Why do people continue feeding corn?

[Straysmommy]

Why do people continue feeding the highly commercial brands that are almost all corn, even after they've learned better and have also calculated that the difference in price with raw meat, cooked meat (or Orijen, for example, which is as easy to feed as any other dry food), will not affect their budget? Since I'm autistic, what is obvious to everyone is a mystery to me, that's why I'm asking... I'm getting tired of people changing the subject or smiling to their armpits when I say I don't feed my cats corn...

[marie73]

People do the best they can, with what they have. They probably don't like being judged for not feeding raw any more than you do by people who think feeding raw is wrong.

[Straysmommy]

No, as I said I'm talking about those who did learn better and agree with it, not those who are doing the best they can.

[partial2persians]

I TRY to help my clients understand what cheap foods lead to....HUGELY expensive vet bills THEN a lifetime of expensive prescription vet diets. It mostly falls on deaf ears

[Fyreflie]

I think it's possible to agree with the premise and still not be able to do a different diet based on circumstances--for example, I know what kinds of foods I shouldn't eat, but sometimes budget or availability makes it impossible to choose the things I know I SHOULD eat--I tend to get fairly defensive when someone (usually my mother!) points out that I'm not taking care of myself properly, because I KNOW I should be doing things differently, and don't always manage to. Does that make sense?

[MowMow]

Next time someone says that they know it's bad and feed it anyway, ask them why. You can ask in a conversational "teach me" kind of way that won't offend I think.

[marie73]

I knew for a long time that Fancy Feast wasn't good, but I couldn't switch at the time. I also know Bailey's isn't just for breakfast anymore, but ......

[Carmel]

It depends on a lot of things, mainly priorities... not all owners place their pets at the top of their list, especially when they aren't able to reasonably afford it in their budget. Cat food to a lot of people is on the lower end of things to be concerned over. Usually people think "all cats I've ever owned have eaten this and lived long lives."... and that's the case a lot of the time, cats can and do live long lives on the "junk" food, a good diet is only one factor in an overall life expectancy. People don't often justify spending the extra time/money when they don't need to - better food being healthier for their cat overall isn't enough.

It's somewhat similar to how many people are educated on human nutrition but do not follow the daily guidelines, if people can't do it for themselves, there is a much slimmer chance they're going to do it for their pets. People on this forum are often different - we are on a cat forum! - but the general public isn't going to switch over easily.

[BryanOwnee]

Some people do because they just don't have an idea what they doing. I see once a lady caring RC in her shopping car. I tried to educate her but she wasn't too nice to me and she said that "her cats love it". I said to her "you probably love fast food, but it doesn't mean it is good for you".

[Sinatra-Butters]

I saw a mother the other day at the grocery store with two young boys. Her cart was FULL of expensive, named brand stuff, so she wasn't hurting for money. Her cart didn't have one fresh vegetable, fresh fruit, lean proteins or whole grains. She had cereal, chips, pop tarts, frozen pizzas and soda. She knew better, she just didn't care. This is the same situation you are in now.