What Do You Feed Your Pet?

We are FIRM believers in an true All Natural diet. It is what we feed our dogs and have seen such HUGE improvements in their over all performance, skin, coat, teeth, weight and yes even stool. We want them to have the BEST and be at their BEST so we feed them the BEST.

What ingredients are harmful to my pets and the truth about kibble?

Wheat Wheat is the most common food allergy for dogs and cates, Wheat and Wheat by-product meal. Here's WHY - Dogs/cats can not digest wheat and it has been studied that wheat causes epileptic seizures and celiac disease in dogs. Wheat is a Gluten and unfortunately its cheap. That's why many commercial pet food brands use wheat as a main ingredient. By AAFCO standards it is a natural protein. However it is a filler which allows them to use LESS REAL MEAT in the ingredients. Corn

It has been proven that Corn causes swelling, bloating and other major health issues in pets after long use. Corn goes so deep as to even the corn fed chickens (which by the way is bad for chickens as well) that end up as the partial meat in grocery brand dog food that causes the health issues. Soy Soy also causes bloating and here's a TIP: Bloating can kill your dog. If you didn't know, soy naturally contains plant estrogen which act like the hormonal animal estrogen's and can interfere with reproduction and normal growth in dogs. And guess what? Just like Wheat and Corn, Soy is also used as a protein in commercial brand pet foods. Although soy can be digested by dogs, its gives them gas.

Food Dyes

Food dyes are only used to help sell the food. It is more appealing to the human eye but can be very harmful for pets.

By-Product Meal What IS by-product meal?

Animal by-products are what’s left of an animal carcass after the parts intended for human consumption have been removed. This meat processing scrap (known as offal) is considered inedible by many cultures and includes waste material like:

• Feet, Backs, Livers, Lungs, Heads, Brains, Spleen, Frames, Kidneys, Stomachs, Intestines and Undeveloped eggs

LOW CARBOHYDRATES IS KEY

Carbohydrates are not necessary for a dog or cats' diet. Because they are not a natural part of our carnivorous pals’ diets, most of those calories are quickly converted to fat.

Carbohydrates (starches and sugars) feed cancer cells. These include ingredients like corn, oats, rice (white or brown), peas*, chickpeas*, potato(sweet & white)* and lentils*.

*These ingredients are found in Grain-Free kibble recipes.

How To Calculate Carbohydrates In Kibble:

Any bag of kibble will not list how much carbohydrates are in the kibble. Below are the estimate calculations on the amount of carbohydrates the kibble has.

100 – Protein% - Fat% - Moisture% - Ash(Phosphorus)% = Carbohydrates%

If the Ash is not listed, assume its 6%. The key is to stay UNDER 42% of total carbohydrates.

What is dry kibble?

Dry food is typically made from rendered ingredients, such as chicken meal, poultry by–product meal, and meat and bone meal (MBM). Rendering starts with animal-source ingredients being fed into a massive grinder to reduce them to chunks. The resulting hodgepodge is boiled at high temperatures for hours or even days, turning everything to mush. Fat floats to the top and is skimmed off for other uses. The remainder is dried to a low-moisture, high protein powder suitable for use in dry foods. Some rendered products are better—or worse—than others. Chicken meal, for instance, is likely to be relatively pure, because the rendering plant is usually associated with a slaughterhouse that processes only chickens. On the other end of the spectrum, MBM is the “dumping ground” of the nastiest raw ingredients.

Other ingredients of the dough include carbohydrates, or starch (either grains or starchy vegetables), a vitamin-mineral premix, and water. Adult dogs and cats do not need any carbohydrates in their diet; all these starches do is provide calories. Because they aren’t a natural part of our carnivorous pals’ diets, most of those calories are quickly converted to fat. And then veterinarians wonder why we have a “pet obesity epidemic”!**

What is the better alternative to dry kibble? Raw! Brands that contain Wheat, Corn, Soy and By Products: Pedigree Most Purina brands Iams Kibble's N Bits

Authority

Bil-Jac

Cesar

Specialty Food brands that contain Wheat, Corn and Soy:

Hill's Science Diet

Eukanuba

Royal Canin

What is the best food I can feed my dog for kibble?

Make sure the first 5 ingredients on the bag are true foods you would eat yourself such as meats, fruits and veggies. Stay away from Wheat, Corn, Soy and by-product meal.

List of Natural Dog Kibble Foods:

Merrick/Whole Earth Farms

Solid Gold

Taste Of The Wild

FROMM

Bravo

Nature's Variety

Nutrisca/Pure Vita/Nutri-Source

Canidae

Stella & Chewy's

Primal

Weruva

Acana/Orijen

Earthborn Holistic

Holistic Blend

Castor & Pollux - Organix, Natrual Ultramix

Party Animal/ Coco-Licious

Ziwi Peak

Zignature and Fussie Cat

The first positive step to better your pets health is to transition your pet’s commercial brand food to a biologically appropriate natural kibble. Adding raw of fresh foods will improve their health even more. To start your puppy or kitten off right, introduce lots of different kinds proteins at an early age.

Older pets, especially those who have been on the same food for an extended period of time, may need a little more time to adjust to their new kibble.

How to Transition Old kibble to New kibble:

• First week - 25% NEW food/ 75% OLD food / ADD 1 tbsp of plain pumpkin once a day

• Second week - 50% Old & New food / ADD 1 tbsp of plain pumpkin once a day

• Third week - 75% NEW food / 25% OLD food / ADD 1 tbsp of plain pumpkin once a day

• Fourth week - All NEW food

Total transition should take 4 weeks. During this transition if your pet has loose stool, that is to be expected. Continue the transition process; they will adjust. While transitioning adding pumpkin to the kibble will help ease any tummy troubles by adding more fiber.

Can I feed can/ wet food to my pet?

YES! Can and wet food is about 76% water. This helps bring moisture back into their digestive system. For cats wet food is a daily must to keep their digestive system hydrated. Please add can/wet food often to dry kibble for dogs.

EVANGERS and AGAINST THE GRAIN canned foods for dogs & cats is a great product. They have 2 ingredient limited canned foods that are healthier for pets.

Digestive aids such as probiotics like acidophilus can help aid in the digestion of new foods, as well. After a few months of switching gradually, your pet’s digestive system will toughen up and you will be able to decrease or even eliminate the transition period altogether.

Sign up for our Pet Nutrition Class to learn more

*Credit to Dog Food Advisory

** Credit to Little Big Cat - http://www.littlebigcat.com

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