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The Importance of Quality Pet Food
Over the past couple of years I have had the opportunity to
work within the retail pet food industry. I have learned a
lot about the importance of feeding a good diet to our
animal companions. I would like to share what I have learned
in hopes that you too can improve your animal’s health as I
did with all of my animal companions.
For me personally, I have been feeding a raw diet to my
three dogs in the morning and canned food at the night time
feeding. I prefer not to feed dry as it is a processed food
and creates a lot more waste to clean up. I also do not feed
foods that have grains in them. It is ok if you do, it is
just a personal preference for me. Dogs and cats do not eat
grains in the wild they eat the animals that eat the grains
but not the grains themselves. Just as a side note when I
was feeding Science Diet to my dogs I would have a plastic
shopping bag full of waste every 5 days. After switching
them to raw and canned I have maybe a half of bag of waste.
Always check the first 4 to 5 ingredients to see what is in
the food you are feeding. Corn, wheat (wheat is one of the
most common allergens for dogs and provides NO NUTRITION),
soy (soy flour is another common allergen for dogs), gluten
and any food listing “by-products.” Chicken-by-product meal
(should NEVER be in pet foods, these are the feet, feathers,
beaks, organs of dead, diseased or other chickens unfit for
human consumption.
In many cases, by-product meals are derived from "4-D" meat
sources defined as food animals that have been rejected for
human consumption because they were presented to the meat
packing plant as "Dead, Dying, Diseased or Disabled”. Meat
by-products are commonly found in pet foods including
Science Diet (including their prescription diet product
line), Purina (both Purina One and Purina Pro Plan), Beneful,
Iams and Eukanuba. Ingredients listed as "meat, beef,
chicken, and/or poultry by-products" on pet food labels are
not required to include actual meat, and "rendered meat" on
labels can refer to any rendered mammal meat, including dogs
and cats. These “rendered meats” are from vets who have
animals that have been euthanized. You are looking for human
grade foods. I do not want to give my animals anything I
wouldn’t eat.
We are seeing more and more animals with allergies and
health issues due to the food they are being fed. All of our
animals, regardless of size should really be living between
20 and 27 yrs. They are not and that is due to the food we
feed and over-vaccination. Feeding the lower grade and lower
priced foods will eventually cost you more in the long run
and drastically shorten your animal’s life. Basically it is
like you are feeding your pet McDonald’s everyday.
Check to see if there is corn syrup or sucrose listed in
your pet’s food. Both of these added to the food can cause
hyperactivity, addiction to food (sugar rush), diabetes,
weight gain, fearful behavior and ill health. We know what
sugar does to kids that are on it and it is the same with
our pets. I also hear a lot that their pet does not want to
eat the good food and would prefer the old food. I try to
explain to folks that yes they don’t want the good stuff
because they are addicted to the junk in the old food. It
may take a little while but they will eventually eat the
good food. We know how hard it is for us to get off of the
sugar train and our pets are no different.
I also mix up the brand of foods so they don’t get tired of
the same thing all the time. Switching between brands is ok
unless you have a dog or cat that has a sensitive stomach
then you might need to add something like Acidophilus which
helps aid in adding good bacteria back into the pets system
for easier digestion. If you can switch to a raw diet it
would be the best. Most raw diets are already prepared into
patties or come in containers you just have to thaw out.
They are 95 percent meat with fruits, veggies and
supplements. Some of the raw and not raw foods I would
recommend are:
Nature’s Variety (Raw, canned and kibble and also has the
marrow bones)
Aunt Jeni’s (Raw and they also have a Salmon oil I add to
their food)
Primal (Raw)
Bravo (Raw)
Taste of Wild (Kibble ~ grain free)
Evangers (Kibble & Canned ~ my Girls love this food!)
Innova/Evo (Canned and kibble and Evo is grain free)
Wellness (Canned and kibble and has some grain free foods)
Chicken Soup for the Pets Soul (Canned & kibble)
Merrick (Cans and kibble)
You can always Google any of these brands and check out
their website to see where there is a store close to you
that sells the product. If you do want to feed kibble the
store you go to should be able to provide you with free
sample packages of the food to see if it is something they
like.
Please take the time to explore the benefits of a healthy
diet for your pet. The best way to look at it is that either
way you are going to have to pay for owning your pet. So you
can either pay for the good food now or pay the vet later
because you have an unhealthy pet on your hands. Your pets
will appreciate the upgrade in food believe me!
If you would like a Healthy Consult with your pet please
click into our Healthy
Pet Consultations page. |
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