Your Pet Food Recall of 2007 has introduced a whole lot of focus on commercial dog food. With thousands of pets impacted by the recall along with the dying of countless 1000 pets from tainted food (make reference to the PetConnection Database), it is not surprising we have questions. The surprising factor is the fact that it’s taken all of us such a long time to inquire about these questions.
What are we been feeding our pets many years? We have all, including Veterinarians like myself, reliable your pet food companies completely. We believed they’ve always held our pets – and our – needs to heart. However in the situation from the large multinational commercial dog food companies, apparently not.
What we have been feeding has clearly not been notebook computer for the pets. What we are seen is shorter existence spans, more disease, and much more cancer – not healthier pets. While genetics do may play a role, our pets are similar to us. Garbage in… you realize the end result.
Commercial dog food company ethics aside, the best question that should be clarified is that this: what’s the best food that people can feed our pets? Don’t let feed home diets, or exist firms that we are able to still trust? And just what about raw food home diets?
The fast, simple answer, it doesn’t matter what you decide to pursue, is that this: learn. Be an educated, educated dog owner, and know what you’re feeding your dog. You’re your dog’s protector. You realize your dog much better than other people, as well as your vet. Your dog’s health is ultimately under your control – which certainly includes that which you feed your dog.
Should you feed home diets, you’ll clearly be aware of ingredients, and may discover the ultimate causes of the meals you purchase. Should you feed prepared food (kibble or canned), make certain guess what happens really gets into those meals. Make certain you realize the organization perfectly – they have reliable sources for his or her ingredients, and they can be it.
Another consideration, and i’m hearing this quite a bit recently, is simplicity and convenience. The primary reason prepared commercial dog food grew to become popular to begin with was due to convenience. Most of the cat and dog home diets the thing is are usually quite complicated, which scares many pet proprietors away.
I additionally hear many pet proprietors voicing concerns about home diets, wanting to make sure that they’re ‘nutritionally balanced’. And although this is considered, the fact is that it isn’t hard to achieve.
And again, how about raw food diets? Raw food and every one of the apparent concerns (founded or unfounded) are certainly the topic of another article entirely, even though it is certainly something I actually do recommend to some extent. Where performs this leave us?
Ideally, I would suggest a change to home diets, whether raw or cooked. You will find the most control (again, because we trust our very own food sources) within the ingredients. The thing is, every single day, exactly what you’re feeding your pets.
However, the perfect isn’t necessarily probably the most simple for many pet proprietors. There’s additionally a thought on the transition from completely packaged kibble by preparing food. Many pet proprietors are unclear about how you can prepare the meals correctly, especially when confronted with raw food.
A terrific way to start, which is things i am presently doing, would be to feed a mix of home diets and packaged kibble. Again, make certain that you simply trust the organization that creates the packaged food – do your personal research! But I’ve discovered this can be useful for most pet proprietors. Begin with a house diet that you’re confident with and feed it a couple of times each week, and move from there. In my own pets, I feed one home-made diet and something prepared, pre-frozen raw food diet. My cat and dog both love their new diets and therefore are responding perfectly.
Another advantage of carrying out a combination is you are supplying a varied diet, something I certainly recommend now. There’s not just one food – packaged or else – that will work best with all pets. By different the diet plan you’ll make up for just about any dietary imbalances your dog can experience in one particular diet or any other.
For home diets, I’ve several on my website, “Dr. Andrew Jones’ Group Of Friends”, theonlinevet – please visit the hyperlink within my bio. I have also prepared a summary of commercial dog food firms that Personally i think are reliable. Additionally, I am while writing a magazine on commercial dog food which will undertake all the subjects in the following paragraphs, and supply many home diets and suggestions. Check out my sites below to enroll in my e-newsletter if you’d like to become notified once the book can be obtained.