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Old August 16th, 2009, 12:01 PM
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Dont' feed foods containing Enterococcus (e.g. Wellness) ???

A good cat friend recently send me this article re not to feeds cat foods containing Enterococcus faecium, because she knew I fed Wellness (dry & canned) food to my cats, which does contain this ingredient. I appreciate the opinion of those who are more savvy than myself when it comes to cat nutrition. I've been feeding Wellness for about a year, and neither one of my cats has experienced any problems--so far. I do discard any uneaten food from their am & pm meals. Any opinions? I feel I'm in a dilemma here about what I should be buying . Besides neither of my cats will eat raw food.

http://www.911vets.com/index.php?path=news&nid=12
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Old August 16th, 2009, 12:11 PM
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Chaser Chaser is offline
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To me, this article sounds like a vet taking an opportunity to bash "boutique" pet foods. They actually say in there to avoid any foods described as holisitic or organic. That isn't even a reasonable statement!

To my knowledge, the level of live bacterial cultures in pet food is pretty low....that's why so many people supplement with yogurt. And I cannot imagine how healthy bacteria could cause kidney failure in a cat????

I would think sugarcatmom and/or rainbow can shed some more light on this...but in my opinion is sounds like B.S.
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Old August 16th, 2009, 12:42 PM
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Unless I see a DMV or Phd (for humans) I don't take these articles seriously. Anyone can write an article and alarm the public. Seen it with human medicine and since I am a medical secretary (in the past), it infurates me that these non-professionals are doing this. Depending on your animal's needs, age, it is the best to ask your vet what food he recommends. Specialty food may be good to use if a male cat is prone to bladder problems, obesity or dental problems. These are used as a preventive measure. My vet does not feel that raw food for pets is SAFE, therefore public beware!!! I have been accused on this forum for being a Hill's Science Diet representative, which gives me a good laugh!!! (a food that my vet recommends!!) I recommend using stainless steel bowls and washing them often in the dishwasher, to prevent bacteria from multiplying.
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Old August 16th, 2009, 07:48 PM
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Enterococcus Faecium is only found in dry foods, not canned, so it's a moot point in that regard. Then there is the issue of whether probiotics added to pet food are really even viable: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...i?artid=340078
Quote:
Overall, commercial pet foods that claim to contain probiotics appear to contain very low numbers of viable organisms, and often do not contain the species listed on the label. Whether this relates to improper addition of organisms during processing, failure to survive processing, or poor viability during storage is unclear.
Also, there has been some limited research that indicates Enterococcus Faecium may actually help boost the immune system in cats with the herpes virus: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...a64f40bdee7344

And if Enterococcus is so bad, somebody better tell Purina. They make FortiFlora, which is a very popular (and effective) probiotic containing this particular strain, which is used to treat certain cases of diarrhea in both cats and dogs.

Lastly, this comment in the 911vets article made me laugh out loud:
Quote:
I have had several cases of Enterococcal urinary tract infection and one confirmed case of kidney failure in a young cat who ate these foods.
This is non-sequitur logic. Can the author prove a correlation? What about the high numbers of cats that get UTIs and kidney disease on foods that don't contain Enterococcus bacteria? I agree with Chase_Mom, this is a load of BS.
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Old August 17th, 2009, 11:46 AM
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Thanks to all the replies. I will try to look into it more. Cdn Veterinary Journal article SCM referred to reports "concern has been expressed over the use of enterococci, because they can be opportunistic pathogens and probiotic strains of enterococci are able to transfer the vanA gene; the gene responsible for vancomycin resistance".

I hope it's mostly "B.S." as I like the Wellness food and so do the cats.
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