For so many years, it seemed that a lot of the sanity when it came to advice on how to properly care for, and especially FEED, a small cat, was only to be found in books published by non-vets. There are many great books out there with fabulous advice, but, sadly, many of them were never taken seriously by the mainstream veterinary community because they were written by people who lacked the 'DVM' credential.
Dr. Hodgkins' book has, thankfully, changed all that. As a lay person, I've spent years now running a website on cat nutrition and steadily beating a noisy drum to draw attention to the folly of feeding the carnivores we choose to live with foods that have no relationship to what Mother Nature intended. It's been fabulous having the support of so many people, but I've longed for -- for years -- to have a book out there by a real, live veterinarian that spoke the truth about the dangers of feeding dry food to cats and articulated precisely how it is that so very many feline diseases are entirely avoidable if we simply get the diet right.
This book is a dream come true. Aside from the wonderful, easy-to-understand style with which Dr. Hodgkins writes, it's jam packed with answers to the questions that so many of us have sought for years. Personally, I'm especially thrilled with the emphasis throughout the book on nutrition, as that really is the brick and mortar of health for cats. It's been astonishing to me over the years to see veterinary clinics fill up with more and more patients and more and more oversized bags of meat-flavored cereal (i.e., prescription dry food), with no one sitting up and taking notice of the relationship. Dr. Hodgkins' book is an extraordinarily welcome breath of fresh air.
Every veterinarian ought read this book and keep a copy or two in the reception area to educate clients. It's written by someone with impeccable credentials, after all, and there's no easy way to dismiss what it has to say. This bell can't be un-rung.
The tragedies that unfolded in earl 2007 with the massive pet food recalls began to wake people up to the dangers of blindly trusting what the pet food industry offers. But the pet food recall is only the tip of the iceberg. Even without the conspicuous problems associated with poor quality control, the sad truth is that the lion's share of commercial pet foods sold today--even when they're not 'tainted'--are terribly inappropriate for our cats (and dogs!) and contribute greatly to illness.
So if you have a cat (or three), you really owe it to yourself to invest in this book.
If I could give this book more than five stars, I would!
Anne (www.catnutrition.org)
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