I Wish I Would’ve Known
My cat Oscar died last weekend. He was diagnosed with a heart condition just two weeks earlier at not quite six years old, barely middle aged. However, this is not a story about a cat but a very human story about how we accept the status quo, the marketing messages and what everyone else seems to be doing, rather than thinking critically and doing our homework.
Feline cardiomyopathy is basically an enlarged heart that typically develops in middle age. My vet casually commented that Birman cats are susceptible to it. I’d never heard that before and I’ve had Birman cats all my life. Growing up in England our seal point Birman lived a long life well into his teenage years. In my 20s I had a blue point Birman who moved with me to the US when I came here and who also lived a long life.
When Oscar was diagnosed, I started doing my research. As an actuary and independent (human) health researcher I knew there was a root cause to his condition. It wasn’t just bad luck or bad genes. He had been an energetic, friendly cat with a huge personality and no illnesses or health concerns until the moment he was diagnosed. I turned to a well-trusted website I have used for 15 years – Dr. Joseph Mercola – his articles are entirely evidence-based and free from industry influence. I had seen the button for “Pets” before but had never taken the time to follow the link to Bark & Whiskers, the sister platform aimed at pets, with the same level of evidence-based information for mainly cats and dogs. I am profoundly sad I didn’t take the time to do so. The aim of this article is to stop you making the same mistake.
On hearing the poor prognosis from my vet – it is well known that cats do not indicate they are sick until the situation is dire – I applied my knowledge of human health to look into the causes of feline heart disease. Was it a nutrient deficiency or too much sugar or some kind of toxic exposure? I’ve written a whole book on how to stay healthy and live a long life covering all aspects of ill health from infectious disease to various chronic conditions and mental health. I spend a ton of time and energy making sure my family has healthy food to eat no matter their activities or where in the world we are. The fact I didn’t take the same level of care with the 4-legged member of our family will haunt me forever.
It turns out there are many similarities in the world of veterinary care to the vast industry that is human healthcare: how vets are trained, who drives the curriculum and marketing messages to influence how vets practice and the sheer amount of money involved. Pet food and pet products are a massive industry in their own right with many of the same corporations that bring us Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) being the parent companies. Using the same playbook first perfected by the cigarette manufacturers (who bought out many of these food companies in the 1980s) we swallow their marketing messages with very little thought.
It pains me to admit that I thought we were buying the higher-end pet food. We gave Oscar both wet food out of a can and some dry kibble, about half and half. I trusted the pet food companies to provide the right amount of protein, fats, and nutrients. I knew cats didn’t eat grains so I fell for “grain-free”. It turns out that’s just a marketing gimmick and these products are filled up with legumes and other ingredients that are junk to cats. Not only don’t they need vegetables in those quantities but legumes are full of lectins which damage their intestines.
Cats are carnivores. You only need to watch a nature show on the lions of the Serengeti to know that. They need high levels of protein and good fats.
It turns out that dried kibble is the worst offender. To render it shelf-stable yet palatable it undergoes excessive heat and processing that destroys any token nutrients it contained. The basic ingredients are usually the poorest quality and its lack of moisture is particularly problematic for cats putting strain on their kidneys.
We did give Oscar some human canned mackerel a couple of times a week (from my own lunch) and raw fish if we were having sushi take out. But it turned out to be not nearly enough. Once he was diagnosed and I started researching, I added the high quality heart supplement Bark & Whiskers offers but it was too late for him. The ongoing nutrient deficiency particularly in taurine had done more damage than we could reverse in time.
I’m unlikely to bring another pet into our home as it was too painful to know he was completely reliant on us to feed him and keep him healthy, and I failed him.
When I had my older son back in 2005 I was in the dark on human health and similarly reliant on the companies selling baby products and the “experts” in the white coats telling me what my son needed. I woke up when he was five with an Aspergers and ADHD diagnosis and other health problems. He could tell me what was wrong, where it hurt, how it felt. I was able to get educated and turn his health around and my own in the process. Now my life is dedicated to telling people the truth about human health and the big industries that are doing more damage to you than you can imagine.
I don’t have enough band width to get into the pet industry so I will leave that to others. But I urge you to do your research. Bark & Whiskers is a good start. I have no relationship with this company but with all my knowledge of human health I can see the information is solid.
I was also pleased to find out that there are holistic/integrative vets out there who have got themselves trained in nutrition and no longer listen to the marketing messages from big industry. They also use a variety of therapies considered alternative in an effort to minimize or avoid pharmaceuticals.
Living creatures were all created by God to exist in the world we call nature. Man can never improve on what nature has provided no matter what the marketing messages tell you. The pet food situation is reminiscent of the messaging around baby formula. Human breast milk is the most complex substance on earth providing a fast-growing baby with everything it needs to sustain it, develop a functioning immune system, and lay down healthy cells and brain synapses. It cannot be replicated in a lab. Baby formula is a highly processed synthetic product which is essentially junk food for babies.
Whether it’s a pet or a child reliant on you for their sustenance, please do your research and don’t fall for the marketing messages or simply follow the crowd.
