Cats are funny creatures. They seem to have their own agenda when it comes to—well, just about anything. And that includes food. Some cats are notoriously finicky. Others will eat just about anything you put in front of them. Then there are those that try to steal your dinner when you're not looking, but that's a whole other subject.
Because of that, many cat owners' thinking about their pet's diet extends little beyond, "If he'll eat it, I'm fine with it." Maybe they started thinking about it a little more after the 2007 scare over poisoned pet food from China that sickened and killed many animals. It prompted the recall of many brands of pet food including such brands as Hill's Science Diet and Natural Balance Pet Foods, marketed as "premium" foods. Like many such brands, both are subsidiaries of large multi-product corporations.
So what should your cat eat, assuming he will? First of all, he really shouldn't go vegetarian. Tricky for dogs, it's virtually impossible for cats and odds are good he won't stay healthy. We sympathize with you holistic-lifestyle vegans out there, but this just isn't a good idea. You're always going to run into someone who claimed their cat thrived on a vegetarian diet but take that with a grain of salt. And of course there are those who promote raw or home-cooked diets for cats just as they do for dogs. Home-cooked cat foods are time-consuming and tricky to get the nutritional balance just right, and feeding cats raw meat or fish runs of the risk of giving them a potentially fatal disease.
Your cat can benefit if you learn about the nutrients he needs and what types of foods best provide them, especially since it's been estimated that more than 50 percent of house cats are overweight, which can shorten their lives. A guide called "Feeding Your Cat" put out by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine says, "Cats are obligate carnivores and are very different from dogs—and people—in their nutritional needs. What does it mean to be an obligate carnivore? It means that cats are strict carnivores that rely on nutrients in animal tissue to meet their specific nutritional requirements. In their natural habitat, cats are hunters that consume prey high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and minimal amounts of carbohydrates. Cats also require more than a dozen nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids."
The ASPCA says that, barring any special conditions such as disease, obesity or allergies (and your should let your vet diagnose these, not make your own assumptions), your cat should thrive on any high-quality commercial cat food. Cats require the amino acids found in proteins, and one of their special needs is for taurine, which their bodies cannot synthesize enough of to maintain health, although dogs can. It's only in found in animal-based foods, which explains why your cats can't be successful vegans. Taurine deficiency can cause cats' retinas to degenerate and their heart muscles to weaken. Cats also need some carbs and fats and a variety of essential vitamins and minerals, which almost all commercially available foods have. Basic minimum requirements have been set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and pet foods will have their AAFCO certification on the label.
"Dry or wet" is usually one of the first questions a cat owner asks. The Cornell University guide suggests that dry food, while convenient, may contain preservatives to extend shelf life as well as flavor enhancers to make the pellets more palatable to cats. In addition, it points out that dry food is very low in moisture content—10 percent or less—making a constant supply of fresh, clean water essential to maintain the cat's health, especially the smooth functioning of his digestive system. Semi-moist foods contain about 35 percent moisture and are often more palatable to cats, while canned foods have at least 75 percent water, which helps assure a cat will get the moisture he needs. They're also the most appealing to cats' palates as you may have discovered by the speed with which your cat comes running when you open a can.
While most foods are adequate, it's important to read the ingredient list. Meat, seafood and/or meat byproducts should be near the top of the list. Grains and vegetables are usually added to provide fiber; they should not be considered "bad" filler. But you do want to avoid foods with flavor enhancers, artificial colors and artificial preservatives. Many brands advertise themselves as "natural," but as with people food, there's no agreed-upon standard as to what that means.
What about organic foods? There are "ultra-premium" brands like Newman's Own Premium Pet Food (yes, that's Newman, as in "Paul") containing at least 70 percent organic ingredients, which limits the amount of pesticides and other additives in the food. They source all their ingredients in North America and do not use genetically modified (GMO) products. Natural Planet Organics also uses mostly organic ingredients and assures that all of its ingredients, both organic and non, are GMO-free. Organix offers an array of certified organic products for a variety of feline life stages. All these companies make both dry and canned foods for cats and dogs for the increasing number of pet owners who have both. These and other brands of organic or organic-based cat foods can be found in pet stores across the country. And while there's no proof that a cat gets extra benefits from an organic or non-GMO diet, these brands tend to pay special attention to the quality and blend of what goes into their foods.
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Though made in large part of plastic, glass, ceramics, gold and copper, they also contain critical resources. The gallium used for LEDs and the camera flash, the tantalum in capacitors and indium that powers the display were all pulled from the ground — at a price for nature and people.
"Mining raw materials is always problematic, both with regard to human rights and ecology," said Melanie Müller, raw materials expert of the German think tank SWP. "Their production process is pretty toxic."
The gallium and indium in many phones comes from China or South Korea, the tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo or Rwanda. All in, such materials comprise less than ten grams of a phone's weight. But these grams finance an international mining industry that causes radioactive earth dumps, poisoned groundwater and Indigenous population displacement.
Environmental Damage: 'Nature Has Been Overexploited'
The problem is that modern technologies don't work without what are known as critical raw materials. Collectively, solar panels, drones, 3D printers and smartphone contain as many as 30 of these different elements sourced from around the globe. A prime example is lithium from Chile, which is essential in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.
"No one, not even within the industry, would deny that mining lithium causes enormous environmental damage," Müller explained, in reference to the artificial lakes companies create when flushing the metal out of underground brine reservoirs. "The process uses vast amounts of water, so you end up with these huge flooded areas where the lithium settles."
This means of extraction results in the destruction and contamination of the natural water system. Unique plants and animals lose access to groundwater and watering holes. There have also been reports of freshwater becoming salinated due to extensive acidic waste water during lithium mining.
But lithium is not the only raw material that causes damage. Securing just one ton of rare earth elements produces 2,000 tons of toxic waste, and has devastated large regions of China, said Günther Hilpert, head of the Asia Research Division of the German think tank SWP.
He says companies there have adopted a process of spraying acid over the mining areas in order to separate the rare earths from other ores, and that mined areas are often abandoned after excavation.
"They are no longer viable for agricultural use," Hilpert said. "Nature has been overexploited."
China is not the only country with low environmental mining standards and poor resource governance. In Madagascar, for example, a thriving illegal gem and metal mining sector has been linked to rainforest depletion and destruction of natural lemur habitats.
States like Madagascar, Rwanda and the DRC score poorly on the Environmental Performance Index that ranks 180 countries for their effort on factors including conservation, air quality, waste management and emissions. Environmentalists are therefore particularly concerned that these countries are mining highly toxic materials like beryllium, tantalum and cobalt.
But it is not only nature that suffers from the extraction of high-demand critical raw materials.
"It is a dirty, toxic, partly radioactive industry," Hilpert said. "China, for example, has never really cared about human rights when it comes to achieving production targets."
Dirty, Toxic, Radioactive: Working in the Mining Sector
One of the most extreme examples is Baotou, a Chinese city in Inner Mongolia, where rare earth mining poisoned surrounding farms and nearby villages, causing thousands of people to leave the area.
In 2012, The Guardian described a toxic lake created in conjunction with rare earth mining as "a murky expanse of water, in which no fish or algae can survive. The shore is coated with a black crust, so thick you can walk on it. Into this huge, 10 sq km tailings pond nearby factories discharge water loaded with chemicals used to process the 17 most sought after minerals in the world."
Local residents reported health issues including aching legs, diabetes, osteoporosis and chest problems, The Guardian wrote.
South Africa has also been held up for turning a blind eye to the health impacts of mining.
"The platinum sector in South Africa has been criticized for performing very poorly on human rights — even within the raw materials sector," Müller said.
In 2012, security forces killed 34 miners who had been protesting poor working conditions and low wages at a mine owned by the British company Lonmin. What became known as the "Marikana massacre" triggered several spontaneous strikes across the country's mining sector.
Müller says miners can still face exposure to acid drainage — a frequent byproduct of platinum mining — that can cause chemical burns and severe lung damage. Though this can be prevented by a careful waste system.
Some progress was made in 2016 when the South African government announced plans to make mining companies pay $800 million (€679 million) for recycling acid mine water. But they didn't all comply. In 2020, activists sued Australian-owned mining company Mintails and the government to cover the cost of environmental cleanup.
Another massive issue around mining is water consumption. Since the extraction of critical raw materials is very water intensive, drought prone countries such as South Africa, have witnessed an increase in conflicts over supply.
For years, industry, government and the South African public debated – without a clear agreement – whether companies should get privileged access to water and how much the population may suffer from shortages.
Mining in Brazil: Replacing Nature, People, Land Rights
Beyond the direct health and environmental impact of mining toxic substances, quarrying critical raw materials destroys livelihoods, as developments in Brazil demonstrate.
"Brazil is the major worldwide niobium producer and reserves in [the state of] Minas Gerais would last more than 200 years [at the current rate of demand]," said Juliana Siqueira-Gay, environmental engineer and Ph.D. student at the University of São Paulo.
While the overall number of niobium mining requests is stagnating, the share of claims for Indigenous land has skyrocketed from 3 to 36 percent within one year. If granted, 23 percent of the Amazon forest and the homeland of 222 Indigenous groups could fall victim to deforestation in the name of mining, a study by Siqueira-Gay finds.
In early 2020, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill which would allow corporations to develop areas populated by Indigenous communities in the future. The law has not yet entered into force, but "this policy could have long-lasting negative effects on Brazil's socio-biodiversity," said Siqueira-Gay.
One example are the niobium reserves in Seis Lagos, in Brazil's northeast, which could be quarried to build electrolytic capacitors for smartphones.
"They overlap the Balaio Indigenous land and it would cause major impacts in Indigenous communities by clearing forests responsible for providing food, raw materials and regulating the local climate," Siqueira-Gay explained.
She says scientific good practice guidelines offer a blueprint for sustainable mining that adheres to human rights and protects forests. Quarries in South America — and especially Brazil — funded by multilaterial banks like the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group have to follow these guidelines, Siqueira-Gay said.
They force companies to develop sustainable water supply, minimize acid exposure and re-vegetate mined surfaces. "First, negative impacts must be avoided, then minimized and at last compensated — not the other way around."
Reposted with permission from DW.