Healthy Pets and What They Eat

After everything I've learned about nutrition, the FDA, and the almighty dollar over the past five years, the thing that probably still gets me the most upset is the things we feed our pets! Once guilty of this myself, our goal was to spend as little as possible on our dog food, because we figured it was all the same. It's not! Recent stories in the news of pet food recalls probably worried many for a bit, but I'm sure most of those affected went right back to the same pet food or another cheap brand that is just as bad.

What is wrong with pet food?

You could summarize what is wrong with cat or dog food with three simple words: grains, preservatives, and synthetic vitamins. The pet food most people feed their pets simply does not result in a healthy pet. Just like people, pets don't flourish with a diet that does not work for their needs. You can learn more details at Aunt Jeni's site. If your pet is getting older and/or has any health problems at all, you will certainly want to do some research on what you are feeding compared to what you could be feeding your pet and improving his/her health.

What should I feed my healthy pet?

Left to fend for themselves, dogs and cats would not bake up kibble in the oven. Nor would they ask someone to. :o) They would hunt. And yes, they would eat what they caught and they would be perfectly healthy. Luckily we don't have to make our pets hunt for food, as we have grocery stores with the appropriate foods: raw beef, chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs.

Learning about feeding your pets raw meat is a learning process that can be completed rather quickly on the internet. While we had been feeding our dogs fairly healthy pet food from Healthy Pet Net for over a year, something made me consider a raw diet. First, I found recipes with ground beef and vegetables that you can mix in. Then, I found some mixes for sale that you can add to raw beef and not mess with using your own vegetables. They come in grain or no-grain versions. Then, I came across a site that really made a lot of sense. I started at Shirley's Wellness Cafe. You will find a wealth of information at that link.

For answers to just about every question you might have, you can visit Jane Anderson's site on raw feeding. As you might note if you look at both of these sites thoroughly, each has its own philosophy about feeding raw foods. While the biggest difference is that Jane contends that fruits and vegetables aren't necessary for pets, both sites agree that raw meat is best and kibble should never be fed to pets. And while they both agree that grains should never be fed to pets, other sites do not agree with this at all.

My position? It's been a few months, and my dogs are thriving on mostly raw chicken, some raw turkey, and occasional beef soup bones and other "parts" we get from our local grass-fed dairy and cattle farm. Our dogs are almost 15 years, 2.5 years, and 1 year. Our "middle dog" took about a month to catch on, but she figured out that if she didn't want to fight off the other two, she would have to go to work on her leg, quarter or thigh right away instead of just licking it for five minutes. Our "puppy" practically swallows his food whole, including a chicken heart that I gave him for breakfast one day. I couldn't believe it! We feed them no veggies or fruits, and no grains. They are perfectly healthy, and we expect our Brittney Spaniel, the 14 year old, to live longer due to her new diet.

What About my Healthy Cat?

I'm fairly certain that you can find plenty of information about feeding your healthy cat a raw diet at the links above. At Jane Anderson's site, there is also a link to a Yahoo group that you can join to learn more. There are over 8,000 members at this group! I'm sure you can find answers from members there if you can't find them on-line.

Other Pets

Recently we acquired some tadpoles from a neighbor so that we could witness the metamorphic process into a frog. We wanted to know how to take care of them before we took them home, so we did some research into what they eat. I heard my stepdaughter in the background say, "They like to eat lettuce!" Then I imagined a tadpole slinging her purse onto her shoulder as she turned around and announced to the family, "I'm going to the store to grab us some lettuce for dinner!"

Isn't it funny how we think first of foods that are easy to feed rather than foods that the animal would acquire in its natural habitat? Whatever your pet, do some research and learn how it would eat if it didn't have you. Then, do what you can to provide that experience for them every meal. Not only will they be healthier, but happier as well. And if you didn't care about that, I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten a pet to begin with!

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