown above. Here's to good health for our cats!
If you found this article helpful, you might want to enroll in my free email class, The Role of Food in Your Cat's Health.
