I think "The Dog Issue" is a more appropriate title.

Highly disappointed in your pets issue. Dogs are visible because they get walked. I shall boycott your fishwrapper until cats and other pets are included.

If we'd written more about cats we would have gotten the same comment from dog lovers. It's just one issue, we can't do it all. But cats also have issues with raw food, if you read that story, and with holistic vets, if you read that one; the same things apply. And our favorite pet stores are not just dog stores.

what up Tilly!

I am delighted to see veterinary acupuncture and raw feeding get write ups in The Guardian, but seriously:

We're in San Francisco, for goodness sakes. We have a raw feeding co-op! (sfraw.com) We are home to fantastic holistic vets who support responsibly produced raw diets. We're home to locally produced raw foods! There's no reason to be referencing veterinary consultants in Knoxville, TN or vet blogs.

It's nice to see veterinary acupuncture used as an adjunctive to western practices, but again, there are fantastic holistic vets who don't view it as the second choice treatment. It's safe and embodies the first, do-no-harm philosophy that should be leading the decisions made by our veterinarians.

There's a reason vets recommend Science Diet. It's familiar. It's the company that more than likely provided the minimal nutritional training portion of their education. It's often given free to vet students to feed their own animals.

Feeding your pet a balanced diet made from fresh ingredients is a matter of common sense. No parent would respect the advice of a pediatrician who recommended giving their child only packaged, premixed, processed foods for life. In line with common veterinary recommendations, make that one kind of food, one kind of formula for life.

The safety record for balanced raw feeding is outstanding and rivals that of canned or dry foods. This is especially true when we choose ranged, hormone and anti-biotic free meats to feed our pets. The level of harmful bacteria is significantly lower in the meat of ethically raised animals and is more than balanced by the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) available in raw meat. We're also working with the remarkable biology of the carnivore digestive tract, which is short and acidic and able to handle bacterial loads that could be harmful to a human.

Processed pet foods are a relatively new phenomenon, initially designed as a way to discard of indigestible protein material and poor quality commodities no longer consumable by humans. In the worst foods, that protein is sourced from dead, diseased and dying animals and these commodities can contain aflatoxins that can lead to cancers and organ damage. After generations of crap-feeding, we are dealing with immune compromised animals with massive allergies, diet-related conditions like diabetes and diseases of the digestive tract and cancers.

I would love to see more longterm research that supports raw feeding and hope that the veterinary profession will find the value in that research. But let's face it, healthy animals do not go to the vet as often. If vets aren't seeing these animals, they aren't supporting raw feeding. Like Susan Yannes from Pawtrero said, "People who try this don't go back."

That's B.S. from a typical dog owner/lover who can't understand that cats deserve EQUAL standing with dogs. The cover said it all. I am UP TO HERE with the dominance of dogs in the city (reminds me of the '70s when we had dog shit all over the sidewalks and Harvey Milk's much appreciated "Pooper Scooper" ordinance) but most especially frequently inconsiderate dog owners and also those who have no business having pets at all and just get a dog as preparation for having a human baby. (I see them in the park "walking" their dogs while talking on their omnipresent cell phones.Then later you see them "walking" the dog and pushing the baby stroller, still yacking away on their cell phones, so neither child nor dog gets interaction/attention. Also, the picture of the "dog walker" with seven (?) dogs is classic; I think a law should be passed that "dog walkers" can only have three dogs at a time. Several times I have seen five or more "walkers" with dogs out of control -- well, big surpise!) So just because we're going through another "dog" phase in the city (likely due to all the 20-30 somethings preparing for children, and this issue blatantly panders to that demographic -- doesn't mean that in the coming decade we'll see a return to the preference for cats. I can't wait! CATS RULE!!!