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Iams and Purina Boycotts

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Kirre- (1991-2008) 105317     Purred: Mon May 9, '05 1:16am PST  Iams cruelty story is old (2003). For fairness sake, after visiting www.iamscruelty.com you might wanna visit also www.iamstruth.com We don't eat Iams since there's better brands available. However, there's plenty of cats who eat only marketfood and comparing to those brands Iams is still quality petfood. The number one basic rule picking the catfood is to check the first ingredient on the list. If it's something else than meat, don't buy the product (e.g. in Whiskas Dry it's corn, in Friskies Dry it's corn and rice). There's an excellent article in http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm for all of you interested in catfood industry. Mom found a new brand for us! It's called Almo Nature and we love it. If you open a can of Adult Cats Tuna and Shrimps you'll understand what I mean; there's whole shrimps and parts of tuna inside. Mom said that she felt like using it in her own salad! And the tuna is catched without harming delphins. Somehow that makes Mom happy as does the fact that it's organic food. Almo Nature (Italy) wet food: *made up of a main food type (75%) which, once cooked, stays naturally fresh in its own juice (24%) and 1% organic rice *authentic, simple, additive-free *fish caught in the open sea and not farmed *hormone-free meat from free range animals holistic croquettes: *dry food containing more than 26% fresh meat, unlike meat meal and dehydrated meat it is made solely from muscle (used in food for human consumption) and adipose parts so it's easier digest and has higher proportion of nutritive substances *primary ingredients of organic origin (e.g. chicken, cheese, fish) *low magnesium content, excellent calcium/phosphorus ratio and fruit oligosaccharide-enriched *naturally preserved in rosemary oil and a vitamin E mix my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Nora- CIA Director Stealth Kitty     Purred: Mon May 9, '05 10:49am PST  Thanks for the advice. Label savvy is very important. That food sounds yummy! As far as Iams goes, we checked out Iamstruth. They've made their statement about ethics, but three separate organizations; PETA, Uncaged Campaigns, and CHAI (concern for Animals in Israel) have found no evidence that there has been any stop to the invasive testing and vivisections. Nor have they been allowed to inspect their new research facilities. If what these groups say is untrue I bet Proctor & Gamble, Purina, and Colgate Palmolive (who owns Science Diet) would have sued the pants off these groups. They haven't. Neither have the Iams researchers whose pictures, along with descriptions of experiments they've done, are posted at Iamscruelty. I have serious doubts that Iams has done anything except close its research facilities to public scrutiny. We know as well as anybody that PETA goes overboard on a lot of things, but there seemed to be to many other voices on this one to let it go. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Una Don't hate me- because I'm- beautiful     Purred: Mon May 9, '05 4:14pm PST  Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the great ideas for switching my brand of food. I am committed to getting off Iams, and I will try my best to gradually replace it with one of the nice suggestions!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Nicodemus- VIII The Amazing- Kitten Stomper     Purred: Wed May 11, '05 9:50am PST  My sister would have died without Iam's kitten formula!! It was the ONLY food she would eat when she was sick! We suggest you go look at www.iamstruth.com. The Big Lady we live with has worked with many consumer products companies, and has seen how false accusations and setups turn into viral boycott campaigns on the web. She thinks it's a shame for anybody to make up their mind without seeing all the facts and making an INFORMED decision. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Ningauble If it moves, eat- it !     Purred: Wed May 11, '05 11:36am PST  My humans stopped buying Iams in 2004 when they heard about the cruelty, we can't prove it but we have heard about it from many different organisations. Even if it's only partly true it is still awful and should be stopped. I have to eat Hills KD for my kidney trouble, yuck!!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Arthur (Miss- You!- '93-'09) Bucket of Fuzz moderator     Purred: Thu May 12, '05 11:41pm PST  Just a few thoughts: Is there really any such thing as "cruelty-free" food that is made out of slaughtered animals? What is a by-product? I mean, gelatin is a meat by-product, and humans put artifical flavor and color in it and think it's a great treat. And a cat's natural food consists of the entire body of its prey, bones, fur/feathers, skin, organs, etc. and not just a few select muscles. Are fillers necessarily bad? Sometimes fillers are added to provide more tummy-satisfying bulk without making the food too nutrient-dense (which can contribute to obesity). Generally, pet foods have to meet certain standards in order to be marketed as nutritionally complete. This is true for the cheapest generic foods to the most expensive 'premium' brands. So is it that the 'premium' foods are really better or are our humans just being duped into paying extra for a designer label? And what if we disagree and decide we like the less expensive foods better? Should we be forced to eat something we don't like because our humans feel better when they spend more money on us? Our mommy searched high and low for a good food for us. It wasn't easy because I am a picky eater but even more because my sister, the Beast, has a sensitive stomach. We tried more expensive and less expensive brands. Most recently we have been eating Purina One Sensitive System formula because I like it ok and Beastie hasn't been throwing it up like she did so many of the other kinds. We hate to hear that Purina may have engaged in some unnecessarily cruel tests. We are going to continue to search for other foods that suit both my palate and Beastie's sensitive stomach, but I don't know if we will find many good alternatives. Our mommy found a good article about pet foods and how they are made (warning: it is very long, although it is really informative). http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends

Arthur (Miss- You!- '93-'09) Bucket of Fuzz moderator     Purred: Thu May 12, '05 11:52pm PST  Oops, I don't know how I missed that Kirre had already posted a link to the same article that we read. I guess I just read too fast (for a cat). Thanks for the link, Kirre. : ) my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends

Miss Mo Who says I don't- have opposable- thumbs?     Purred: Fri May 13, '05 11:19pm PST  Yes, animals in the wild may devour their entire prey -- which is why supermarket brands should be more proportional rather than just dominate with the beaks + corn. It's not like it's actually *bad* for cats to eat Meow Mix or whatever (In fact I hear it's very tasty much like our greasy takout). It's just that you can feed them a more well-rounded diet for longevity and (well, this is debatable) their energy. Of course some cats, especially older ones, are picky, but my cats love their food. Sometimes it can seem over the top -- like I try to make sure my cats *always* eat well and treats are just a bonus -- whereas my husband and I will have junky dinners/beers several nights in a row, etc, . But if we had kids we wouldn't let them partake and to me my cats are kids My vet has a thriving 21 year old cat she still takes out on the leash and I hope upon hope that my kitties live a long, healthy life too. My old cat Michi suffered from UTI's and kidney problems (apparently very common), so personally that's why we were intrigued in particular by the brands with cranberries for urinary health. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Violet- (Thing One) One of the- Twins.     Purred: Sun May 22, '05 7:58am PST  I have to say that I take all of the boycott stuff with a grain of salt. Mom says that nobody but prey should have to die for my food and I agree but sometimes stuff gets pretty exaggerated on the internet. One thing that made Mom decide on better food for us was seing the difference in coat health/ urinary tract health/ energy level in Gramma's kitties when they were switched to Nutro. Wow! Them old kitties can really move! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Selket Fiend #1.     Purred: Sun May 29, '05 3:28pm PST  Okaaay -- Now I think I got the picture!! The cat mother was always really careful about our food, but we (me, jacques & the cat mother) have noticed that something was starting to be "not right" even with brands we trusted. I have been feeling sluggish (no giggles, please) and now that I think about it, if you read the fine print, many of the okay foods went big corporate/conglomerate and, well-- you know what That means. (Right on, Hattie!) So we will tell the cat mother to do some research and check out other brands. Hey, Thanks Much! [notify]

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