Best Food for Your Cat??™s Health
Cat heath and food are related to one another. The cat that is provided nutritious food will remain healthy; there is not even an iota of doubt in this. Let us discuss about the cat food industry and the agencies that set the standards and guidelines for the quality of the cat food.
Cat food industry is a multimillion-dollar industry now. There is no need to get surprised for this because there are hundred and forty seven million cats and dogs are there in America at present. The retail pet food sale in the year 2004 alone stood at 14.3 billion dollars, awesome is it not? This is as per APPMA projections.
One may like to know who really controls the cat food standards, because feline health depends on food quality. In America the cat food industry is regulated by government agencies by way of voluntary compliance. The labels on the food about the ingredients that were used in the food come under AAFCO. Officers of different state agencies are the members of the AAFCO. The different agencies here mean department of chemistry, department of agriculture, universities and even FDA. This AAFCO cannot enforce anything but can set the guidelines for the pet food standard.
The main purpose of this AAFCO is to form an association. This association will unite the officials of the state, federal, dominion and any other government agencies that are in to enforcing the laws regarding the manufacture, labeling, and sale of the cat food or dog food or livestock food or livestock remedies. Through this union the problems encountered during the enforcement of the laws, forming uniform laws, designing the policies in order to enforce the law effectively etc can be handled more efficiently with ease. This is key factor in upholding the cat health through food of best quality.
FDA is responsible for enforcing the federal food, drug and cosmetic act. The pet food is covered by this act along with many other products. CVM, the center for veterinary medicine comes under FDA. CVM is absolutely responsible for pet foods and animal heath drugs. The feed ingredients and the feed additives also come under CVM. According to the CVM, the pet food must wholesome and pure. The pet food must not contain any harmful products or substances and the things mentioned should be true to the core.
But in reality the cat foods do contain the meat of diseased animal, meat of animal killed in road accident, and meat of euphonized dogs and cats. One may be surprised to know that even the meat of downer cow finds its way in to cat food. The cat health is in dander because of food of this kind. There is no need for any pre approval for any kind of new cat food. As the laws are not stringent enough to curtail the entry of those discussed already, anything and every thing gets entry in to the cat food in the name of meat or meat by products.
Glossary
Euthanized - mercy killing
Mad cow ??“ disease of cow involving the brain.