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The Case for Healthy Pet Food

I am always talking about my issue with the major pet food companies and what they put in pet food. My parents laughed at my crusade against regular pet food until one of their cats got sick and was not able to eat dry. I gave them some good options of food and they chose Blue Buffalo Spa Select Tender Turkey & Chicken Entree. After a week my Mom called me and told me that both cat's loved the food and their dandruff was gone.

Within a month their coats were shining and the cat that was sick had gained back some weight and their overweight cat lost weight. The sick cat had also began actually eating with enthusiasm too.

She had to admit that the healthy cat food made a difference. I did act like a good daughter and not say I told you so.

I just wish everyone would try it for themselves. I found a few books that have some great information, as always their are always two sides to the story so do your own research. These books all are discussing healthy dog food but cat owners can still get great information.

Dog Food Dangers Click Here
Dog Food Secrets Click Here
Dog Food Miracle Click Here
Canine Cancer Click Here

And as an update, the cats are all eating happily now - hopefully they will give me at least six months of peace!

Slakk and Copy's Excellent Adventure

Today I had to take part of the four legged family in to the vet for their annual check up. I try to do it in batches so it is not too expensive and not too much for me.

So I got out the cat carriers a few days ago so they would not be suspicious of them. Well okay not Slakk, because Slakk does not care about anything, Copy on the other hand is a charter member of the tin foil hat and black helicopter crowd - so any change is a big deal to him.

I made an early morning appointment so after I put down their breakfast I shut all of the doors so Copy could not go hide. I always feel bad trapping him because he is so shy but it had to be done.

Luckily he was actually semi easy this time and I only ended up with a few claw marks. Slakk was following me around so he was easy to catch but not thrilled to go in the carrier.

I did do one thing different, for te first time I tried Bach Flower Essences Rescue Remedy Spray
on my vet's recommendation on both of them.

Slakk stresses out on any car ride which of course puts his blood sugar very high and can trigger his Diabetes and Copy, well he is just Feral. So between yowls and claw marks I gave them both their dose.

What a difference.

Slakk usually yowls and screams the whole time and drools and Copy shuts down. I am not going to say they were thrilled but definitely better. The vet trip went fine, Slakk is overweight and Copy is perfect but both were in excellent health. Slakk's blood glucose was higher than at home but no where near the usual spike.

The best part was that Copy stayed out all afternoon. Usually when I have to take him to the vet he hides under the bed for at least a week. I was so happy to not have to slide food under the bed.

If you have a stressed cat or dog I highly recommend Bach Flower Essences Rescue Remedy Spray 20ml.


Oh and Sam's Birthday Gift was ordered. With his arthritis he seems to like having his food bowl up a bit. I cannot wait for it to get here I hope he likes it as much as I do. I think I still have flashbacks from when we had our old house for sale a few years ago so ANY way I can keep it looking clean I am for it.


Wetnoz Metro Collection Pet Bowls Metro Duo 4" Green

Finally SUCCESS

In the quest to find a new food we finally picked a food. Okay I finally received a complete approval from Abbeylocks and the Three Black (and White) Bears.

I ordered three options for the trial. I was hoping that one would work and was so excited when my package got to the house. The first food we tried was Castor & Pollux Ultramix Indoor Feline Canned and the three boys (Slakk, Spudd and Copy) all liked it but Abbey refused to eat it. I decided to wait a day to try the next food choice.

Copy was still refusing to eat raw so he was VERY hungry for our next option. So we then tried
Newman's Own Organics Canned Cat Food Chicken & Rice the good news was that all of the cat's gobbled it up, the bad news was Mommy did not do her homework and the carbohydrate % was over 10% as fed.

With Slakk's well documented Feline Diabetes I really try to keep him under 8% carbohydrates as fed ad for some reason I chose a can with rice in it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this food choice for a healthy cat or even some diabetic cats, but Slakk's blood sugar will elevate.

Just to check I tested him (yes you can home test a diabetic cat just like human diabetics do) and his bloog sugar was in the 80s. His normal rate is in the 50-70 range so yes even one small can of a higher carb food will cause him issues.

In fact it is the reason Sam is not allowed any dry food because if Slakk gets into it his blood sugar skyrockets. After three years in remission and as he ages it is more important than ever to keep him in remission. His immune system is already compromised from the ravages of the disease so I have to be very careful.

So sadly we had to say no to the Newmans. I was down to my third choice, Evanger's Canned Cat Food - Organic Chicken. I set the food down and SUCCESS!

All of the cat's scarfed it down and then went and laid down and took a bath. In my cat world that is a great sign. So now everyone but Copy is getting their normal raw plus a tiny bit of Evanger's and Copy got just the Evanger's.

Our world is now at peace. Whew

A Great Bed For a Great Dog

My dog Sam is a great dog but sadly, he dangles at the bottom of the food chain.. We got Sam twelve years ago at a rescue and were told he was a Beagle cross. I think a Beagle crossed in front of him because never looked like a Beagle. He is a rare breed dog, Carolina Dog or Dixie Dingo. They are found in the southeastern United States and are actual wild dogs He is a wonderful, patient dog who never complains when the cats steal his food or lay on his beds…or on him.

As he gets older he has slowed down and gets really stiff if not using a good pet bed. His bed in my office has started to lose the firmness he needs and he has been stiff when waking up so last weekend I went online and searched for a new bed.

Since it is in a part of the house viewable to anyone who walks in, I wanted it to be not only comfortable for him, but stylish for me. We run our business out of our home so I have customers and business associates in the house and I do not want or need a smelly rumpled pet bed in my office. Some people don’t like animals – amazing I know. I like my home to be smell free and not have pet accessory eyesores. And I found it - Natural Rhino Wicker Pet Bed a great natural pet product and a great price. sweet!


I was so happy when it got here on Friday, it matches my furniture perfectly and is such high quality. Sam immediately put his claim on it as the cats circled – he is not willing to give up on it. He must really like it.

My friend Heidi was over today and walked by my office and stopped and pointed at it and said, “Where did you get THAT?” I started to laugh and told her I bought it online. She whipped out her phone and saved the information on it. Heidi is one of the top realtors in town and is always bemoaning how turned off people get by seller’s pets.

She was really impressed with the style and how it looked less like a dog bed and more like a piece of furniture. In fact, she liked it so much that she is buying a few to put in with the furniture she leases to her home sellers. That is about the highest seal of approval you can get.

My happiness comes from the look of my graying puppy dog, sprawled out, snoring happily (and loudly) and hopefully keeping the cats away from his bed.

You want to know why your cat is obese?

My one-eyed feral brat aka Copy Cat has decided to go on strike against his regular food. Now if I was a one-eyed feral who won’t let anyone touch him despite being a house cat for THREE YEARS I would be happy just to be fed. But he lives in our house so he goes on strike and sits 10 feet away from me and looks pathetic.

So I am on the hunt for food. This happens about once every six months where one of my cats decides it is time for a change. So I pullout my favorite bookmark, Janet and Binky’s Cat Food List. This is a great resource for calories as well as carbohydrates “as fed.” We try to feed food under 8 carbs as fed for Slakk's blood sugar to stay in the zone.

From Slakk’s Diabetes I learned that the labels on the cans are about worthless so I rely on this list for my information. The rule of thumb for the amount of calories a cat should intake everyday goes something like this:

(13.7 x Optimum weight) +70 = daily calories

My cats are ummm good converters, so they actually stay at around 170 calories per day, sometimes up to 200 but a normal weight 12 pound cat should figure eating around 230 calories per day.

So for some reason I went on a website for commercial cat food – VERY well known brand (no I am not going to name them because they do not deserve the publicity) and they recommend 1 can of their over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death, oops I mean cat food per every 2.5 pounds. Doing the math that is 4.8 cans per day…FOR ONE CAT.

After I got up from the floor I looked at the calories – about 435 total, assuming any cat could shove all of that in their mouth in a day (Slakk has offered to try), that is 200 calories OVER the optimal calories – and these are the people telling YOU they understand nutrition and you should trust them?

And then lets do the math, each can of death is $.079 times 5 (because you know you will feed 5 cans not 4.8) equals $3.95 PER DAY. That means in 30 days you would spend $118.68 not including tax, but hey you could forget your gym membership BECAUSE YOUR CAT WOULD BE SO FAT PICKING THEM UP WOULD BE A WORKOUT. If you have four cats like me then you would spend more on cat’s food then groceries

So then I look at a better alternative Evanger's Canned Cat Food - Organic Chicken 5.5 oz. Can at $1.49 for a 5.5 ounce can. That is approximately the same calorie count as one day’s allotted calories. I feed this sometimes and honestly my big pig cats only get about ¾ of a can because quality calories mean less calories, but to be fair I will use the proper amount. So that equals $44.70 a month a whopping $74 dollar difference IN FAVOR OF A QUALITY PRODUCT.

Amazing huh?

If you really want to see your head explode look at the as fed calories for dry food, one cup equals 350-650 calories – ONE CUP. I will not even discuss the carbs...you know that is bad.

Raise your hand if your idea of feeding your cat is to take a bag of kitty crack and dump it in a self feeder…Don’t worry that was me before Slakk went diabetic. I ask you this - Do you think your cat is only eating what they need or are they gorging on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate-ridden pesticide filled bags of death (yes, related to the over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death).

So back to the web, I went to one of the lower calorie, yet highly-publicized dry cat food bags and read that my darlings should eat one cup or 362 calories – yes 150% of the recommended calories for a healthy 12 pound cat. Assuming my cats would self regulate at one cup (yeah sure) the kitty crack would cost a smidge over $1.20 per day.

Well until Slakk’s diabetes went out of remission and I was spending $100 dollars on his insulin alone. But again the cancellation of the gym membership would help out. Until one of the others went on the juice too...

But if you are feeding your cat on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate ridden pesticide filled bag of death or over-processed, slaughter-house reject, pesticide filled cans of death know this. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. We have been told that these companies know best and love our pets - well they are loving our pets to DEATH. My husband has banned me from the pet food aisle because I become an evangelist for proper feeding.

Kudos to companies like PETCO.com who have seriously started not only offering, but showcasing healthy alternatives to the cans/bags of death. Baby steps folks, babysteps.

I was in your shoes at one time and it took almost losing my sweet baby Slakk to learn his food was killing him. But now I know better and know feeding healthy is CHEAPER and your cat feels better and your vet bills go down and their coat shine goes UP. And maybe just maybe they will shed some weight.

What's missing in this list?

So I am always on the lookout for great websites. I do web design as well as work as a Project Manager for large financial institution's eCommerce in real life.

I was looking for a new halter for my horse and found a great site Horse.com, I was not familiar with it until I found out it used to be a store called Country Supply which I regularly went to. So they have sister sites, kind of like Organic's sister site Natural Pet's Store (it is just coming online and sells non-organic pet food and supplies but still high quality). Their other sites are:

Bird.com
Dog.com
Ferret.com

Hmmm anything missing? Oh yeah what about CATS. So because I am nosey I email and ask, I see you have a website for everything but cats. Slakk's nose is out of joint too so he is sitting on my desk waiting for an answer. The lady tells me that Catepillar the heavy machinery company owns it and won't sell it. Too funny. SO I guess they are out trying to figure out a name.

Slakk was not amused as heavy machinery equals noise and the only noise he likes is a cat food can opening. I liked the people so much I am linking them here...check them out they have great products for everyone but c-a-t-s.

Glad Slakk cannot spell!

Cat Recipes Blog

I found a great blog on cat nutrition...

http://catfoodrecipesonline.blogspot.com

Dog Food Recipes

Commercial dog food can be hazardous to your dog's overall health. This type of dog food is generally processed food that contains preservatives and additives that you may not want your dog eating. These foods can increase the chances of health problems for you best friend.

A few years back, there was widepsread pet food recalls across the U.S. This incident led to a spike in people wanting to learn how to better protect thier pets by finding dog food recipes and cookbooks. While the reports of tainted pet foods has subsided, the interest in providing a high quality food to your pet hasn't.

By using some all natural dog food recipes to feed you pet, you can be assured that if another incident happens with the processed dog food, your pet will be safe. Feeding your dog homemade pet food is not has hard or expensive as it sounds. There are several books on the market that shows you how easy it can be.

Is Your Dog Green?

No I don’t mean the color green, I mean having your dog live an eco-friendly life that also gives him the best quality of life.

Keeping his insides greenEverything starts with a high quality dog food. When you feed an organic dog food you can rest assured your dog is eating a nutritionally balanced food that does not include poisons or chemicals.

You know the saying: The healthier the food the healthier the dog. And speaking of health, make sure your vet is eco-friendly. Find out their opinions on vaccinations. There is no dispute vaccinations are needed but as your dog ages their built up immunities may make certain vaccinations unneeded.

Also make sure your vet is keeping up to date on new information. In the case of my cat, Slakk, my first vet had no clue about Feline Diabetes and told me to put him to sleep. My new vet (and still my vet) is not only up to date, she is open to many of the ideas I have brought to her.

Keeping her outsides green

Fleas and ticks are horrible and so are many of the poisons that most people use to kill them. Did you know there are some great organic products out there to help your pets rid these awful pets? Why not try one and see how great it is then tell your friends.

The same goes for pet shampoos and grooming tools – organic pet shampoos and accessories are available. A shiny, healthy coat can be accomplished without additives, chemicals and pesticides.

Making green even greener

Simply taking your dog for a walk is an eco-friendly must do. First, exercise is a key ingredient into a healthy dog and secondly it is good for the pet owner. Life can get so stressful and a nice walk with your best can keep you both in tip top shape.

Truths and Myths About Feeding Your Cat

While I was learning about feline nutrition I was astounded at what I thought I knew that was not true. Here are a few of the things I have learned on the way that I thought I would pass on.


Dry Food helps your cat prevent dental disease

False. Dental disease has no correlation to food choices. Studies have shown there is no difference between cats fed canned cat food or dry.

Most cats that get Feline Urologic Disease eat dry cat food

True. FUS can be prevented by feeding your cat a quality pet food with high protein as this type of food tends to raise your cat’s acidic urine. Acidic urine prevents the growth of germs that cause Feline Urologic Disease.

Feeding your cat a high quality food is expensive

False. The lower the quality of food you feed your cat the more you have to feed of it. Most obesity in cats comes from feeding your cat a low quality food. In order for your cat to get the nutrients they need in these foods they need to eat more. The more they eat the more calories they ingest the more weight they gain.

A Grazing Cat is a Happy Cat

False. In nature a cat makes a kill and eats it. They do not have a refrigerator or ability to can. They kill and eat. Automatic feeders cause your cat’s metabolism to slow and cause obesity (my own cat Slakk in his kitty crack days used to fall asleep with his head in the food bowl). As noted above, there are health implications such as Feline Urologic Disease as well.

Cats can get addicted to food

True. There are a couple of the low quality canned foods that I have fed in the past and it was tough to get the cats off of them. Artificial flavors, tuna, salt and sugar are the main culprits.

Reading The Label - What They Really Tell You

I think it is apparent that we all want to feed our pets the best food and many of the large pet food manufacturers have done a great job making us feel they care about our pets. They have even created "premium" brands of food that are incredibly expensive so we as pet owners assume they must be good.

Wrong!

After all of the pet food recalls in the last few years most consumers have learned that it is difficult to find a healthy dog food for their dog. We want to help you become label-conscious and make the right choices for your pet.

Things you don't want to see in your pet food:

• Meat/Poultry by-products, by-product meal
• Wheat/corn gluten
• Grain by-products
• Processed grains like wheat flour
• Fillers like beet pulp
• Artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners

Ingredients listed on the label start with the main ingredient and work their way down. You want the first ingredient to be the meat – not meat by-product or meat meal. By-product is the leftover from the slaughterhouse like lungs, beaks and intestines. A healthy dog food will not have by-products; instead look for human grade ingredients.

Like meat you need to be wary of grains, if you see multiple grain ingredients listed when you add them up they actually make up the majority of the food and you want your pet food to have the main ingredient as meat.

Fats are great for your pet so if you see flax seed or sesame/sunflower seed these are good things.

If you choose an organic dog food understand that many are not completely organic so you need to read the labels carefully. And again don’t let price be the judge. Small companies who do not spend a tremendous amount of money on expensive advertising make many healthy dog foods. These relatively unknown brands can be extremely affordable and are a great option for the savvy pet owner.

Reading your pet food label can be healthy for your dog and save you money.

Does Organic Dog Food Save Money

Most pet owners will agree that the organic dog food is the best food choice for their dog but many are unable to justify the higher cost. A can or bag of premium organic dog food can cost substantially more than it’s regular can or bag counterpart. Here are some things that you should keep in mind when making your decision.

You get what you pay for. A premium organic brand of dog food will include human grade meat. This means your pet is getting the best meat, the regular brand will include chicken beaks, intestines liver and whatever is scraped up at the bottom of the a slaughter house and ground up and labeled by-product.

Ease of worry. It seems that every day another major pet food company is recalling their food as the wrong additive or too much additive is found in their food and pets are sick. Many times it is too late to save your pet when they are exposed.

Pets feel better, look healthier. Ask anyone who puts their animal on an organic diet and they will tell you their skin looks better, their coat shinier and have increased energy. Many pet owners will tell you that their pet is healthier. Better health means less trips to the vet which save money in the long run!

Any or all of these reasons should give a pet owner plenty of reasons to switch to organic. If another is needed, one just has to think of the ecological benefits. Organic foods have a smaller carbon footprint, they do not harm the planet.

So no matter what reason, superior ingredients, elimination of poisonous chemicals, better health or simply to be more green, pet owners should look closely into organic dog food for their dog.

Transition Your Cat To A New Food

When transitioning your cat to new foods you will have the tale of two kitties. Those of you who are lucky – or have cats that are pigs - will have no issues. You will set down the new food and your pet will happily chow down and look at you with adoring thankfulness.

Now for the remaining 99.99% of us in the world, please read on.

When my cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes my world changed. For years the only feeding I did was to monitor the auto dry feeder and dump in some pesticide-filled, animal by-product filler food bag of kitty crack into it when it got low. I realized then that without change to a healthy cat food, my cat would die.

So we had to switch over and I worked with my vet to come up with a solution. The first day I very positively put the new organic cat food down and went for a walk with my dog for thirty minutes. When I came back my dog was happy but I received the evil eye by my feline kids. I picked up the food and went on with the day. DO NOT LEAVE THE FOOD DOWN MORE THAN THIRTY MINUTES – NO GRAZING ALLOWED!

I did the same thing that night – put the food down but this time sprinkled Parmesan cheese before I left the house. When I came back they had eaten off the cheese but then left the rest. As hard as it was I went to bed and reminded myself it was for their own good.

The next day I repeated – both feeding times they nibbled but that was it. These two days are crucial because now your cats are hungry and probably more agreeable.

On Day three I took ¾ of their regular food and ¼ of their new food and mixed it together and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top. And then took the dog out and when I came back I pulled up the bowls until dinner. I repeated for dinner.

Day Four I mixed their food half and half with the Parmesan cheese and Day Five it was ¼ old food and ¾ new food. At this point it depends on your cat – some are willing to give it up and accept the new food. If your cat is one of those then just start feeding the new food – with just a bit of Parmesan cheese if needed.

For the tougher cases I recommend gradually moving down from ¼ old food to none. Don’t forget the Parmesan cheese on top it really helps.

Soon you will be down to just the new healthy cat food with the cheese – the big test is if they will eat the food without the cheese. Usually they will be fine without it – if not then continue as it does not hurt your cat and a little bit goes a long way.

The most important pieces are to only leave food down 30 minutes – this is a FOREVER thing and leave the house during feeding time during transition – your nerves WILL affect your cat. If you put food down and are negative they will be too.

It will work and in the long run your cat will that you for a healthy diet.

Organic Dog Food – A Healthy Choice For Pet Owners

There is no denying that organic food is becoming more and more mainstream. Many grocery stores have incorporated organic choices for many staples and people are choosing them for their health benefits as well as their eco-friendly tendencies.

Because the American dog is part of our family, it is no surprise that concerned pet owners are starting to choose organic dog foods over traditional pet foods. This correlates to the human transition to organic, but also has increased dramatically after the world wide pet food scare where many of our pets became sick or died due to poisonous additives.

There became an awareness of all USDA approved items that are allowed in pet food. Items such as animal heads, spleens, lungs and blood – the thought of feeding these to your pets can be frightening. Even worse is the list of pesticides and hormones that are transferred to our pets from this food.

Is it no surprise that as we have added animal by-products, fillers, chemicals and preservatives that our pets are now suffering from diabetes, tumors and cancer at an alarming rate? There can be no denying that our pets are suffering from diseases that years ago were only seen rarely.

The best defense to these issues is an organic diet. Using main ingredients such as human grade meat, fresh vegetables and grains will ensure your pet is receiving the proper nutrition they need while not being exposed to chemicals, additives or fillers.

With more and more issues cropping up for regular dog food, new recalls seem to happen so frequently that they are no longer headline news. This is just one more reason why it is important to make wise choices for our dogs. The safest choice for your dog’s health is organic dog food.