The raw food pet industry is in full bloom.That is a wonderful thing because raw food can help your pet thrive in ways you could not imagine. A raw diet can help your pet get off insulin, heal their inflammatory bowel disease and we could go on for a week. But...before buying what you believe is a "balanced" diet for your pet, especially if it is your cat, you need to get just a bit educated. Cats and dogs have vastly different dietary needs. Feeding your cat raw food designed for a dog, (and many manufacturers will not make the distinction) can be harmful to your cat.

When deciding on purchased raw food for your cat, (as opposed to you making the food yourself) some essential details to look out for is the:

1.The Calcium and Phosphorous Ratio. Cats need a diet that is very precise in the bone to meat ratio. Calcium is found in bone, and phosphorous is found in meats and organs.The ideal range, or balance, for felines is 1.2-1.4 parts Calcium to 1 part phosphorous. Dogs, on the other hand do not have these requirements. Most raw food is targeted to dogs. Buying a "Balanced Raw" diet appropriate for a dog could cause harm to your cat. If the Ca/Phos ratio is not available on the website of the manufacturer, nor on the package you will have to email or call them. What you want is numbers. You want the result of the analysis they did. If they did not do an analysis of their mineral balances, I would not buy their food. The Ca/Phos ratio can cause damage to your cat if it is off.

2.Amount of Vegetable matter. Adding some vegetables to a feline diet is OK as long as it is a small percentage. 3-5% is OK. The food you feed should contain max 10% veggies. The percentage may not be available and you may need to contact the manufacturer. Garlic and onions can cause anemia in cats and should never be used. Tomatoes can exacerbate arthritis and most vegetables will raise the urinary pH which can cause urinary tract issues. Herbs should never be used long term and are frequently added to raw prepared diets.

3.Organ meats. Optimally felines should consume somewhere about 10% of organ meats. Does the food contain organ meats and at what proportion? What type of organs are included? Organs provide important vitamins and other nutrients vital for the cat.

4.Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid. Cats are unable to synthesize Taurine, therefore it needs to be provided in the food. In the wild cats naturally consume meats and prey high in Taurine. Mice are naturally very high in Taurine. A cat eating plenty of mice would be assured of their Taurine requirement. But what cat eats fresh mice regularly? While all meats contain Taurine to some degree, handling and freezing the meat diminishes the amount. Some meats, like rabbit have a dangeroulsy low amount of Taurine while chicken hearts have a high amount. Why keep track of all that when it is so easy to add some taurine yourself? Not only is taurine inexpensive it takes a second to add some to the food at the time of feeding. We recommend about 1000 mg per pound of meat. In the early days of commercial pet food, thousands of cats died before the pet food companies discovered that they have to add taurine. Taurine deficiencies can cause blindness and heart disease which can be fatal.

Feel free to contact manufacturers if information is not available on their websites or on the food package. If the food does not meat the standards, then find a food that does.

Posted under Dogs

Finding a high quality food for your cat can be a bit tricky amongst the expert marketers of cat food all trying to get you as a customer by using words such as "approved by top vets" "Wholesome" "nutritious" not to mention deceptive labeling practices making it appear that "meat" is the number one ingredient.

Many ingredients found in pet food have nu business being there. Not only do they have no value whatsoever to the animal, but can be downright detrimental. Their only reason for being in the food is that they are cheap and increases the profit for the company and it's share holders.

While the pet food conglomerates want you to believe that grains are "wholesome" for your cat or dog, they are implicated with a long range of health problems. Not to mention grains have no part of the diet that our magnificent felines have evolved on for the past few millions of years.

The use of corn is a very bad addition to your cat's or dog's food. It causes allergic reactions and acts as an irritant to the bowel. Possibly a problem of an even greater magnitude is the fact the corn has a high glycemic index.

What that means is that after the cat eats a meal that contains corn, her blood sugar level rises. Cats have different metabolic pathways than humans do, and do not have the necessary enzymes to handle the onslaught of sugar in their blood stream. While humans get their energy from sugar,cats get their energy from animal protein.

Commercial kibble containing corn has 30-60% carbohydrates. A cat in the wild, eating what nature intended for them to eat, will eat food containing 3-5% carbohydrates.

A cat eating kibble will have a blood sugar spike after their meal. Cats, having again a very different way of metabolizing food, do not release insulin in response to a high carb content meal like we do. They release insulin in response to eating meat.

The high blood sugar is highly taxing on organs such as kidneys and liver, taxing on the endocrine system and the end result is frequently feline diabetes, degenerative and auto immune diseases, and diseases of the bowel, such as inflammatory bowel disease.

Corn is also a culprit in feline obesity. Cats do not register full after consuming carbs. Cats register full after having consumed the required amounts of protein. In order to satisfy the need for protein your cat has to eat more of the inferior, grain containing kibble.

Switching your cat to a grain-less food frequently reverses diabetes, even if insulin has been given for some time. (A switch should be done ONLY with the cooperation of your vet, while monitoring blood glucose levels in order to prevent your cat's blood sugar to go too low which can be deadly.)

Getting your cat or dog, onto a food that does not contain corn is of utmost importance.

Posted under Dogs

A dog owner's love for their pet is a great joy to feel for both the owner and the dog. Providing your dog with the best care is something all owners want to do for their dog.

Just like with any other pet, you want them to be as healthy and strong as can be for as long as can be. Giving your dog the proper care can most definitely help keep your dog as healthy for many years to come.

Having a dog as a pet comes with much responsibility. Dogs tend to feed of attention and must get most of their attention from their owners. One important thing to remember when deciding to take on the responsibility of having a pet is that you must give great attention to your dog making sure to never neglect them.

Not giving enough attention and time to your dog can result in a downward spiral. Aside from emotional damage from neglect, the dog may also form physical damage. Neglect may turn to forgetfulness. Forgetfulness to give your dog a bath, to feed your dog, or to walk your dog all can cause health issues or allergies.

Taking a few minutes to do some research on what dog food best fits your dog is something that should be considered. It'll provide your dog with better health in the long run and only takes a few minutes to research. Giving your dog the best food fit for them helps to optimize their food intake and gives them the specific nutrients needed to stay healthy.

In choosing dog food, make sure to choose the ones with the most natural and organic ingredients avoiding those with chemically or mostly processed foods.

Also, it is important not to overfeed your dog. Now, you may think there is no such thing as overfeeding when it comes to dog care, but there actually is. Overfeeding can very well lead to indigestion for your pet, and the only way to relieve this is to bring your pet to your vet. To ensure dog care, its better to just avoid this altogether.

Posted under Dogs