Jeffrey's and other cat foods (was vegan cats)

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone : ) I just called Jeffrey's Natural Pet Foods (415-864-1414) and

the very nice man with whom I spoke said that not only did Jeffrey's make

their own cat food using humanely treated animals (it is a raw product), but

they

carry other brands that also do this (he mentioned Evolve and Natural

Balance). I don't think Evolve and Natural Balance are raw because he didn't

say

that they were.

He also said that Wysong, which I know you can get here in the east bay,

uses free range chicken (for what that's worth, as we do know these chickens

are often not treated much better than those in cages)

I did a web search and there is a brand of organic cat food called

Organix, but it doesn't say anything about how the animals were treated.

Stephanie

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Stephanie!

 

Jeffrey does make wonderful food! Unlike national dog food companies who

simply cannot afford to run their own manufacturing plants, Jeffrey makes

all his diets from scratch in his own store's kitchen and buys all his meats

locally, so he knows where the meat comes from and how the animals are

treated.

 

Jeffrey uses " 100% grass-fed " lamb and beef - which is the most nutritious,

natural and humanist possible ranching method in existence. Grass-fed or

" pastured " meats are many strides above " certified organic " or " range-free "

meats. For example, " certified organic beef " means the animals are still

kept in feed lots the last 60-90 days of their life and they are fed organic

grain (which is completely unnatural for ruminant animals like lamb, beef,

bison - etc.), and slaughtered in a certified organic processing plant where

they have cleaned the machines after processing non-organic meats. They are

tracked and audited carefully, and treated more humanely than true

factory-farmed animals - but the feed-lot and grain-finishing is what I have

a real problems with. I think most of us already know about how most

" range-free " chickens are treated only slightly better than their factory

farmed counterparts. You can learn more about pastured or grass-fed methods

here: www.eatwild.com This is the only true " range-free " method for raising

animals for food.

 

Because some pastured and grass-fed sources are nearly impossible to come by

(we do not have a local pork or chicken source yet - but Marin Sun Farms is

working on pastured chickens, and we'll see how their program goes over the

next year or so) - we may still need to buy range-free and/or certified

organic meats for our animals - we can only do the best we can. Until

consumers demand the step up to pastured/grass-fed meat, and supermarkets

and fast-food places do so as well - these operations will remain an

anomaly, where they really should be the norm.

 

The Evolve company (http://www.evolvepet.com/ 1-800-331-5144), does not use

100% free-range, humanely-raised animals in their products. However, their

lamb (like most inexpensive lamb in the US) is imported from New Zealand or

Australia, where the animals are not treated with anti-biotics or hormones.

There are other problems associated with importing meats from other

countries that I won't get into here. But the other meats they use are USDA

human-grade factory-farmed meats. They do not test on animals. They do not

use by-products in their recipes, but also do not have their own processing

plant to ensure this doesn't happen. This is not raw food.

 

Natural Balance (http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/) uses all factory-farmed

USDA human-grade meats. They do have a vegetarian dog food formula. They

do not test on animals. They do not use by-products in their recipes, but

again, also do not have their own processing plant. They provide diets for

exotic animal keepers, including zoos. This is not raw food.

 

Wysong (http://www.wysong.net/questions/meats.shtml) does not uses regular

human-grade USDA (read: factory-farmed) meats. Dr. Wysong recommends a raw

meat based diet (http://www.wysong.net/questions/meats.shtml) as the

healthiest you can provide to our companion animals besides allowing them to

hunt on their own. When asked about the quality of the meats in his foods,

he suggests that you buy his " vegan " food and add your own meats to it - to

be sure you are using the types of meat you feel comfortable buying. They

do not test on animals. They do not use by-products in their recipes.

 

I hope this clarifies things.

 

Sorry for speaking so much about meat on a vegan/vegetarian list! But this

information can help us be better informed when making decisions about our

companion animals' diets and can also aid our carnivorous friends who refuse

to/don't want to (or are not ready yet to) make the switch to a veg-diet, so

they can eat healthier meat and stop supporting factory-farmed ranching

methods, by seeking out ranchers who grass-feed their animals whenever

possible.

 

Kasie

 

(a 20+ yr vegan who's gotten a real education is all things " meat " since

feeding her companion animals a natural, raw meat based diet over the past

14 years - in speaking and becoming friendly with ranchers and farmers, you

can learn a lot about how the animals are raised and killed. In turn, they

usually learn quite a bit about veganism!

 

>

> Hi Everyone : ) I just called Jeffrey's Natural Pet Foods

> (415-864-1414) and

> the very nice man with whom I spoke said that not only did Jeffrey's make

> their own cat food using humanely treated animals (it is a raw

> product), but they

> carry other brands that also do this (he mentioned Evolve and Natural

> Balance). I don't think Evolve and Natural Balance are raw

> because he didn't say

> that they were.

> He also said that Wysong, which I know you can get here in

> the east bay,

> uses free range chicken (for what that's worth, as we do know

> these chickens

> are often not treated much better than those in cages)

> I did a web search and there is a brand of organic cat food called

> Organix, but it doesn't say anything about how the animals were treated.

> Stephanie