For my first cat's diet, I would use a commercial pet food supplemented with a lot fresh meat, fish, eggs and cheese, although she was always quite partial to the dry, crunchy food. Because I loved her, I wanted to find the best and healthiest dry cat food that was offered on the market. There was one brand from Canada supported by the world's leading holistic veterinarians that had a lot of high quality natural ingredients and preservatives In fact, this brand included real whitefish and salmon, chicken meat, livers, and fat, as well as fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables like pumpkin, kelp, and alfalfa.

Sadly, some foods were also required by law to be irradiated when imported into the country. While both human and animal foods are irradiated, the pet foods are irradiated at levels 5-10x higher than safe human limits. This irradiation process ultimately makes the foods toxic, making it extremely poisonous for cats and other animals to consume. Cats eating these foods often develop various neurological diseases that are irreversible and very frequently fatal.

I, unknowingly, included these foods as about half of my cat's daily meals. Because of this, the irreversible neurological condition soon began to affect my own cat. Her hind legs started to become wobbly, it became difficult to swallow food, urinate, and defecate properly, and her weight declined dramatically. When she started having trouble simply breathing, I really began to fear the worst. Since she was not responding well to any of the treatments we tried, her veterinarian advised me to euthanize her and give her relief from any pain and discomfort she was experiencing.

From this experience I learned the great importance of natural and balanced pet diets, especially those that are homemade. With only a couple rare exceptions, I almost always advise my veterinary patients to provide fresh, home-prepared foods for their pets' diets.

A good number of veterinarians continue to recommend processed, "premium" dry pet foods, in spite of evidence suggesting these can be extremely detrimental to your pet's health. Even though such commercial brands are creatively marketed as optimum food choices for your pet's health, nearly all research says this is far from true. Researchers have shown that since these "premium" foods have become more popular, there has also been a dramatic decline in our pets' health and well-being. While poor genetics, inappropriate lifestyle, and over-vaccination are contributing factors, most pet health issues are attributable to the pet's diet. Improper nutrition can be linked to the majority of increasingly common pet health problems, such as skin disease, arthritis, teeth and gum disease, obesity and diabetes, renal failure, anal gland blockages, even epilepsy and cancer. Given such a strong connection between pet health and pet nutrition, we can no longer dismiss these facts as coincidences.

Clearly, a balanced, natural diet made from real food is the healthiest choice if you want your pet to be optimally healthy. I now prepare my pets' food myself using tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes with any number of the following ingredients: raw chicken necks or wings for cats, whole raw chicken carcasses for dogs, raw fish, raw organ meats from beef, lamb, and chicken, raw eggs, and also yogurts and cheeses. Because providing greens is also important, I will also add parsley or wheat-grass, broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, apple, pear, pineapple, and whatever other fruits and vegetables I have available. Also vital are vitamins and minerals from kelp powder or nori flakes. I only use human-grade ingredients, and usually prefer them to be organic.

It certainly does not have to be difficult or expensive to provide your pet with a healthy, natural diet. Above all, you can take pleasure in knowing that your pet is now more likely to live a longer, healthier, and happier life.