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Nicotine in Cat Food?!
I would have thought that they would use catnip. At least that wouldn't hurt the cats. (?) Sylvia "bewtifulfreak" wrote in message ... I just spoke to our local pet shop guy today who's ever so nice, and we were talking about the contents of cat foods, and he was saying when he was looking to start his business about five years back and was taking a course, he visited a cat food cannery (not one of the big names), and they told him there is nicotine in nearly all canned cat food; that if you ask, they will say it has some benefit to the cat, but it's really to just get them hooked on their brand. Apparently, they all have different amounts, that is why they sometimes balk when you change brands, it's not just the taste. He says that was five years ago, so they may have stopped, but he can't see them doing so. Is that *crazy*, or what??? I know they put sugar and alcohol and a bunch of other stuff in cigarettes to make them even more addictive, but it never dawned on me that they were doing it to pets, too! Ann -- http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak |
#2
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"Sylvia M." wrote in message
... I would have thought that they would use catnip. At least that wouldn't hurt the cats. (?) You would think, wouldn't you....but then, I don't know if catnip is truly addictive, whereas nicotine surely is. Of course, they claim the nicotine actually has a health benefit to the cat, but I find that hard to believe.... Ann |
#3
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Heh, tell that to my cat Max who sits beside the cabinet door where the 'nip
is and tries to open it, lol. LeeAnne "bewtifulfreak" wrote in message news:eBGXa.6 I don't know if catnip is truly addictive, (snippage) Ann |
#4
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bewtifulfreak wrote:
I just spoke to our local pet shop guy today who's ever so nice, and we were talking about the contents of cat foods, and he was saying when he was looking to start his business about five years back and was taking a course, he visited a cat food cannery (not one of the big names), and they told him there is nicotine in nearly all canned cat food; that if you ask, they will say it has some benefit to the cat, but it's really to just get them hooked on their brand. Apparently, they all have different amounts, that is why they sometimes balk when you change brands, it's not just the taste. He says that was five years ago, so they may have stopped, but he can't see them doing so. Is that *crazy*, or what??? I know they put sugar and alcohol and a bunch of other stuff in cigarettes to make them even more addictive, but it never dawned on me that they were doing it to pets, too! Ann -- http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak Which makes you wonder if nicotine is intentionally placed in the foods that we eat and this alone is leading to the problem of obesity. Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me, either. Look at all of the boxed and processed foods for sale in the supermarkets and how they compete for shelf space. Then there are the junk food outlets like McDonald's, Burger King, etc.. Sometimes when eating these foods or packaged, pre-made cookies, I can taste something strange and ash like. What about the grains and feed fed to cows, pigs, and chickens? More possibility of nicotine here. Is "Ash" a typical ingredient in some cat foods, in fact, nicotine? Hill's Science Diet dry food for kittens has 7% Ash. I checked some cans of Friskies and no Ash was found in the listing of ingredients. Can somebody explain the presence of Ash in one brand of cat food, but not in another? |
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On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 14:10:25 -0400, "E. R."
wrote: Which makes you wonder if nicotine is intentionally placed in the foods that we eat and this alone is leading to the problem of obesity. Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me, either. Look at all of the boxed and processed foods for sale in the supermarkets and how they compete for shelf space. Then there are the junk food outlets like McDonald's, Burger King, etc.. Sometimes when eating these foods or packaged, pre-made cookies, I can taste something strange and ash like. Ye gods. Any other conspiracy theories you'd like to espouse? The Secret Service offing JFK? Aliens? It has been very well-documented that we form our eating habits before the age of two. It is, in essence, when we are taught what is food and good and what isn't. Raise a kid on processed crap, and they will crave processed crap. It's the whole idea of comfort food. As for the 'strange, ash-like' taste, processed crap is loaded with preservatives, which can contribute to off flavours in the food itself. Finally, I'd want to see a lot more confirmation of the supposed nicotine in cat food than simply the anecdotal evidence of a pet shop employee. Had anyone bothered to get an ingredient list from any of the accused companies? A guaranteed analysis? Anything? Is "Ash" a typical ingredient in some cat foods, in fact, nicotine? Hill's Science Diet dry food for kittens has 7% Ash. I checked some cans of Friskies and no Ash was found in the listing of ingredients. Can somebody explain the presence of Ash in one brand of cat food, but not in another? Ash = minerals. The amount of 'ash' is determined by burning a sample of the food and measuring the amount of noncombusted material. Ash is neither good nor bad for cats. In the 80's it was briefly thought that the amount of ash might have something to do with UTIs or CRF, but that has been rather soundly disproven in the scientific arena. Unfortunately, the consumer arena is nearly as quick to catch up or nearly as educated, and so people get ideas into their heads and refuse to let them go. This is why cat food labels still include the essentially meaningless amount of 'ash'. A better thing to look at and worry about is the calcium - phosphorus ratio. It should be somwhere in the neighborhood of 1.5:1, IIRC. Orchid Orchid's Kitties: http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage Orchid's Guide: http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid |
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"Orchid" wrote in message
om... On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 14:10:25 -0400, "E. R." wrote: Which makes you wonder if nicotine is intentionally placed in the foods that we eat and this alone is leading to the problem of obesity. Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me, either. Look at all of the boxed and processed foods for sale in the supermarkets and how they compete for shelf space. Then there are the junk food outlets like McDonald's, Burger King, etc.. Sometimes when eating these foods or packaged, pre-made cookies, I can taste something strange and ash like. Ye gods. Any other conspiracy theories you'd like to espouse? The Secret Service offing JFK? Aliens? It has been very well-documented that we form our eating habits before the age of two. It is, in essence, when we are taught what is food and good and what isn't. Raise a kid on processed crap, and they will crave processed crap. It's the whole idea of comfort food. Absolutely. But I did hear (but again, I can't remember the source, so can't confirm it) that - since, the more empty calories we eat, the more the body eats looking for nutrients (e.g. why potato chips/crisps are so moreish) - supposedly-healthy breakfast bars were leaving nutrients out of their product so people would want to eat more than one. This kind of thing is common; I know for a *fact* (you can look this one up) that there is sugar and alcohol in cigarettes to make them even more addictive. This guy had no reason to lie to me, he's ever so nice (has given us many free samples in the past, etc); as he said, they may not be doing it now, but they were at the time. But I'm not for suing McDonald's because your kid got fat on it, or blaming anyone else for your (or *my*) obesity; I don't think we can blame anything the food companies do 'alone' for the problem of obesity, though they certainly do their damndest to contribute. I'm just for being educated about what you put in your body. I mean, a lot of people aren't even aware that many foods packaged as 'low fat' are also extremely high in sugar, which clearly isn't good for you, either. I wasn't trying to start or encourage a conspiracy theory, I just thought it was something to think about. I'm sure it would be very easy to verify whether it was true or not, with a bit of research; he seemed to feel the pet food companies would be open about it, though they claim there is a nutritional reason for it. Ann |
#7
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Orchid wrote:
On Tue, 05 Aug 2003 14:10:25 -0400, "E. R." wrote: Which makes you wonder if nicotine is intentionally placed in the foods that we eat and this alone is leading to the problem of obesity. Who knows? It wouldn't surprise me, either. Look at all of the boxed and processed foods for sale in the supermarkets and how they compete for shelf space. Then there are the junk food outlets like McDonald's, Burger King, etc.. Sometimes when eating these foods or packaged, pre-made cookies, I can taste something strange and ash like. Ye gods. Any other conspiracy theories you'd like to espouse? The Secret Service offing JFK? There's nothing theoretical about that. Aliens? Immegration keeps sending them back to Cuba. (:-)) SNIP Ash = minerals. The amount of 'ash' is determined by burning a sample of the food and measuring the amount of noncombusted material. Ash is neither good nor bad for cats. Ah, then everything I've been hearing for years now is wrong? Everybody's been telling me that ash is bad for a cat's urinary tract. They've been telling me to keep away from the fish and seafood types of catfood. In the 80's it was briefly thought that the amount of ash might have something to do with UTIs or CRF, but that has been rather soundly disproven in the scientific arena. Unfortunately, the consumer arena is nearly as quick to catch up or nearly as educated, and so people get ideas into their heads and refuse to let them go. This is why cat food labels still include the essentially meaningless amount of 'ash'. A better thing to look at and worry about is the calcium - phosphorus ratio. It should be somwhere in the neighborhood of 1.5:1, IIRC. Sounds more like the pet food industry has been funding their own research and getting the results they want. Perhaps it's true, but given the level of deception with big business these days, it will take a lot more investigation to determine who's being truthful and if I were a betting person. I wouldn't put my money on the cat food corporations, and independant researchers would have to do a lot of convincing to get me to believe they were truly indeependant. It's not that people refuse to let go of their ideas, (well OK we do), but we do because we've been lied to before and we reach a point where we loose trust. Like Dr. Johnny Fever said, "When everybody's out to get you, paranoia just makes good sense." (:-)) -- Regards Fred and Jetadiah Remove FFFf to reply, please |
#8
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"bewtifulfreak" wrote in message
news Very true....the more you can make things yourself from fresh ingredients, the better (says someone not always tired so not very good about doing this). :} I meant "....someone *always* tired....", *urf*. :} |
#9
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To bring cat owners up-to-date on the relationship of diet
and lower urinary tract health, please visit our Library. Troy URL please? Sylvia, Owner of Dyna, who seems to be prone to UTI |
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