Thursday, March 19, 2009

FIRST STEPS TO FREEDOM FOOD







That humans must walk away now from the Corporate Food Grid (wheat used in our breads is now laced with melamine) is one thing, but dragging your pets along is another. Regarding pets, this person says it quite well:

"Feline Hooligans of the Heart Part One: Living with Cats

Humans who don’t like dogs and cats need read no further. You won’t understand what I have to say. People who acquire a pet as an object of amusement and occasional companionship, read on to see what you might be missing. Pet lovers will most definitely understand......

In short, they have become adult cat human-independent, with amazing physical agility, cat senses apparently lost on humans in terms of what they see and hear, and that cat inquisitiveness which misses nothing, yet continually mystifies and fascinates humans."

So, that's why all this effort to explain how I'm getting Mack off the Corporate Food Grid, with me, and why it has to be done smart, in stages, measuring the impacts of the changes, and with cooperation of your vet. Why? Because thanks to the corporate greed of Hills Science Diet and the corporate chicanery, lies and greed of the Chief Dick of Natural Balance, Mack does have early CRF. Which he didn't before this Pet Food hit.

Taking him off the Corporate Food Grid is not like throwing him into the wild to fend for himself and letting him walk back in your house. That's not the point of a cat bred for indoors, high intelligence, human companionship of the highest order, and for communication skills that escape most college grads. Though, he's shown a tremendous amount of spunk and success outdoors too. Heart is there, but the judgment is a bit lacking: Mack tried to take on three raccoons last year outside the front door.

It's a huge undertaking to get the ratios and proportions right, when you are starting from scratch with a pet with a problem.
It's a big responsibility learning to feed your incipient CRF, designer cat who mere months ago would thrill with his spring-loaded athletic prowess, jumping from fuzzy sleep 3 feet onto the bed in a split second, and gymnastically twisting his lithe, long body into fur sculptures just to delight. Because you want that back, not for you but because he too is grieving his loss of abilities. Well, OK - I want him back for me too because he is the best personal organizer, personal therapist and personal philosopher I ever had. That's $450 per hour in personal services, thank you very much, that he saved me, that his services are worth to me.
It is a process and will take time. If not now, then when? Along the way I am recording everything he eats, and everything he eliminates, his physical and emotional status.
On that note: He's back to singing me awake. Didn't know a cat could sing? He has dozens of complex, separate vocalizations in his musical repertoire (these are not "meows", and unless you were treated to them, you wouldn't recognize them as Made By Cat.... a bird perhaps, but not a cat) - he spends time with the birds, who have been coming to my patio door wondering where their friend is. He mimicks them, if they come too close he runs away! He strings his versions together in infinite variations as my wake-up call. No matter how groogy I am, when he is done with his song, I am wide awake, and good to go. Sound therapy. $250 per hour in CEO Hog World. In Mackie's world, it's priceless and free.
I discovered the Europeans have a modular approach to Pet Food. After discussing with his vet the structure of a home cooked diet, and though I balk at the 50% carbs, we're going to try that out with the modular components of SOJOS All Natural Cat Food.
Simply add meat and water to one of our natural pet food mixes and you've got a fresh, homemade pet food in minutes.


Our foods offer the superior nutrition of naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and enzymes that you can't get from a cooked, processed pellet. No preservatives. Nothing artificial. Just all-natural, human-quality ingredients.

I know that SOJOS recommends the meat in the above diagram be fed raw, but that just isn't going to happen with a cat whose kidneys have been traumatized and whose urine SG is now on the low side (early CRF).

Though Mack's blood panel came back fine, CRF doesn't show up in blood tests until over 60% of the kidneys are GONE. Not waiting for that.

The problem with RAW MEAT in this polluted, reckless, conscienceless CEO Hog society is raw meat is so often contaminated. Feeding a CRF cat raw food would be exactly like feeding him tainted canned pet food. His little body cannot take another hit, be it from parasites or bacteria, as the MEDICATIONS required at that point TAKE A HUGE TOLL ON LIVERS AND KIDNEYS.

So I am following my vets advice and doing the following:


ONE LAST BARF ABOUT BARF:

When Mack was well I was perfectly willing to listen to the benefits of BARF and did exactly that, even taking him to a BARF vet. I discovered to my chagrin this modality seems to be pushed by extremists who waste no time verbally stomping you down for any demonstrated recalcitrance at becoming an instant BARF fanatic, or daring to show a little knowledge and experience, even daring to question their pseudo-science rhetoric in any way that remotely appears to contradicts their attempts to birth a new industry for themselves... they all sound exactly like the CEO HOG FASCISTS I'm trying to avoid.

They remind me of the Red Chinese "thamzing" sessions... "you will believe Chairman Mao or else we'll take your children and food away from you..." no wonder the damn Nazi's like "Son of IG Farben" are over there teaching them Global Genocide 101 and they get the victims to pay for it, how brilliant!!

The BARF vet we visited is no exception, but this one in particular she has a long-standing, 100 mile radius reputation as a worthless cat doctor - I am mortified I ever took Mackie to her...

Here again are the questions BARF fanatics would rather gas you than answer:
  1. How do you protect against parasites and bacteria?
  2. What if you cannot buy fresh raw meats every two days? (one said, "you don't deserve to own a pet then")
  3. If you feed raw to CRF cats and they are hit with a bacterial infection, do you put them down before or after they are further tortured with the medications that have such strong side effects on their already ailing liver and kidneys?
  4. Have you researched long term vet histories with the BARF diet? Where are the objective statistics, you know, NOT from those INDIVIDUAL VETs who sell their own privately packaged raw meat as a side business (hmm, old boyfriends, old pets?)
  5. What statistics do the regular vet practices have on picking up the pieces of BARF fed cats and dogs? (Ouch, that will hurt because therein lies the truth).
Now don't get me wrong, I am sure that many animals thrive on BARF, it just ain't Mack. He's been asked.

But in case, Mack and I aren't good enough "experts" read this here, and here, and this:

The issue of feeding raw meat as part (or the entirety) of a domestic dog's diet has proven to be very dangerous. What started out as an unresearched and unsubstantiated diet that qualified veterinarians dismissed as a fad, has now become a real threat for the well-meaning dog lovers who are striving to give their dog's the best. (Hear what just a few vets have to say.) Additionally, dogs who are not on a raw meat diet are still at risk because of parasites and bacteria spread through feces at commonly shared parks.

I am often asked if my motivation for speaking out against raw meat diets is driven by a product that I sell. No. I do not sell any products and I highly recommend homemade or supplemented diets. (See the FAQ page.)

Veterinarians across the United States have grave concerns about bones and raw food (BARF) in a dog's diet. History and current statistics show us that both wild and domestic dogs that eat BARF can and do become very ill for a number of reasons.

There has been a significant increase in a variety of illnesses due to a raw meat diet. Some dogs become ill right away and others have severe pancreatic, kidney, heart, and brain illnesses due to a long-term raw meat diet. Most dogs that die from a BARF diet do not show signs of illness until a few days before it kills them. This is true with pancreatitis, and with the raw chicken or turkey necks and backs, which injure the stomach and intestines.

Many BARF fanatics preface their spiel with a term they proceed demonstrate zero understanding of ... that term is "obligate carnivore".
Definition: An obligate carnivore is an animal that by its genetic makeup must eat the tissue of other animals in order to thrive. Obligate carnivores may eat other foods, such as vegetables, grains, or fruit, but they must eat meat as the main source of their nutrients.
BARF fanatics state this term means that adding Carbohydrates to their diet will kill the poor cats. How quaint, seems they got their high school English from Mrs. Malaprop then, and their Science from their boyfriend's meth lab.

WHAT'S IN THE SOJOS BAG?

Sojos European-Style Cat Food Mix is a wholesome blend of grains, herbs, nuts, and sea vegetables ready-to-mix with meat and veggies to create your own fresh, homemade cat food. Click here to learn more.

Ingredients: Oat flakes, Rye Flakes, Yellow Corn Meal, Barley Flakes, Ground Pecans, Kelp Powder, Wheat Flakes, Buttermilk Powder, Marjoram Leaf, Parsley Leaf.

THAT MIX doesn't look like the mystery sludge that comes out of a pet food can.

That MIX should give him the THREE different AYURVEDIC classes of what the West lumps together as CARBOHYDRATES to his diet. You know, acid forming, alkaline forming, warming, cooling etc. etc. etc. all that mammalian required CRAP the BARF experts have no clue about.

SUPPLEMENTS:

In addition, Mackie is going to get some of these supplements made by their partner Designing Health. This is an interesting company, as their offices and manufacturing plant are on the same site, making Due Diligence and Duty of Care easy. I bet their Head Vet is in their plant a fair amount of the time.



FELINE FORMULA INGREDIENTS:

FLAX SEED, BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES, RICE BRAN, PRIMARY DRIED YEAST, FREEZE DRIED LIVER, SUNFLOWER SEED, DEHYDRATED ALFALFA, DRIED CARROT, FREEZE DRIED BONE, DRIED FISH MEAL, FREEZE DRIED OYSTER, SPROUTED GREEN BARLEY, DRIED KELP, LECITHIN, GARLIC AND YUCCA SCHIDIGERA EXTRACT.

They have a Glossary for specific information on each of these ingredients.
I already have the following in my human pantry:
Flaxseed, Blackstrap Molasses, Rice Bran, Brewers Yeast, Sunflower Seeds, home sprouted Alfalfa sprouts, carrots, bone meal, "Barley Cat" brand Green Barley, Powdered dried Kelp, Lecithin, Garlic and I generally pick up fresh yucca every other week or so...
I already have organic Oat flakes, but not Rye Flakes, I have tons of Yellow Corn Meal, I have Barley Flakes and Barley Powder, I have Pecans, I have Kelp Powder, I do NOT have Wheat Flakes, I have freshly made Buttermilk, and I have dried Marjoram Leaf and Parsley Leaf.
SO WHY?!!!

Why don't I mix all this crap up myself and add it to the kitty's fresh meat and fish? Because the devil is in the details of how much to use.

Is isn't that garlic is bad for cats, it's that too much garlic will kill your cat or dog. Is isn't that brewers yeast is so very good for your cat, it's that too much will kill your cat. Is isn't that tuna is bad for your cat, it's that too much will strip him of Vitamin B1 and other nutrients and eventually a solid diet of tuna will hurt him.

So when I have figured out the quantities, and can make up a bag like the above two bags shown, with changes I already have in mind, I will be off the Pet Food grid. When I can make up a bag with ingredients I get directly from farmers, Mackie and I'll be off the Corporate Food Grid and we will be eating FREEDOM FOOD.