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The facts about meat-based and vegetarian cat and dog diets!
The health hazards of commercial meat-based pet foods are extensive and difficult to avoid. They may include slaughterhouse waste products; 4-D meat (from dead, dying, disabled or diseased animals); old or spoiled supermarket meat; large numbers of rendered dogs and cats from animal shelters; old restaurant grease, complete with high concentrations of dangerous free radicals and trans fatty acids; damaged or spoiled fish, complete with dangerous levels of mercury, PCBs and other toxins; pathogenic bacteria, protozoa, fungi, viruses and prions, and their associated endotoxins and mycotoxins; hormone and antibiotic residues; and dangerous preservatives. The combined results are rendered so delicious to cats and dogs by the addition of ‘digest’ - a soup of partially dissolved chicken entrails - that more than 95 % of companion animals subsist primarily on commercial meat-based diets. Unsurprisingly, studies have demonstrated dietary links to a variety of degenerative diseases of cats and dogs, including cancer, heart disease, allergies, arthritis, obesity and dental disease.
On the other hand, nutritionally sound vegetarian companion animal diets appear to be associated with the following health benefits: increased overall health and vitality, decreased incidences of cancer, infections, hypothyroidism, ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, lice and mites), improved coat condition, allergy control, weight control, decreased arthritis, improved stool odor and cataract resolution.
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