[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by kiara

I really feel very strongly about this matter.

As do I, enough to research the subject more than most vets. You might be shocked to find out that feline nutrition makes up very little of the average vet student's curriculum. Unless they actively seek out more diverse information sources, what they learn is what pet food companies like Hill's, Purina, Medi-cal etc. teach them in the "seminars" they offer on campus. Oh ya, and the students also get free bags of food while they're going to school: Hill's on Campus

College Feeding Program
We help nourish the pets you live with and learn from. Hill's donates pet food products at no charge to selected veterinary colleges. We do this for teaching hospitals’ animal patients and for the pets of students and staff. When these schools sell the food we provide, the proceeds go toward student activities and scholarships in many colleges.

How generous of them.

Originally Posted by kiara

These different formulas (which are scientifficaly prepared) like kitten or puppy food, senior, etc... have special ingredients in them, which are needed for every stage of the pet's life.

That is so NOT the case. An excerpt from this very excellent book on raising healthy cats: Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life, by Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins, 2007.

Today, pet food companies spend millions of dollars in marketing each year to convince cat owners that every stage of the cat requires a change to a different formula of their pet foods. ..... Interestingly, the difference in these formulas is little more than increased carbohydrate and fiber levels in the adult and older-cat products.

Adult and senior cats retain the same requirement for high protein, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate of the young cat. Although their calorie requirements may change over time, older cats accommodate this change by consuming smaller amounts of food, not by consuming a different kind of food. .....

As the cat becomes older, its ability to digest and assimilate all of the dietary nutrients in its food decreases gradually. Yet, the older cat that eats a commercial adult or senior cat formula actually receives less nutritional value in its diet, creating significant potential for deficiencies. Lowered protein causes the high-protein requirements of the cat to go unsatisfied, and lowered calories from fat shortchange the skin and coat, and force the cat to eat yet more carbohydrate to get enough calories for energy. In short, the feline nutritional principles behind life-stage formulas are upside-down.

Originally Posted by kiara

A lot of research goes into pet food industry. And that's why pets live longer and healthier lives and also need the vet's care less often.

You couldn't be further from the truth on this point. From this link:
Rebuttal to Pet Food Industry Response to Hearings Held April 12, 2007. statements in bold by Dr. Hodgkins:

"Question
Are fillers used in pet food?"

"Answer
Every ingredient used in pet food is there for a reason. Decades of research have gone into making pet foods that meet the nutritional needs of dogs and cats. The makers of pet food do not put in anything that's not needed."

There is almost no research on any pet food anywhere that can be considered scientific by any genuine scientist. Whether reused vegetable oil and rendered animal scraps and wood cellulose is “needed” by any dog or cat is very highly questionable by intelligent and well trained experts. The cat has absolutely no need for carbohydrates, for example, yet all dry cat food has PLENTY of this cheap ingredient that is required for dry food processing. Further, the acids that pet food companies put into “urinary tract diets” can and do even cause other diseases, proving that those acidifiers are not only not needed, but are even harmful to many cats. Pet food companies absolutely DO put things in pet food that are not needed and that can even cause harm.

"Veterinarians agree that pets are living longer, healthier lives since the use of commercially prepared pet foods became widespread. Decades of research have gone into the development of pet food to make sure the special nutrition needs of pet dogs and cats are met."

Veterinarians DO NOT agree about this, they can’t, it is totally unproven. Evidence about changes in the life span of pets over the past several decades is sparse, and no scientist would dare draw the conclusion that pets today live longer on average than pets 30-40 years ago, for example. What does seem clear is that today’s indoor pets live much longer than those that live outdoors. The evidence for this conclusion is strong.

Those who would give commercial pet food even partial credit for this increase in life expectancy in the indoor pet, however, have absolutely no evidence to back up this conclusion. There are many factors that affect the life span of pet animals under indoor and outdoor circumstances. Indoor pets are more protected from death due to automobiles and predators, they are more protected from exposure to infectious disease and often receive more medial care than outdoor pets, to name just a few of the important differences between these two groups. It is easy to sweep commercial food consumption right along with all of these other factors as contributing to longer life in today’s pets. Unfortunately for this particular factor, there is no reason to believe it has anything to do with the longer life of house pets. Let’s look at an analogy to understand how this might be so.

Humans in the US enjoy longer life expectancy today than they did fifty years ago. During those decades of improving average life span, those same people have consumed ever-increasing amounts of fat-laden, sugary, carbohydrate-rich “fast” food and other types of over-processed “convenience” foods. We are far more obese today than in decades past, and human nutritionists nag us endlessly about changing our diets to include better quality, fresh whole foods. Imagine anyone believing that this increasing consumption of highly processed “fast” foods and increasing obesity is the reason, or even makes a positive contribution to our increasing life spans! We are living longer in spite of our diets, not because of them. Many other factors, such as less tobacco smoking, the use of seatbelts, better prenatal and postnatal care, and astonishing high-tech medical advancements for defeating disease and injury account for our increasing life spans. Our convenience-oriented diets are actually working against longer life, but cannot defeat all of these other strong protective factors in our lives.

So it is with our pets. When they live indoors, they live longer than if they lived outdoors, but commercial foods likely have no part in adding those extra years. Like our own “overprocessed” diets, they may even be depriving our pets of even greater health and longevity. If you hear anyone make the flat statement that pet are living longer BECAUSE of commercial foods, demand to see the scientific data for that statement!