Yes, we need fully independent scientific studies on the quality of the different types of cat food: manufactured dry and wet, and raw. But what is the likelihood of us ever having sight these quality scientific studies? There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about the quality of cat food. Some vets even speak up about it but they are few and far between. One vet is Elisabeth Hodgkins (Your Cat). She is treated with suspicion by fellow vets and manufacturers, I suspect. Most vets are in the pocket of big business on cat food. You only have to look at what’s on their shelves.
As for scientists, I guess most of the scientists who have in-depth knowledge about the ideal diet for a cat and how to recreate it, work for pet food manufacturers! Scientists are humans with the usual biases. Some hate cats. How many independent scientific laboratories are able to provide recommendations on the best cat food and are motivated and financed to do it? Zero comes to mind. Do you know of one?
The point I am making is that we are unlikely to be able to see and read quality scientific studies on what is best for our cats in respect of food. We therefore rely on our good sense and self-education. We rely on our experience. Many cat guardians have experience on cat health related to diet that exceeds that of most scientists and even veterinarians.
There is a huge body of so called ‘anecdotal evidence’ collated by good cat caretakers with first hand knowledge which has to be respected as sound and valuable information. I believe we can trust good cat guardians with years of experience more than we can trust scientists. Scientists work for companies. They have contracts containing confidentiality clauses. Cat guardians are automatically independent. They have no axe to grind. They have no concerns about profit. They just care about their cat’s health.
That immediately places the excellent, educated cat guardian in a superior position over scientists in respect of dispensing information about cat food quality.
If a cat website owner says that comments on their site about cat food should be backed up by hard science, I wouldn’t take that too seriously. There are those who say you can’t trust the FDA in America because they are too close to business. Are they completely neutral? Is anyone who works in or is associated with the pet food industry free to speak their mind and independent?
The whole of the pet food industry is tightly controlled by the businesses. There is no independent, tax-payer funded laboratory whose sole purpose is to provide quality scientific studies on consumer products such as cat food and its suitability or otherwise for the cat. Is there? Can someone correct me please?
Oops, duplicated that last line. I must stop and proof-read before I post in future 🙁