- Nichole Latham
What Do You Feed Your Pet?
Updated: Apr 29, 2020
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. By-Product Meal So what IS by-product meal?
Animal by-products are what’s left of a slaughtered animal 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
Undeveloped eggs
But there are exceptions. Giblets (livers, hearts, gizzards and necks) as well as other organs can still be sold as edible meats as they are — or used to make hot dogs, bologna and sausage.
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
Diamond
Eagle Pack
Earthborn Holistic
Holistic Blend
Castor & Pollux - Organix, Natrual Ultramix
Party Animal/ Coco-Licious
Ziwi Peak
Zignature
The first positive step to better your pets health is to transition your pet’s commercial brand food to a truly natural kibble. Adding raw slowly 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 food. Make a gradual switch to a new food such as below.
How to Transition:
First week - 25% NEW food/ 75% OLD food
Second week - 50% Old & New food
Third week - 75% NEW food / 25% OLD food
Fourth week - All NEW food
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