Disease in cats, as in people, is a result of poor food and environmental poisons. Our food supply is so compromised that even actions guided by the best intentions cannot avoid all the dangers. In modern America profit is more important than life.
Lucky for me Captain Courageous does not carry a grudge. He has endured a lot—crystals in his urine, hyperthyroid disease, and now chronic kidney disease. It is not my fault. I began feeding my cats raw meat with supplements shortly after he ws born, cats' proper diet. But in recent years I've taken the easy way out and fed my cats canned food for dinner. They drink tap water filtered to remove chlorine.
I live in a wonderful place—Marin County, CA. But the municipal water, originating as mostly pure rain water, is deliberately poisoned with fluoride. The only way to remove it is with reverse osmosis filtering, which I do not have at home. I can buy such water, but it means driving to a store several miles away.
Fluoride is known to cause hyperthyroidism. The canned cat food, carefully chosen to be free of grain (not suitable food for carnivores) is packaged in cans lined with plastic now known to contain bisphenol A, now known to cause hyperthyroidism in cats.
Poisons surround me and my cats. I feel their poor health acutely. I want the best for them and have researched proper diet at length. I buy organic meat for them and the best quality supplements. In spite of my intentions and efforts, they have fallen victim to our poisoned food supply. They will die prematurely leaving me in grief.
It is not my fault. But whose is it? How many of us have turned a blind eye to the usurpation of healthy food by corporate interests? And is it only our cats who suffer? They lose 5–10 or more years from their natural life span. What do we lose?
Created: 12-5-2009.