Search Results for: cat food

Vegetarian Diets for Dogs & Cats

Pet owners frequently project their beliefs about human health onto their companion animals. Anxieties about purported harms from vaccines in children, for example, have spurred an anti-vaccination movement among vets and pet owners.1–4Beliefs in alternative medical therapies for people, such … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 11 Comments

A Detailed, Evidence-based response to Petco’s Ban on “Artificial” Food Ingredients

Here is an article from Veterinary Practice News responding to the ridiculous marketing ploy by Petco declaring a ban on “artificial” food ingredients. Since the late 1980s, individuals and organizations have been trying to warn the public about a deadly … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 20 Comments

Dietary Carbohydrates are NOT “Toxic” to Cats

Folks who are critical of commercial pet foods or advocates for raw diets and other alternatives often rail against the evils of carbohydrates. The idea that dietary carbs cause disease is a central thesis of the recent “Truth About Pet … Continue reading

Posted in Nutrition | 31 Comments

Overview of the Evidence for Probiotics in Cats and Dogs

I have written about the subject of probiotics several times before, and this is one of the most interesting and active areas of research in scientific veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, probiotics are also illustrative of the unreliability of unregulated veterinary health … Continue reading

Posted in Herbs and Supplements, Topic-Based Summaries | 17 Comments

Update- Hemopet Sues Pet Food Companies to Claim Ownership of the Idea of Nutrigenomics

Way back in 2012, I wrote about a lawsuit filed by Hemopet, an organization known primarily for being a non-profit blood bank but also involved in some unconventional laboratory testing (as Hemolife) and alternative medicine ( as the Hemopet Holistic … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Regulation, and Politics | 7 Comments

Antioxidants for Pets- It’s Complicated

The subject of anti-oxidants comes up fairly often on this blog. This is largely because the oxidation and free-radicals are often viewed as fundamentally destructive forces responsible for aging and many types of illness, and preventing the malign effects of … Continue reading

Posted in Topic-Based Summaries | 1 Comment

Evidence Update: Flame Retardants (PBDEs) and Hyperthyroidism in Cats

The words “chemical” and “toxin” are among the most popular and misused words in the alternative medicine lexicon. They are often more a vague code for “evil spirits” rather than a specific reference to true environmental health hazards, and they … Continue reading

Posted in Science-Based Veterinary Medicine | 7 Comments

Publications

In addition to my work on this blog, I do write for the professional veterinary literature and lay press as well, so I thought I’d list some of those publications for anyone who is interested. Professional Literature McKenzie, BA. Evidence-based … Continue reading

Posted in Presentations, Lectures, Publications & Interviews | Leave a comment

Is There a Blood Test for Cancer in Dogs & Cats?

I am often asked by clients if there is a blood test that can tell if their apparently healthy pet has cancer. Obviously, “cancer” is a scary word, and many of the various diseases given that label are difficult to … Continue reading

Posted in General | 26 Comments

FDA Might Regulate Stem-Cell Therapies for Dogs & Cats: But Probably Not

I’ve written extensively, though not lately, about veterinary stem-cell therapies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). These are treatments in which stem cells are injected into an animal to treat some disease. The most common current use is to inject stem … Continue reading

Posted in Law, Regulation, and Politics | 5 Comments