Pub Med - J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2004 Mar 15;224(6): 879-86 "Epidemiologic study of relationships between consumption of commercial canned food and risk of hyperthryoidism in cats" and links feeding tinned pet food with causing hyperthryoidism.

PubMed - Am J Vet Res. 2004 Feb; 65(2): 138-42 "Evaluation of effects of dietary carbohydrate on formation of struvite crystals in urine and macromineral balance in clinically normal cats" which says carbohydrate stimulates struvite which stops a cat passing urine and can kill it within 24 hours if it is not catheterized and that restricting carbohydrate from the diet is desirable to prevent struvite. Therefore taking the cat off dry food is vital because dry food has up to 50% carbohydrate or even more in it when the cat was never meant to eat any more than 1% carbohydrate according to Richard Allport MRCVS.. The carbohydrate alkalises the urine of the cat and creates the perfect conditions for struvite stones to form.

PubMed - J Am Vet Med Assoc 1993 Mar 1 (202(5): 744-51 "Development of chronic renal disease in cats fed a commercial diet" which says that cats over a 2 year study 3 of the 9 cats in the study had developed renal dysfunction and renal lesions.   The food was high in protein and acid content and possibly the acid content caused the kidney problems because in a paper I have written by Purina they seem to admit that acidifying pet food is causing metabolic acidosis which predisposes to kidney failure.   The former belief that a high protein diet causes kidney failure has been disproved by research which is not surprising since cats were designed by Mother Nature to eat a high protein diet but pet food contains nothing like the level of protein that a cat or dog needs. To counteract the alkalinity caused by all the carbohydrate in dry food which was causing life-threating struvite in cats the pet food companies began acidifying the pet food but this has been found by research to be causing calcium oxlate stones and metabolic acidosis both of which can cause kidney failure.

PubMed – J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1995 Dec 1; 207(11): 1429-34 "Evaluation of factors associated with development of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in cats" and this says "Factors associated with an increase in the risk of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in cats wee feeding urine-acidifying diets, feeding a single brand of cat food without providing additional foods or table scraps, maintaining cats in an indoor only environment, and being of the Persian breed". Calcium Oxalate can cause kidney failure but even dry pet food on sale in supermarkets and pet shops has been acidified and Purina in a research paper say that the increase in kidney failure in cats in the past 10 years is probably due to the pet food companies acidifying the pet food on a routine basis.

PubMed – J. Vet Med Sci 1995 Oct; 57(5): 831-7 "Vitamin D toxicosis in cats: natural outbreak and experimental study". This paper says the cats had systemic calcinosis saying . "Histologically, marked calcification was present at the vascular walls of almost all the organs including the lungs, trachea, kidneys, heart, aorta, kidneys and stomach, the calcified lesions were associated with deposition of oxalate crystals. Retrospective examination revealed that these cats had been fed commercial pet foods containing a large amount of Vitamin D. These findings suggest that long-term feeding of the pet food containing excessive Vitamin D was responsible for the outbeak of systemic calcinosis in the cats". Therefore the cats had Vitamin D toxicosis because of the cat food they were being fed. Royal Canin pet food were issued with a law suit suing them for $60 M in a class action by pet owners in March 2007 in which the pet owners claim that their cats or dogs developed kidney failure or died because Royal Canin has far too much Vitamin D in it. The lawyer suing Royal Canin in a class action by pet owners against Royal Canin pet food is Joel Rochon, a lawyer in Toronto. He is also suing Menu Foods who make pet food for Purina, Hils, Iams and many other pet food companies in America after cats and dogs developed kidney failure and many died after eating the food in March 2007.

Menu Foods are being sued for $50 M. So far nearly a thousand pets are thought to have died after eating the food in the past week and almost another thousand are thought to have becme ill. The 40 cats and dogs at Menu Foods given the food all died after eating it. Cornell University Veterinary School found rat poison in the food but say they do not think that killed the cats and dogs because the kidney lesions on the kidneys of the pets that died are not consistent with them having died of rat poison in the pet food though rat poison was found in the pet food. Wisconsin Lawyers, Progressive Law Group, also intend starting a class action by pet owners whose pets became ill or died after eating the pet food. The Toronto Star newspaper pubished an article entitled "Vets call for regulation of the pet food industry" after the pets died saying no-one is keeping a check on what the pet food industry is doing.

The Veterinary Record, February 24^th 2007 "Magnetic resonance imaging features of thiamine deficiency in a cat" and this says "Thiamine is important in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, ….. Thiamine deficiency causes a progressive encephalopathy in human beings and animals ……In carnivores, the predominant neuropathology is bilaterally symmetrical petechial haemorrhages, ……..A seven year old domestic shorthair cat was presented with one-week history of anorexia followed by the development of impaired vision, ataxia and two generalized toniclonic seizures. Before the onset of the disease, the cat had been housed indoors and fed exclusively a single supermarket brand of tinned cat food bought in bulk as a single batch……The concentration of thiamine in the cat’s food was 92 ug/kg in contrast to a minimum thiamine requirement of 960 ug/kg and the dry matter thiamine equivalent was 0.53 mg/kg compared with a recommended minimum of 5 mg/kg dry matter equivalent (Association of American Feed Control Officers 2003), indicating inadequate dietary thiamine). Therefore the pet food had inadequate thiamine in it and thiamine is largely destroyed by cooking the food and thus the pet food caused the serious symptoms the cat developed. . It was give thiamine supplements and one month later mild ataxia was the only symptom observed.

PubMed - "Hypercalcaemia in two dogs caused by excessive dietary supplementation of Vitamin D" and this says "Subsequent analysis of the dog’s diet revealed that the food contained excessive amounts of Vitamin D. The hypercalcaemia resolved following treatment with bisphosphonates and dietary change. Hypervitaminosis was was diagnosed in a second unrelated dog, which had been fed the same brand of dog food. Hypervitaminosis D has been reported to occur secondarily to ingestion of either rodenticides containing cholecalciferol or antipsoriatic ointments that contain vitamin D. Hypervitaminosis has also been reported following the treatment of hypoparathryoidism. The potential deleterious effects of over supplementation of Vitamin D should also be acknowledged".

Journal of Nutrition 2000; 130: 1287-1290 "Dietary Copper Influences Reproduction in Cats". This paper says "The ojective of this study was to determine the copper requirement of female cats (queens) for gestation…….The dietary concentration of copper had a significant effect on the time taken for queens to conceive. The current National Research Council recommendation of 5mg/kg diet copper for ctas appears marginal for optimal reproduction". Therefore the National Research Council guidelines are wrong. They are also totally wrong in the carbohydrate, protein and fat levels they say cats need and the result is serious and even fatal illness in cats.

Journal of Nutrition 132, June 2002 "Processing of Dietary Casein Decreases Bioavailability of Lysine in Growing Kittens". This paper says "Information on the bioavailability of nutrients for cats and dogs is particularly lacking……The results of this study indicate the lower growth rate of kittens fed heated casein reflects a decreased bioavailability of lysine in heated casein resulting from heat processing damage". Therefore kittens fed pet food had a lower growth rate because heating the pet food decreases the bioavailability of lysine.

This paper shows that the bioavailability of nutrients has been little studied and so no-one really knows the bioavailability of nutrients in pet food to cats and dogs.

Journal of Nutriton 136 July 2006 "The Evolutionary Basis for the Feeding Behaviour of Domestic Dogs and Cats". This paper says in the conclusion "When feeding, domestic cats and domestic dogs both display the legacy of their origins in the Carnivora. Therefore dogs and cats are considered to be carnivores and it is completely wrong to feed them carbohydrate laden dry pet food which causes them all kinds of illness because in the wild they would never hunt or search out carbohydrate to eat. Pet food companies, however, have got away with loading pet food with carbohydrates and this is causing diabetes, cystitis, ibs, allergies, dermatological problems, kidney failure etc.

Journal of Nutrition Vol. 132, June 2002 "Vitamine E Requirement of Adult Cats Increases Slightly with High Dietary Intake of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids" and this paper says "Over the last 50 years there have been numerous reports of Vitamin E deficiency in cats with the main cause of these deficiencies being attributed to ingestion of diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Steatitis ("yellow fat disease") is attributed to Vitamin E deficiency and has been experimentally induced in kittens after feeding a commercial cat food with a high fish content……..".

PubMed - J. Am Vet Med Assoc. 2003 Oct. 15; 223 "Taurine deficiency in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy" which says that dogs fed a commercial dog food were found to have low blood taurine which gave them DCM even although dogs produce taurine and the paper says pet food companies should perhaps add taurine even to dog food.   Feeding the dogs raw food would give them taurine.   I know of a 9 year old pet food fed Lurcher that recently died because of DCM.  

PubMed – Am J Vet Res. 2004 Jan; 65(1): 99-103 "Development of polymerase chain reaction based method to identify species-specific components in dog food" and this says that 31 dog foods were were analysed to see if they had pentobarbital which is used to euthanase pets in them. The result was "Because canine and feline DNA were not found in a set of 31 retail dog food samples, theseresults indicate that the source of pentobarbital in dog food is comething other than proteins from rendered pet animals". This, however, shows that pentobarbital is in pet food for dogs.

PubMed- Veterinary Record 1967 Mar 18;80(11):364 "The dangers of poisoning domestic pets with meat from animals subjected to barbiturate euthanasia".

PubMed – Veterinary Record 1977 Jan 15;100(3):48 "Accidental poisoning of dogs by barbiturates in meat".

Journal of the American Medical Association 1975 Feb 3; 231(5):484-5 "Lead in pet foods and processed organ meats" and this paper says "The finding that canned pet foods contain considerable amounts of lead is important …….. The lead probably comes from organ meats used in the manufacture of pet foods".

PubMed – Vet Med Small Anim Clin. 1979 Nov; 74(11): 1609-10 "Lead, arsenic and cadmium levels in commercial pet foods".

Journal of Applied Poultry Research 13(4): 680-683 2004 "Fat Quality Assessments of Feed-Grade and Pet Food-Grade Poultry By-Product Meals". This paper says 46 poultry by product meal were collected during the winter and summer months and the paper says "Pet food grade poultry by product meal samples received in summer were characterized as having poor fat stability and the amount of analysed residual antioxidant concentration in the pet food grade poultry by product meal was half that found in the feed-grade poultry by product meal samples. These results confirmed that fat in poultry by product meal requires an adequate amount of antioxidant protection, even when meals are derived from prime offal components". Thus by products in pet food do not contain adequate levels of antioxidants which are thought to be vital for health and adding in synthetic antioxidants has been shown in research to be far less effective than obtaining antioxidants directly from the original food source.

Blackwell Synergy - Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition; Vol 87, June 2003 "Plasma and whole blood taurine in normal dogs of varying size fed commercially prepared food" this is really the same paper as the one above but mentions that the dogs were fed lamb and rice and says that perhaps the lamb in the food caused the low blood taurine but in a different veterinary research paper about low blood taurine in cats which I have it links the feeding of rice as being the cause of the low blood taurine in the cats and cats were never meant  to eat rice.    Dr. Lisa Newman says that Iams have a research paper which shows that feeding rice causes diabetes and I have asked Iams to disclose this paper to me but have not received it. 

Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association; 41: 284-291, 2005 entitled "Taurine-Deficient Dilated Cardiomyopathy in a Family of Golden Retrievers" and this yet again shows that dogs are getting dilated cardiomyopathy because of a lack of taurine even though dogs make their own taurine but something in pet food fed dogs is interfering with this and causing them and cats to get dilated cardiomyopathy but this paper says "Canine dilated cardiomyopathy is generally progressive and fatal" but says "A reversible taurine-deficient dilated cardiomyopathy occurred in five related golden retrievers. An apical systolic heart murmur was the most common physical abnormality". The dogs were given taurine supplements and the paper says following this "The dogs regained substantial systolic function and four were weaned off all cardiac medications except taurine". If the dogs had been fed raw pet food this contains taurine and they would not have got dilated cardiomyopathy which also affects cats and rice in pet food is linked with interfering with the taurine levels of cats and dogs which can give them blindness or dilated cardiomyopathy. However, given them taurine reversed this usually fatal disease which is caused by feeding pet food.

PubMed – Res Vet Sci. 2002 Oct; 73(2): 177-82 "Determination of bisphenol A in canned pet foods" and this says "Bisphenol A (BPA) contamination of canned foods for human use has been studied, butthere are no reports concerned BPA contamination of canned pet foods." The study says that 15 samles of cat food and 11 samples of dog food were studied and the result was that Bisphenol A was found in the pet food and was found to have come from the inside coating of the pet food can. In January 2007 the European Food Agency set a maximum limit for human daily intakes of bisphenol A which is a chemical implicated as a potential carcinogen and widely used in plastic food packaging and cans. The maximum limit is the basis for scientific risk assessments on whether Bisphenol A can be used, reduced or banned.

J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1995 Dec 1; 207(11): 1429-34 "Evaluation of factors associated with development of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in cats" and this says "Factors associated with an increase in the risk of calcium oxalate urolithiasis in cats were feeding urine-acidifying diets, feeding a single brand of cat food without providing additional foods or table scraps". To counteract the alkalinity that the carbohydrate in dry pet food which was causing struvite crystals in cats, even the pet food in supermarkets and pet shops is now routinely acidified with DL Methionine or some other acidifier but even Purina in a research paper mentioned elsewhere in this list of veterinary research says that the high incidence of kidney failure in cats in the past 10 years is probably due to pet food companies putting acidifiers in the dry pet food.

PubMed – N Z Vet J. 2005 Feb; 53(1): 1-5 "Total selenium concentrations in canine and feline foods commercially available in New Zealand" and this says 50% of the pet food tested in this study was produced in Australian and the other 50% was produced in the US, New Zealand or Thailand. The result was "Selenium concentrations in commercial petfoods sold in New Zealand appeared to meet recommended dietary requirements although the rane of concentrations was highly variable. Whether these recommendations are adequate for the maintenance of optimal health in cats and dogs has yet to be determined". Selenium is thought to prevent against cancer but the level of selenium needed for cats and dogs still has not been determined.

PubMed – Can J Vet Res. 2005 Oct; 69(4): 299-304 "Evaluation of meat meal, chicken meal and corn gluten meal as dietary sources of protein in dry cat food" and this paper says that 12 cats were fed dry food with either meat meal, chicken meal or corn gluten meal as the main protein source although feeding corn to a cat is completely wrong and this paper says "All cats excreted alkaline urine (pH > 7)". Cats should not have an alkaline urine and struvite crystals which can stop a cat passing urine and kill it within 24 hours if it is not catheterized usually form because the urine is alkaline which can be caused by poor quality protein and all the protein used in this research is poor quality protein and pet food contains nothing like the level of protein cats need or can be caused by carbohydrate in the food which makes the urine alkaline.

Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation Vol 19 Issue 2, 168-175 "Aflatoxicosis in nine dogs after exposure to contaminated commercial dog food" and this says "The purpose of this study was to characterize light and electron microscopic findings from 9 dogs that had consumed aflatoxincontaminated commercial dogs foods from recalled batches. Four dogs died and 5 were euthanased after signs of liver failure. Analysis of feed and liver samples confirmed exposure to aflatoxin. Of the 9 dogs, 8 had classic signs of liver failure and 1 had signs of liver failure". Therefore Aflatoxin from grain put into pet food can cause liver failure and death and in addition has been found to cause cancer. If cats and dogs were not fed grain laden dry pet food they would not get this illness and because cats and dogs would never eat grain in the wild they should not be fed pet food which is often loaded with grain. A paper in the Journal of Food Protection 2001 May; 64(5): 741-3 entitled "Mycoflora in commercial pet foods" and this says that the level of moisture in dry pet food allows mold growth. Dry pet food is very low in moisture and according to Dr. Lisa Pierson DVM this chronically dehydrates pets and predisposes to kidney failure.

Blackwell Synergy - Veterinary Dermatology, Vol 15 Page 137 - June 2004 "A randomized controlled study to evaluate the steroid sparing effect of essential fatty acid supplementation in the treatment of canine atopic dermatitis" and this concudes that when the dogs were given fatty acid supplements this reduced the need for steroids and I think Vets should not be treating this with steroids and should instead be advising clients to feed foods with Omega 3 which is naturally found in raw food and that if pets were fed raw food they would not get all these dermatological problems.   Pet food also has far too little animal fat in it since the National Research Council has laid down eg. that cats only need 9% fat when Graham Roberts MRCVS in the Veterinary Times dated 19.1.2004 says that cats need at least 40% animal fat in their diet and the lack of fat causes dermatological problems. 

PubMed, Pol J. Vet Sci. 2004; 7(4): 337-41 "Dietary origin of mycotoxins and estrogenic potential and possible health implications for female dogs" and this links mycotoxins in cereals in pet food with causing endometrica pyometra complex (EPC) and fertility problems and links feeding pelleted dog feed with causing the mycotoxins. It says that Ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol and monililformin were found to be significant contaminants found in cereal grain samples. In another veterinary research paper listed herein Ochratoxin was found in the kidneys of cats and Oxhratoxin is considered to be a poison. It would seem the Ochratoxin probably came from the cereal in the pet food they had been eating.

PubMed – J Anim Sci 1999 Mar; 77(3):693-700 "Overt signs of toxicity to dogs and cats of dietary deoxynivalenol" and this says "Studies were conducted to determine the dietary amounts of deoxynivalenol in dog and cat food that are required to produce overt signs of toxicity (eg. vomiting or reduced food intake. Wheat naturally contaminated with 37 mg of deoxynivalenol was used to manufacture pet foods….. Deoxynivalenol concentration in pet food following manufacture was unchanged, indicating that the toxin was stable during conventional extrusion processing". Therefore, deoxynivalenol naturally found on grain remains active despite the processing it undergoes when put into pet food. The paper concludes "Vomiting by dogs and cats was commonly observed at the 8 and 10 mg deoxynivalenol levels".

Journal of Agric Food Chem. 2006 Dec 27; 54(26): 9623-9635 "Mycotoxins in Pet Food" and this says "Mycotoxins contaminate cereal grains worldwide and their presence in pet food has been a potential health threat to companion animals. Aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and Fusarium mycotoxins have been found in both raw ingredients and final products of pet food around the globe." As stated in another veterinary research paper listed here, Ochratoxin A has been found in the kidneys of cats. Mycotoxins can kill pets as shown by a paper on the website of Cornell University Veterinary School entitled "Dogs Keep Dying". The Journal of Toxocological Sciences, Vol 56, 23-36 (2000) is a paper entitled "Mu-Class GSTs are responsible for Aflatoxin B1-8,9-Expoxide-Conjugating Activitiy in the Nonhuman Primate Macaca fascicularis Liver" and this says "Mice are resistant to the carcinogenic effects of the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1……" This shows that mytocoxins in pet food can cause cancer.

PubMed – Aust. Vet J. 1990 Aug; 67(8): 291-4 "Vitamin A concentrations in commercial foods for dogs and cats" and this says "The Vitamin A concentration was determined in 89 Australian brands of commercial foods for dogs and cats. It was found that 8% of the dog foods and 15% of the cat foods had concentrations of Vitamin A below the minimum recommended 1.1 mg/kg dry matter (dm) for dogs and 1.8 mg/kg dm for pregnant or lactating cats". Therefore the pet food did not contain the correct level of Vitamin A for cats and dogs. This paper also says that the Vitamin A content was exceeded in all the canned dog food tested and that canned food containing liver or kidney showed the highest levels of Vitamin A since pet food with kidney or liver in it was found to contain 13 mg of Vitamin which is way over the recommended level of Vitamin A for cats and dogs.

PubMed - Am J Vet Res 1996 Dec; 57(12): 1726-32 "Effects of a high protein diet on mineral matabolism and struvite activity product in clinically normal cats" and this says "high protein diets have the potential ability to increase solubility of struvite crystals".    Pet food contains nothing like the level of protein a cat needs and Graham Roberts MRCVS in the Veterinary Times dated 19.1.2004 said cats need at least 50% of the diet to be protein and less than 5% could be carbohydrate but pet food contains nothing like these levels and my contain up to 50% carbohydrate eg. (Hills feline maintenance contains 39% and Iams 30% carbohydrate) and far too little protein and cooked protein has nothing like the same bio-availabilty that raw food has.   Therefore the lack of protein in pet food is an important factor in causing life-threatening struvite in cats.

Journal of Nutrition 136, July 2006 "The Growing Problem of Obesity in Dogs and Cats" which is a paper written by Alex German of Liverpool Veterinary. Dr. German is "Royal Canin Lecturer" at Liverpool Veterinary School and they funded the obesity clinic set up there. In a letter to me dated 16^th May 2006 Liverpool Veterinary School have disclosed to me that between 1.4.2004 and 31.3.2006 they received funding in the sum of 425,871 from pet food companies and 732,615 from drug companies. No funding should be taken from pet food or drug companies because it makes veterinary schools marketing arms of them but pet food companies are wrongly being allowed to teach veterinary students nutrition at veterinary schools and this is how students graduate not knowing that cats and dog were never meant to be fed carbohydrate laden dry pet food and that feeding them this is causing diabetes, struvite, calcium oxalate, kidney failure, ibs, cystitis etc. The Veterinary Schools have disclosed to me that Royal Canin are teaching nutrition to veterinary students at Edinburgh Veterinary School, Hills are being allowed to teach nutrition to veterinary students at Glasgow and London University Veterinary Schools, Iams have paid for a state of the art operating theatre at Cambrige Veterinary School and part fund a lecturer there and all the veterinary schools say they have done no independent research, free from pet food company finance or influence into whether pet food is causing cancer, diabetes, cystitis which can lead to kidney failure, kidney failure per se, heart disease or any other illness that cats and dogs get. Edinburgh Veterinary School disclosed to me their Walthams Lecturer in Nutrition contract, their Purina Feline Lecturer contract and their Royal Canin contract which allows Royal Canin to teach veterinary students and I think it is completely wrong that pet food companies in return for funding veterinary schools in return have such influence at veterinary schools when it is food like this which is causing so much illness in cats and dogs.

PubMed - J Vet Med Sci 2001 Mar; 63(3): 337-9 "Effect of supplementation of dry cat food with DL Methionine and ammonium chloride on struvite activity produce and sediment in urine" and this says that supplementing dry food with DL Methionine to acidify it decreases struvite activity.    However, if the cats were fed raw food which naturally contains methionine this would naturally acidify their urine and they would not get struvite but the carbohydrate in dry food causes the urine to become alkaline and struvite forms in an alkaline urine.    Acidifying pet food causes metabolic acidosis which predisposes to kidney failure, calcium oxalate stones and loss of bone density in cats and so is not as good thing to do but most dry food is acidified and must be causing a lot of kidney failure since Purina say that 85% of cats with kidney damage have metabolic acidosis and they link this to the routine acidifying of dry pet food. 

Purina Research Report presented at the 1998 Purina Nutritioinal Forum held on 4-6 June 1998 says under the heading "Nutrition and Renal Function" that 80% of cats with kidney failure have metabolic acidosis and goes on to say "….it is likely that the high incidence of uremic acidosis in cats relates, at least in part, to the acidifying nature of many cat foods. It has been speculated that routine use of acidifyingdiets may contribute to the relatively high incidence of chronic renal failure observed in cats over the past decade". The paper says that alkalizing to counteract all the acidifiers the pet food companies put into the pet food reduces mortality. Therefore the pet food companies are to blame for the high incidence of kidney failure in cats because they load the pet food with carbohydrate and this alkalises the urine which was found to be causing struvite which stops cats passing urine and can kill them within 24 hours if they are not catheterized and taken off dry food altogether and because of this the pet food companies began putting acidifiers such as DL Methionine into the dry pet food but this has been found to be causing metabolic acidosis which can cause kidney failure and calcium oxalate stones in the kidneys which can cause kidney failure.   The Purina paper says that acidifying pet food does not cause kidney failure in dogs as much as it does in cats although it does cause kidney failure in dogs too.

PubMed  - J. Nutr. 1998; 128(12) "The effect of diet on lower urinary tract diseases in cats" and this says "Recent observations suggest that recurrence rates of signs in cats classified as having idiopathic lower urinary tract disease may be more than halved if affectred animals are maintained on high, rather than low moisture content diets".    This shows that cats fed dry food are chronically dehydated and that the lack of water causes cystitis/FLUTD.   I would like to see dry pet food banned since as Dr. Kathy Sinning DV says in a letter published in the JAVMA May 15 2001 "Put simply, the assumption that pets must live on man-made processed pellets is just as preposterous as claiming that humans or any other living species could not live without the same.   There is no argument in the human medical community against eating a variety of fresh raw foods.   Yet this article (the one she is criticising) advocates feeding processed diets that are completely devoid of any fresh foods.  This is the opposite of what undomesticated animals eat in their natural environment".    Cats and dogs are the only creatures on the planet being fed dry pet food and like Dr. Sinning I too think it is completely preposterous that they are being fed this.  

PubMed - Am J. Vet Res. 2003 Aug; 64(8): 1059-64 "Effects of a high protein diet versus dietary supplementation with ammonium chloride on struvite crystal formation in urine of clinically normal cats" and this again comes to the conclusion that "the high protein diet is preferable as a urine acidifier" and yet again highlights that cats should be fed their species appropriate high protein, raw diet rather than the carbohydrate laden dry pet food so many of them eat day in day out.

PubMed - J. Endourol 1999 Nov. "Calcium Oxalate urolithiasis in cats" and this says that 40% of uroliths in cats are now calcium oxalate stones and it links this to the routine acidification of pet food since all the carbohydrate in dry food alkalises the urine and so pet food companies began acidifying pet food and have caused calcium oxalate stones to form by acidifying it which can only be removed by operation.  

PubMed – Aust Vet J. 2005 Jul; 83(7):408-11 "Thiamine deficiency due to sulphur dioxide preservative in pet meat". This paper says that 3 puppies were diagnosed with thiamine deficiency caused by feeding sulphite treated meat. It says "The 6 year old dog presented with a history of inappetaence, weight loss and vomiting that rapidly progressed to signs of multifocal intracranial disease including mental dullness, paresis, seizures, spontaneious nystagmus and strabismus…….The dog recovered with thiamine supplementation". Raw meat contains thiamine but cooking meat destroys a great deal of the thiamine as does pet food companies using sulphur dioxide to preserve the meat.

PubMed, Veterinary Record 1992 Feb 1; 130(5): 94-7 "Thiamin deficiency in a colony of cats" and this paper says "Twenty eight cats belonging to a cat rescue society developed clinical signs consistent with thiamin deficiency after being fed a proprietary canned food containing inadequate amounts of the vitamin. Five of the cats died but the others recovered after appropriate therapy". Cooking meat in the way the pet food would have been cooked largely destroys the thiamin which is present in raw meat.

PubMed - J Nutr 2004 Aug; 134(8) "Canine and feline diabetes mellitus: nature or nurture?" and this says "High-carbohydrate diets increase blood glucose and insulin levels and may predispose cats to obesity and diabetes.    Low carbohydrate, high protein diets may help prevent diabetes in cats at risk such as obese cats or lean cats with underlying low insulin sensitivity".     Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM is an expert in feline diabetes and she says that the carbohydrate in dry food is causing the diabetes and I am certain this is correct.

PubMed - J Feline Med Surg. 2006 April; 8(2); 73-84 "Comparison of a low carbohydrate, low fiber diet and a moderate carbohydrate, high fiber diet in the management of feline diabetes mellitus" and this shows that it is the carbohydrate in dry food that is causing the Type II diabetes cats get and says "Diabetic cats in this study were significantly more likley to revert to a non insulin dependent state when fed the canned low carbohydrate, low fiber diet versus the medium carbohydrate, high fiber diet".     Cats left on medium carbohydrate in this study could not be taken off insulin but the cats in this study should have been completely taken off all carbohydrate since cats were never meant to eat carbohydrate and do not even have the salivary amylase necessary to digest carbohydrate and have very little pancreatic amylase because Mother Nature never meant the cat to eat the huge amounts of carbohydrate it is fed when fed dry pet food.    Dogs do make amylase.   

PubMed - J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2006 Jan-Feb; 42(1): 28-36 "The effect of ingredients in dry dog foods on the risk of gastric dilatation volvulus in dogs" and says "An unexpected finding was that dry foods containing an oil or fat ingredient (eg. sunflower oil, animal fat) among the first four ingredients were associated with a significatn, 2-4 fold increased risk of GDV".    GDV can kill a dog. 

PubMed - J Am Vet Med Assoc 1997 Jan 1; 210(1) "Clinical evaluation of cats with nonobstructive urinary tract diseases" and this says "Cats with idiopathic cystitis were significantly more likely to eat dry food exclusively than were cats in the general population. Results suggest that idiopathic cystitis occurs commonly in cats ....and is associated with consumption of dry foods".    This shows that dry food is causing cystitis in cats but Vets treat this with antibiotics when they should advise the owner that the cat should be taken off dry food.   Martin Goldstein DVM in his book "The Nature of Animal Healing" says that pet food is putting a huge toxic load on the kidneys and bladders of pets which Mother Nature never designed them to deal with.

PubMed - Am J Vet Res 2002 Feb; 63(2): 181-5 "Identification and concentration of soy isoflavones in commercial cat foods" and says "Soy isoflavones in some commercial cat foods were detected in amounts predicted to have a biological effect".    Soy is a cheap protein source put into pet food but cats and dogs were never meant to eat Soy and it is a completely species inappropriate ingredient but pet food companies are not regulated and are getting away with putting all kinds of totally species inappropriate ingredients into pet food.

Blackwell Synergy - Journal off Veternary Emergency and Critical Care, Vol 16, June 2006 "Diet-associated hepatic failure and immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in a Weimaraner" and says "A 4 year old male castrated Weimaraner developd signs of IMHA, hepatic failure, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and malnutritiin after consuming a commercial dog food".    

Can Vet J. 2003; 44(1): 783 "In support of bones and raw food diets" and in this they say that feeding raw food has not caused any medical problems to the pets of clients they have advised to feed raw food to their cats and dogs and detail all the health problems which have disappeared when the pets were fed raw food which include bladder problems.  

Blackwell Synergy – Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, Vol 85, August 2001 "Residues of ochratoxin A in pet foods, canine and feline kidneys" which says "The occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in canned (26 samples) as well as dry pet foods (17 samples) for cats and dogs was investigated. In addition 26 feline kidney samples with or without kidney alterations were surveyed for OTA residues…OTA could be detected in 47% of the pet food samples….Low concentrations of ochratoxin A could also be found in tissue of cat kidneys, with 16 of the analysed kidneys being positive". Although this paper says that no relationship between pathological findings and ochratoxin levels in feline kidneys could be assessed, Ochratoxin A has nevertheless been found in research to be a potent toxin which affects mainly the kidneys in which it can cause both acute and chronic lesions. Research has shown that the dog is especially susceptible to ochatoxin and many feeding trials lasting up to 90 days or more have examined the progressive effects on kidney function and damage. Ochratoxin is a molecule which survives most food processing. Ochratoxin is produced by some species of Penicillium and Aspergillus in cereal grains and is well known to affect kidney function.

Blackwell Synergy – Veterinary Dermatology Vol. 15, June 2004 "A randomized, controlled study to evaluate the steroid sparing effect of essential fatty acid supplementation in the treatment of canine atopic dermatitis" and the findings of this wer "Our findings indicate a steroid sparing effect of essential fatty acid supplementation in canine atopic dermatitis and, furthermore, that there is a time lag before the effect is attained". This shows that if dogs were fed raw food which contains the essential fatty acids they need that they would not need to be fed supplements of essential fatty acids. This paper showed that the supplements of essential fatty acids meant the dogs could get their steroid dose reduced because the essential fatty acids helped stop the canine atopic dermatitis. Instead to giving steroids to pets, Vets should be advising clients to feed raw food but instead have pets with dermatitis on endless steroids which can end up causing kidney failure.

PubMed - Tijdschr Diergeneeskd 2003 Dec 15; 128(24); 785-7 "Health claims in dog and cat feed" and this says "The number and diversity of health claims for dog and cat foods have increased markedly over the past few years.   There is no explicit legislation as to these claims.   Many claims are insufficiently supported by research and are vague and suggestive".    This paper says that rules should be set up to stop pet food companies making false and unsubstantiated health claims for their food.

Nutrition.org - Journal of Nutrition "Lysine Content in Canine Diets can be severely Heat Damaged".  

American Journal of Cardiology Vol. 62 "Pet Food-Derived Penicillin Residue as a Potential Cause of Hypersensitivity Myocarditis and Sudden Death" which is a paper about how a toddler died after eating a dry cat food which when later tested was found to have 600 tmes the level of penicillin in it which would be safe for a human being.  

PubMed - N Z Vet J. 1997 Oct; 45(5): 193-5 "Nitrite poisoning in cats and dogs fed a commercial pet food" and says "The death of 3 cats from two separate households was linked to toxic concentrations of sodium nitrite used as a preservative in a commercial pet food.  In a further incident, ataxia and weakness was noticed in 2 of 4 dogs after they were fed the same brand of pet food.   One dog was successfully treated".

PubMed - Vet Record (Britain) 2004 Aug 7; 155(6): 174-6 "Accidental poisoning of 17 dogs with lasalocid" and this says "Over a period of 10 days 17 dogs became weak and developed neurological deficits of different degrees of severity.  About 12 hours before these clinical signs appeared they had all eaten a particular brand of commercial dog food from a recently opened bag.......Five of the dogs died but the others improved gradually".

Blackwell Synergy - Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutritioin, Vol 87, Feb 2003.  "Teratogenic effects of chronic ingestion of high levels of Vitaman A in cats" and says "High concentrations of retinoids occur in some commercial cat food fomulations as a result of the use of animal liver as an ingredient"   The result was that this was found to cause "Malformations included cleft palate, cranioschisis, foreshortened mandible, stenotic colon, enlarged heart and agenesis of the spinal cord and small intestine and feotal defects consistent with ingestion of excess retinoids in other species".    Therefore too much liver in pet food is causing these problems. 

2002 The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr. 132:1745S-1747S, June 2002 "Deitary Rice Bran Decreases Plasma and Whole Bood Taurine in Cats" This paper says "Deficiencies in taurine result in clinical diseases including feline central retinal degeneration and dilated cardiomyopathy. Despite the routine supplementation of commercial feline diets with taurine, cats continue to be diagnosed with taurine deficiency……. When either rice bran or whole rice is added to commercial food, it affects the fact, protein and fiber contents, which means that any of these components potentially could alter taurine metabolism……The indigestible protein cntent of the rice bran may also alter the intestinal bacterial population, resulting in an increased degradation of fecal bile acids and a greater loss of taurine in the feces either as free taurine or as taurineconjugated bile acids. Diet formulations with normally adequate taurine supplementation may actually be deficient in taurine if rice bran or whole rice is included as an ingredient". This shows that pet food containing rice could cause cats to get enlarged hearts or to get retinal damage or blindness.

Paper presented by Tony Buffington DVM to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress, Vancouver 2001 entitled "Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorders" says "In a recent case series at the the Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital, it was found that all cats with a urinary bladder stone consumed dry food……. These results provide strong evidence that patients with urolithiasis should not consume dry diets".

PubMed – J. Am Vet Med Assoc. 2006 Mar 1; 228(5): 743-9 "Renal transplantation in cats with calcium oxalate urolithiasis: 19 cases (1997-2004) and this says "Renal transplantation appeas to be a viable option for cats in renal failure secondary to calcium oxalate urolithiasis". Calcium oxalate stones have been found in research to be caused by pet food companies acidifying dry pet food because all the carbohydrate in it alkalises the urine and to counteract this pet food companies began acidifying pet food because the alkalization caused by the carbohydrate was cause struvite which can stop a cat passing urine and could kill it if it is not catheterized. However, acidifiying pet food is a completely unnatural thing to do and this in research has been found to cause a considerable increase in calcium oxalate stones which can cause kidney failure.

Assistant Professor Sherry Anderson of the College of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Georgia says in a paper on her Research Interests that on of her research projects involved "Documenting that diet alone can induce taurine deficiency in dogs. Prior to this work it was believed that dogs could not develop taurine deficiency from diet alone, however, we proved this was not true. In addition just like cats, dogs with taurine deficiency can develop DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy ie. enlarged hearts) and the DCM can be reversed with taurine supplementation". Research shows that although dogs can produce their own taurine that pet food fed dogs had low blood taurine and because of this developed DCM. Professor Anderson says in the paper "I am very interested in research that relates to nutritional management of diseases, as well as the use of nutrition to prevent disease". DCM is likely to end in the death of the dog but Professor Anderson says "However, in a clinical study in dogs that developed DCM, we showed that carnitine and taurine supplementation can result in a significant improvement in cardiac function, and in some cases, complete reversal of this disease". If dogs and cats were fed raw food this would provide them with sufficient taurine and they would not need supplementation or develop the heart disease and blindness that a lack of taurine can cause.

LEDA at Harvard Law School paper written by Justine S. Patrick who is now a qualified lawyer in Pittsburg in April 2006 says "Trusting but uneducated consumers purchase these commercial pet foods under the assumption that the FDA or some other regulatory body has ensured that the foods contain "balanced" meals and "complete" nutrition.   These consumers naively believe veterinarians that endorse and sell pet foods from their offices while neglecting to mentjion that these "pet doctors" are often "on the take" and can earn up to 20% of theier total income from such sales.  This paper will examine the ways in which inadequate regulation results in confused consumers and sick, malnourished pets."   This paper says many American Vets have shares in Hills pet food and this is why they tell clients to feed it and says that the American Veterinary Medicine Association is the biggest shareholders in Hills Pet Nutritiion.   Pet food companies give huge funding to veterinary schools and even allow pet food companies like Hills to teach nutrition to veterinary students and this is how they graduate not knowing that dogs have lived on raw food for most of the 100,000 years that dogs are said to have existed in reasonably close proximity to man and that catsl ikewise have lived on raw food for most of the 8,000 years they are said to have existed in reasonably close proximity to man and instead Vets tell clients that it is dangerous to feed raw food even though raw food is the species appropriate food of cats and dogs.    In their new advert for cat food Iams say no-one has ever seen a cat hunt vegetables but equally no-one has ever seen a cat hunt carbohydrate but Iams has 30% carbohydrate in it and that is far too much and even dangerous for a cat.   

More Than Pet Insurance in Britain in a survey of Vets said that the Vets reported they were seeing growth in pet illness relating to diet.     A Veterinary Nurse at York Test Veterinary Services in England said "Since we launched our allergy testing service for pets in 2000, more than 12,000 pets have been tested for suspected food allergies".     Pet food is clearly causing immense allergies because in eating pet food pets are eating ingredients Mother Nature never intended them to eat and pet food is also clearly causing the huge increase in cancer in pets and Donald Ogden DVM says that pet food is causing cancer.   Pet food is loaded with known carcinogens such as BHA and BHT and in Britain is still preserved with Ethoxyquin which in reseach by Nagoya Medical School in Japan was found to cause numerous kinds of cancer.      The Pet Food Manufacturers Association in writing tell me that Ethoxyquin is still used in British pet food.   Raw food has the Omega 3 which Colorado University Veterinary School say is vital for stopping pets getting cancer and in research Omega 3 was found to kill cancer cells in rabbits but pet food does not contain Omega 3 since although James Wellbeloved and other pet food companies say they have added Omega 3 to their pet food, Omega 3 becomes trans-fatty acid if it is heated or exposed to light or air and so whatever Omega 3 they pour over the food will not be enough to protect the pets from cancer or heart disease but Omega 3 in raw food also boosts the immune system.  Colorado University Veterinary School say that pets with cancer should not have lactose or carbohydrate because the carbohydrate turns to glucose and glucose has been found to spread cancer and carbohydrate per say is linked with causing cancer.  

Paper on the website of Cornell University Veterinary School can be accessed by putting in "Dogs Keep Dying" which says that pet owners are far too unaware of toxic dog food and details how dogs have quite literally been dying from the mycotoxins in carbohydrate laden dry dog food. The paper says that mycotoxins in carbohydrate laden dry pet food can and has been found to be quite literally killing dogs at Cornell University Veterinary Hospital.

Organic Life magazine, a British magazine, in the January 2007 issue says in an investigation into pet food "While we naturally look to the veterinary profession for advice on animal nutrition, members of that profession are not wholly outside this conspiracy…….If you are a student in a the running for a prize dontated by a pet fod manufacturer, following a course of lectures given by a lecture who is paid by a pet food manufacturer in a college whee huge chunks of money are donated by pet food manufacturers, then are you really coming into the veterinary world with an unbiased view on feeding cats and dogs…One typical veterinary faculty in Liverpool between 2004 and 2006 received Four Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Seventy One Pounds from pet food companies including one lecturer post in small animal medicine, one residency in small animal medicine, one veterinary nurse post and several student prizes." The American College of Veterinary Nutrition’s website shows that Purina are funding its current research.

The British Veterinary Times dated 19.1.2004 in an article by British Vet, Graham Roberts, said of pet food "Can we, as Vets, continue to justify our selling of it as "premium", "veterinary recommended" or "best quality. Most commercial cat foods, particularly complete diets, are high in carbohydrates in the form of cereals. With felines being obligatory carnivores, a natural diet would be high in protein (at least 50%), moderate to high in fat (up to 40%) and very low in carbohydrate (five percent or less)." Pet food contains nothing like these levels and when I had Hills tested at Eclipse Laboratories in Cambridgeshire, England the report said that Hills feline maintenance contained 39% carbohydrate, 9% fat and indeterminate protein ie. they could not tell if it was animal or vegetable protein although.they do testing for the pet food industry.

The British Veterinary Times dated 11.10.2004 in an article entitled "Veterinarians ‘unaware’ of the dangers of processed diets to carnivores" says in the first paragraph "Any vet promoting processed pet food is contributing to the eventual ill health of their patients…….". and says that every Vet condoning pet food is in breach of the oath they swore when they graduated to do no harm to animals.