What cat food doesn’t suck? Squooshable says that whatever I am eating doesn’t suck. I think I want to get more information on that Innova EVO they mentioned (and look! WildRun is listed on the lower right! Yay!). Oh; and there’s this, too. I will have to read more of it later, though.
:-)
DISCLAIMER: Affiant has no damn idea what she is talking about, and is largely speaking from personal experience, opinions, the heart, lack of sleep, and some stuff she googled; your mileage may vary; a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; I am open for business, not criticism; 19 out of 0 dentists surveyed preferred Ipana simply because Bucky’s so damn cute; make love, not war; do not try this at home; Downy™ fabric softener balls should be operated by trained professionals only; the party of the first part was a cool-ass song; corporate amerika generally sucks balls and would sell their grandmother for a shiny nickel; your onymity is assured, as all data will be reported in constituent form only; if erection persists for longer than four hours, discontinue girlfriend and acquire a new one; abnormal sensations in the extremities should be reported immediately to someone who cares. Further Affiant typeth constantly, to the point that we wish Affiant’s fingers would fall the hell off, or something.
I am not sure and am going to have to ask about the magnesium, ash (remember when *everyone* was saying ash was bad?), and other stuff, but I did find this. I find it really hard to believe that so many vets would endorse ‘premium’ foods if they were harmful; my vet sells Science Diet only (mostly the prescription ones; that's where I get the k/d for Romeo's kidneys to supplement the SD Senior Hairball he mostly eats), I think Iams and Eukanuba are the same company, and I have seen other vets selling them. I have a *really* hard time believing these companies could get the vet endorsements that they do if they were full of bad crap, and I know that's an appeal to authority argument, but that's how I feel all the same; I have *never* seen a vet peddling SuperCat (or whatever Wal-Mart's brand is called), EVER, and it's pretty common knowledge that that food is garbage. In one issue of something I was reading in Dr Vet's office (Cat Fancy?), SuperCat (or whatever) and Ol' Roy (for dogs; why that sticks in my head is beyond me) were at the very bottom of the list of rated foods (and I don't remember the order, but SD, Iams, and Eukanuba were rated highly; Max Cat was rated lower, with Meow Mix, Purina, and all, 'cos their ingredients fluctuated too much, or something). At EPetPals they even specifically say that that Iams attends to the levels of magnesium and so forth. This has more than I will ever be able to remember about pet food, and I just found *this*, which says cats with kidney disorders shouldn’t ever be fed dry food…yiii…I am printing this one out to ask Dr Vet about; Romeo may be on SD’s wet K/D all the time (right now I give it sporadically).
For what my opinion is worth (silence in the peanut gallery!), I *like* Iams, and fed only that to Mehitabel & Co. this past litter because it was nice and smelly, and I was hoping that would make them happy. I feed Squoosh Iams in the kitten packette-thingies, and sometimes give him the dry Iams (he prefers the taste of wet Eukanuba and dry Royal Canin overall). I think Iams, Science Diet, and Eukanuba are all good brands, and I think my cats are all in fairly good health at least partly because I feed them good food. And since Bonnie mentioned it, I just broke down and googled 'Iams animal testing', and one of the first sites that popped up belongs to PETA. Sigh. I am not going to link to that because, just bluntly, I am not the biggest fan PETA has ever had. And I think that falls under an ad hominem argument, but I don’t care; I’m half-tempted to say that I would buy Iams just to spite PETA.
Well, I *didn’t* say it—I said I was half-tempted to say it.
I won’t assume to know how anyone but me feels about PETA, but this is my blog, so I will ‘fess up to how I really do feel about them; if I am offending, my apologies, but I still feel that way, and have little to no interest in the ‘other side of the story’. I personally think they are 50% comprised of raging hypocritical idiots, and 50% comprised of people who don't know any better and think they are helping. Penn & Teller had a really illuminating episode of Bullshit! about PETA. And, for what it's worth, PETA was one of the groups who couldn't lend me one single god damned Birkenstock-shod bunny-hugger when I was phoning all over, asking for help with Mehitabel, though I am sure that if I set up a blog talking about how I was catching ferals and selling them to testing labs only on the solemn promise that they’d be vivisected, they would find the time to come out, criticise, and protest me…provided news crews were there, otherwise they’d just relieve me of my cats, euthanize them, and toss them in a dumpster. Not that PETA has ever done that, or anything. Or that they gave a damn when someone called, trying to *save* a momcat. I think actions speak louder than words, to employ a really over-used adage, especially those actions that act so locally that they’re practically unnoticeable, on tedious, unfulfilling crap like chasing a cat around a parking lot, or showing up faithfully to feed homeless cats all over town like the rescue ladies here. I received (and am still receiving!) help from private individuals who do it because they *care*, and feel a moral obligation to do what they can…and sometimes even more than they are able. One of the rescue ladies routinely has Happy Meals, Kraft Dinner, and Ramen noodles for dinner so that she can save money to buy vaccine in bulk to vaccinate all the abandoned and feral cats she takes in. She takes so little care of herself that the girls at PetsMart buy lunch and stuff for her when she comes in (and yes, I give her money); she spends her own money on gas to drive around and pick up unwanted cats, and she can tell you 27,000 tricks to make vaccine and flea treatments stretch enough to cover everyone. Does that keep me up at night, and make me feel like I do *nothing* in comparison? Sure does. Bless them. Fuck PETA.
Think about it: PETA gets enough in donations—that these ladies never see—that they could at the very least be bulk-purchasing vaccine and stuff for rescuers to buy at a discount. Or subsidising the spaying and neutering that goes on. Assholes. Of the four women that I know who are rescuing in this area, their vet bills are in the THOUSANDS, and they’re paying $20-$40 per spay/neuter. How many cats is that? And where is PETA? How ethical. Not.
One thing I have learnt from all I have gone through in the past year is that my money is going to these private individuals. PETA, HSUS, the ASPCA and all of them can hold a vegetarian bake sale for all I care. My money goes where I see *results*, and my ear gets bent by actions; I’ll buy Purina because *Bonnie* asked me to; not PETA.
And, for what it's worth, many PETA members are the same rampaging fucktards who think cats and dogs should be vegetarian just like their owners, which—incidentally—is damn close to the stupidest thing I have ever heard; cats need a daily protein intake of like 90%, or something, as well as taurine, which they aren't going to get from farking beans and rice (can you say carnivore, kids? I know you can!). Do what you want with yourself, but leave the tiny furry thing that you are essentially holding hostage out of it; it needs MEAT, and it probably doesn’t have a way to escape your delusional clutches.
Damn…it would be really funny if some smoking meat-eaters banded together and raided some PETArd homes to rescue *their* animals. Heh.
Butsoanyway.
Animal food as it stands pushes it with all the corn meal and rice; that's why I use SD, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro, and Max Cat (aren't those last two the same brand, too?)—because the 'generic' food one can buy at, say, Wal-Mart is too low a quality (protein-wise) and they are probably stretching out their protein with corn meal, barley, and stuff to be able to sell a 20-lb bag of food for $1.99, or whatever. I figure that, with pet food at least, one gets what one pays for--that's just my rationale. I will have lower vet bills later ‘cos I didn’t feed them total junk today. They are just like fast food for cats, but instead of fat, they load it up with corn and other things cats don’t need. Hey; I’m not alone for once. I have fed stuff like Deli-Cat to my cats (and the parking lot cats before I knew there was a Momcat and kittens) in a pinch, but I try to make that an *absolute* minimum, and try not to go any ‘lower’ than Deli-Cat.
And, since I have already gotten started on the animal testing thing, I know animal testing is not ideal, but the fact is that until the US government accepts my proposal to test on any prisoner incarcerated for longer than five years, it is going to happen; that's just an unkind truth. Any company--ANY--that claims to not test on animals is doing one of two things: (1) fudging the truth to lure the bunny-hugger market; *they* may not conduct animal testing, but they hire a third-party lab to conduct the government-required testing, or they test their stuff only in parts and then claim the whole wasn’t tested on animals, or (2) re-using a formula (possibly purchased from another company) which has *previously* been tested on animals, and has remained unchanged in its formulation. So if it goes on or in your body, assume some fluffy bunny died for it; that's just life. Sure, it isn't pleasant to think about, but knowing the truth is always ultimately nicer than buying into a big pack of fiction. Truth can be changed; fiction can’t because, well, it’s a pack of god damned lies.
So animal testing is a fact, and one that probably won't be changed in my lifetime. I don't see the point in protesting it—it's to keep us safe, after all—but I would prefer that it be as cruelty-free and un-redundant as possible. There should be some control board to which one must apply before beginning testing, and inspections need to be made. No animals should be tormented, or treated with negligence and indifference. I guess that is the best that can be hoped for, but that goal is being all muddied-up by people who think that they can do away with animal testing completely. Yes, I believe animals are people too, and if anyone can come up with an alternative that doesn't involve raiding Romanian orphanages, they sure have my support. As things are, I wish that we could just go on a mission to make the testing as humane and non-redundant as possible. Or test on prisoners—then I don't give a damn what gets done.
But back to health-stuff... Dr Vet loves Squooshable--I mean like REALLY LOVES Squooshable (typical conversation when I bring Romeo in: To Romeo: 'Well hi, Romeo!' To me: 'So how's Squooshable?'). And Dr Vet knows what Squoosh eats—we talked about it when I first found him, and I leave a big bag full of everything he eats when I drop him off for boarding (Eukanuba Kitten cans and Iams, Nutro, and Eukanuba kitten packettes; I used to add SD kitten and Iams cans to the mix until Squoosh decided he didn't like them anymore). I have a hard time believing that the same vet who told me that certain vaccines are useless, possibly dangerous for Squoosh, and a waste of money (that he would be making) would have said nothing if any of those brands were bad for Squoosh.
And as psychotic as I am going to go when Romeo dies ::knock wood::, I don't think Dr Vet would put himself through that any earlier than he is going to have to should SD be harmful. And originally—before the kidney stuff came into the picture—Dr Vet said any premium senior food would work for Romeo; SD just had the first Senior Hairball I saw, and Rome seemed to like it just fine.
And I just found this: Premium brands, which includes Purina! Ok—so I feel not as bad about Purina. Bonnie said to use Purina One or the other one in the silver containers. And I found an online thingy to fill out to get a free bag of Nutro. And, lastly, I kind of liked this article; at least he is honestly admitting when he doesn’t know something, a trait I find admirable as hell, even if he doesn’t have a cool Disclaimer like I do.
I know…everyone’s glad that I don’t get all political and proselytise much. :-)
Shutting up now.
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