Deadly Toxin In Cat Food

A few months back, one of our customers gave us the devastating news that her cat was killed by drinking from the neighbors creek – which was contaminated with the weed killer, Roundup. It appeared to be a tragic and rare event, but now they’re finding this toxin in cat food as well.

The killer ingredient in Roundup that took our precious friend’s life is called glyphosate. It’s a known carcinogen and studies show how harmful this chemical is to both pets and people. We recommend never using this weed killer because – even if your kitties don’t go outside – it will be harmful to other roaming animals.

Glyophosate Toxin In Cat Food Study

Dr. Karen Becker shared a study conducted by Cornell University, researching glyphosate residues in commercial pet food. They studied 18 different foods from 8 different manufacturers and every single one contained glyphosate. Dr. Becker states, “Overall, commercial companion pet foods have so much glyphosate, that pet exposure is 4–12 times higher than that of humans on a per kilogram basis”.

Even scarier was the study they conducted in New York State where they tested the urine of 30 cats and 30 dogs. The urinary concentration of glyphosate in cats was 2 times higher than that of dogs.

This is cause for concern, fellow cat parents!

The glyphosate in the pet foods came from the fiber source – so the plant substances in the food. My first thought is, “stay away from cat foods that have corn, wheat, soy or rice in the first 10 ingredients”. However, Dr. Becker suggests that you can avoid this toxin in cat food by looking for the term ‘USDA organic’ on the label. This should mean that any ingredient in the food is organic – and therefore free of toxins.

We recommend feeding a species appropriate fresh food diet to your kitties. A good quality, high protein, low plant/starch diet can really help us avoid accidentally feeding our cats this potentially deadly carcinogen.