Meeting Your Pet's Diet & Nutritional Needs
Your pet's diet is a very important factor in maintaining his overall health. A nutritious, and well balanced diet can help to
keep certain diseases at bay and allow your pets to live longer and happier lives. We suggest that you take care and consideration when deciding on what to feed the animals in your life. We hope that the information here will assist in making these choices.
Some things to think about...
* Along with visiting your veterinarian annually, choosing a good quality diet is the best thing you can do for your animals.
* In general, grocery store brands should be completely avoided. Your pets food should come from a designated pet store. Grocery stores tend to carry the cheapest and worst brands healthwise. Of course there are some exceptions such as Whole Foods stores which carry good quality animal foods.
* Most of us know that the pet food industry does not maintain the same regulations as human foods which means that there is no real guarentee as to what is actually in our animal foods. There has been some evidence that the meats used in most pet foods are the disregarded meats, the ones deemed not fit for people to consume. The book 'Fast Food Nation' tells us that often times the diseased portions of food animals are what is used for domestic animal foods. These meats are potentially disease causing. The only way to be sure that you are feeding a diet that is carefully regulated, is to feed a higher quality pet food.
* We recommend feeding a more natural or holistic diet which have been made widely available in recent years. We have listed brands below (made in the USA) that we like & feed to our own dogs. We understand that high quality foods cost more, but in the end, the veterinary bills will be less due to the lack of illness potentially caused by those low quality pet foods.
* You should be aware that canned or "wet" animal foods are healthier because they consist of mainly meat & water. We recommend incorporating canned foods into your animal's daily diet unless of course you are feeding a raw diet.
* It is best to use stainless steel food bowls as alot of animals are allergic to plastic or ceramic bowls. Stainless steel is also easy to clean and creates a more sanitary feeding surface.
* We recommend elevating your animal's food bowls so that he doesn't have to lean down very far in order to eat. This daily leaning can cause painful strains on his back & neck. You can purchase elevated food bowl stands at most pet stores and online, or you can build one yourself by using household items such as bricks or books to set your animal's food bowls on. Just make sure it is the correct height for your pet to reach.
Foods That We Recommend
* Wellness - Sold at Whole Foods Markets, Online, Petsmart & Petco locations
* Blue Buffalo - Sold at Petsmart stores as well as Online
* Primal - Sold at some smaller, quality pet stores, online, and at Tender Care Veterinary Hospital in San Rafael, Ca (1569 4th Street)
* Honest Kitchen - Sold at Holistic Hound in Berkeley, Ca & online
Articles That May Be Helpful
* The Top 5 Benefits of Natural Organic Pet Food for Your Dog
* 5 Commercial Pet Food Ingredients to Avoid
* Organic Pet Food Benefits
* FDA - Pet Food Labels
* Important Information About Pet Food
Your pet's diet is a very important factor in maintaining his overall health. A nutritious, and well balanced diet can help to
keep certain diseases at bay and allow your pets to live longer and happier lives. We suggest that you take care and consideration when deciding on what to feed the animals in your life. We hope that the information here will assist in making these choices.
Some things to think about...
* Along with visiting your veterinarian annually, choosing a good quality diet is the best thing you can do for your animals.
* In general, grocery store brands should be completely avoided. Your pets food should come from a designated pet store. Grocery stores tend to carry the cheapest and worst brands healthwise. Of course there are some exceptions such as Whole Foods stores which carry good quality animal foods.
* Most of us know that the pet food industry does not maintain the same regulations as human foods which means that there is no real guarentee as to what is actually in our animal foods. There has been some evidence that the meats used in most pet foods are the disregarded meats, the ones deemed not fit for people to consume. The book 'Fast Food Nation' tells us that often times the diseased portions of food animals are what is used for domestic animal foods. These meats are potentially disease causing. The only way to be sure that you are feeding a diet that is carefully regulated, is to feed a higher quality pet food.
* We recommend feeding a more natural or holistic diet which have been made widely available in recent years. We have listed brands below (made in the USA) that we like & feed to our own dogs. We understand that high quality foods cost more, but in the end, the veterinary bills will be less due to the lack of illness potentially caused by those low quality pet foods.
* You should be aware that canned or "wet" animal foods are healthier because they consist of mainly meat & water. We recommend incorporating canned foods into your animal's daily diet unless of course you are feeding a raw diet.
* It is best to use stainless steel food bowls as alot of animals are allergic to plastic or ceramic bowls. Stainless steel is also easy to clean and creates a more sanitary feeding surface.
* We recommend elevating your animal's food bowls so that he doesn't have to lean down very far in order to eat. This daily leaning can cause painful strains on his back & neck. You can purchase elevated food bowl stands at most pet stores and online, or you can build one yourself by using household items such as bricks or books to set your animal's food bowls on. Just make sure it is the correct height for your pet to reach.
Foods That We Recommend
* Wellness - Sold at Whole Foods Markets, Online, Petsmart & Petco locations
* Blue Buffalo - Sold at Petsmart stores as well as Online
* Primal - Sold at some smaller, quality pet stores, online, and at Tender Care Veterinary Hospital in San Rafael, Ca (1569 4th Street)
* Honest Kitchen - Sold at Holistic Hound in Berkeley, Ca & online
Articles That May Be Helpful
* The Top 5 Benefits of Natural Organic Pet Food for Your Dog
* 5 Commercial Pet Food Ingredients to Avoid
* Organic Pet Food Benefits
* FDA - Pet Food Labels
* Important Information About Pet Food