Healthy Pet Food Makes Healthy Pets

I
n memory of my sweet little Cher - This is for you. I am sorry I didn't know then what I've learned now. I'm forever grieving for you.

The first time I saw Cher it was love at first sight and I knew she was meant to come home with me. I already had two Sheltie dogs and wasn't looking for another one but this tiny puppy stole my heart instantly. She was my little soft touch Sheltie. She had a gentle soul and the sweetest expression of all the Shelties I've known.

I felt blessed to have three wonderful dogs sharing my life. As the years passed things changed. The dogs and I moved from Texas to Minnesota, I got married and a new baby joined our pack. The dogs adjusted and thrived with their new life.

Tara was 6-years-old when her uterus ruptured and she spent a week in the hospital. No one thought she would survive but she did. While she was in the hospital Cher was spayed to save her the risks Tara had suffered. This was the only health problem any of the dogs had for many years.

Cher started sneezing a little and I noticed a small bump on her nose. I took her in for a check-up thinking it was just a dental problem. The vet said that's what it looked like but they would check it out when she was under for a dental cleaning. Two hours later I got the call that changed my mind set about pet care forever. She had cancer and it was inoperable because of where the tumor was. I was told to take her home and love her for maybe 3 months.

I was devastated because January 21st, three weeks earlier my big Sheltie, Max had suffered a stroke and died 20 days after his 15th birthday. I was still grieving for Max so the thought of losing Cher so soon was more than I could take. I spent the following weeks lavishing attention on her. We took her and our older sheltie Tara camping every weekend. I spent many nights sleeping on the floor beside Cher. Except for the sneezing and her nose starting to bleed a little she still seemed like a healthy happy dog.

C

her started acting like a sick dog on her last camping trip with us early August. For the first time in her life she wouldn't eat. She was always our little chubby girl so when she turned down food I knew her time to join Max was near. This camping trip broke my heart. I would take the two girls for walks and end up having to carry Cher back to camp. I knew her body was shutting down. We came home from camping Sunday night and I knew I only had a few hours left with my sweet little girl.

I spent all day Monday sitting with her, petting her, talking to her, telling her what a good dog she was and how much I loved her. I slept on her bed with her that night.

She woke up at 5am Tuesday wanting to go outside. A few minutes after taking her out she had a seizure. I had never witnessed anything like this so my reaction probably didn't help her. I carried her back in the house and held her until the seizure passed. She seemed fine after 30 minutes but I knew it was time to help her.

It took everything in me to make the call to her doctor. We arrived at the animal hospital at 7 am. I spent another 20 minutes with her telling her she was a good dog, I loved her and she would see Max soon. I didn't want to let her go but couldn't have her suffer. I held her as the doctor gave her the shot. She died instantly and that's when it really sunk in that my girl had been taken from me because of cancer.

She joined Max at the rainbow bridge 20 days before her 13th birthday. She was the baby of my three Sheltie dogs and should have been the last to die. Before the cancer she had never been sick or had any health problems.

Five days later I picked up her ashes. My family and I talked about having a service to celebrate both Max and Cher's life and bury the ashes under the Lilacs where they loved digging holes. We never did this. I couldn't let the ashes go yet. I've decided to wait until Tara joins her brother and sister and take some of their ashes back to Texas where they lived over half their lives.

D

uring the next few months I became frantic about learning more about cancer in pets. I read dozens of books about natural pet care and soon realized I might have killed my dog. The food she ate probably caused the cancer and I had put over 100 pounds of chemical preservatives in her body over her lifetime. I'll never forgive myself for this. At the time I didn't know the difference in pet food. I didn't buy the cheapest so I thought I was doing the best I could. I mistakenly took advice from veterinarians and listened to the pet food giants, like Purina. Now I've done my due diligence about pet food but it was too late for Cher.

My old girl Tara did eat the same food as Cher and luckily she is a healthy 17 ½ -year-old dog. I don't know why some dogs get cancer and not others. I do know my pets will not be harmed from low quality food every again. I never want to feel guilty or second - guess myself when a pet dies too soon. I know there are lots of other things pets die from but cancer related to the food I give them is not going to happen again.

For the health of your pets I ask you to learn what's in pet food and switch if you have too. It doesn't make sense to be loyal to the companies that don't have our pet's health and well-being top on their priorities.

Sorry pet food giants, but I won't give my money to any company that uses by-products, chemicals, artificial anything in pet food.

I don't have artificial pets so I won't feed them artificial food.
My pets are not disposable; they are living beings that depend of me for every breath they take.

In memory of my sweet little Cher - This is for you. I am sorry I didn't know then what I've learned now. I'm forever grieving for you and hope you and Max are having tons of doggy fun at the rainbow bridge. Tara is getting old now but I hope you don't see her for a while longer.

I love you Cher and Max.

A

s you've noticed I'm writing from my heart.

I'm like the Mother who started MADD. She went looking for other Moms who had lost a child to a drunk driver, not just any mom.

I'm looking for pet lovers who want to feed their pets a healthy diet but aren't ready to start cooking it themself, like me.

It's easy to find your way back here by clicking on the button below.

H
ype about dog food is really getting old.
Offers of fee based e-books are ridiculous when solid info is available online and free. As I surf the web I see dozens of Google ads with headlines Are You Killing Your Dog? This is a great question but it doesn't offer the reader information on how to find a food that is a fit for their pet.

Why not give pet lovers useful information on how to choose healthy pet food? Why do everything possible to make every dog food look bad? Why not just show the benefits of the food they are trying to sell? I don't know about you but when someone says his or her thing is the best I think it reeks of seller talk. It's all too gimmicky for my style.

I offer third party tips on how to choose pet food with healthy ingredients. This information is not from my website or the company that makes the food. It's out there to help pet lovers find unbiased information. I don't "sell" people on my food. I don't do pet food comparisons. I will help a pet lover learn what's good or bad about a certain food if they ask. A pet food comparison is a low-ball way of doing business. The companies that do this pick one formula and compare it to what they are "selling" you on. Don't get me wrong; I know most mass-market pet foods are very low quality. The pet food giants don't have pet's health and well being in consideration. They are after the profits.

Here's an example of poor marketing "hype" based sales methods. A pet food company will compare their food against a food that has wheat. Since theirs has no wheat they say the other food is bad. What they don't tell you is that the other company has a wheat free formula for dogs known to be allergic to the wheat grain. See what I mean now. Why can't pet food be marketed with integrity and honesty across the board? Don't they care enough about pets to want what's best for them? I do. I tell everyone there is no one best food for every dog. All dogs are individual with individual needs. I tell everyone to do their due diligence about what is best for their pet. I can't decide for them what the best food will be. What if the food didn't fit the dog? I would be responsible so I leave the final decision up to the pet caregiver.

HealthyPetNut.com

H

aving a pet isn't an experiment. You will be the most important thing in your pet's life for many years. Everything in your pet's life will be up to you. Here are some very important things you can do to protect pets.

I decided to start from the end. I added #10 on my list as #1. This is to show you where I'm going with this, no surprises. #10 is the most important, if you don't do this then don't bother as much about the others. It will be like putting a band-aid on a broken arm. Just won't make sense.

#1 & #10. Pay attention to what you feed your dog. If you do all the other things I talk about but buy the grocery store brand of food you are not helping your dog. Would you feed your child McDonalds everyday? If you did wouldn't you expect them to be sick more often, do poorly in school, be tired and crabby and become lazy from lack of energy? The same is true for your dog or cat. The average pet food is not going to help your pet live a long, healthy, or happy life. Do some research and do the right thing for your pet. Find a healthy natural food and prove to the pets in your family that you care about their health and well-being the same as you care about your human families.

1. Keep their vaccinations current. Work with your pet's doctor to find the best schedule for vaccinations for your pet. I believe working with a holistic vet is best, if this isn't a fit for you at least find a vet that isn't just interested in the profit. It has been researched and proven that giving annual shots every after year can cause more harm than good, but before you just stop giving shots please talk with your veterinarian.

2. Always have a leash on your dog when walking. Cars are a real danger. Even if your dog is trained to walk off lead you never know what will make them take chase and run out in traffic. It's better to properly leash train them for those fun walks. Save the off leash outings for the dog parks.

3. Make sure your dog has a fenced secure yard to play and exercise in. If you wouldn't put a toddler outside alone in an open unsecured yard, don't do it with your dog either. Think of pets the way you do a toddler and you will be making the right safe choices.

4. Always have tags on your dogs and cats collars. Make sure the pets wear the collars. Go a step further and have them micro-chipped. If your dog or cat sneaks out the door and gets lost the odds are greater of being reunited with them if they have ID or micro-chips. During the two years I worked at the humane society I saw too many pets come in as strays that never found their families again. With no ID tags or micro-chips it's almost impossible to locate the owners. There are too many shelters for families to search every one of them when a pet is lost.

5. Keep them clean, brushed, nails trimmed, ears and eyes cleaned. If you aren't able to groom your pet take them to a professional. Many professional groomers will brush a pets teeth as part of the grooming. Find a groomer who will be gentle and handle your pet with tender loving care.

6. Housedogs tend to live longer than outdoor dogs. It's best to provide a save warm place inside your home for a dog to sleep. If this isn't possible at least provide a warm doghouse with blankets. Keep water available at all times. If a dog must sleep in the garage make sure no solvents are around. Anti-freeze kills dogs and they go for the sweet taste and smell so make sure none is dripping from cars. If at all possible bring your dog inside during winter. Dogs can get frostbite on their ears, nose, toes or any exposed area.

7. Play and exercise with them everyday. Even if you are exhausted playing with your dog will make you feel better. Remember, they are waiting all day for you to come home. They miss you and want to have fun when you finally get home. Just take 15 minutes to toss a ball or take them for a walk. Remember the saying, If you have put on extra weight, you haven't exercised your dog enough.

8. Socialize your dog. Let them see other dogs, kids, and big people. If the only outing your dog has is going to the doctor for check-ups he will be afraid or anxious of anything new. If you got your dog as an adult and he's a scaredy dog you can still help him by going very slow. Take him out on walks and build up to taking him to public places as his confidence improves. Some dogs never get used to being around other people or animals. If your dog is like that just accept it and love him for it.

9. Do all the things above and you will help keep your dog safe and happy. Skipping one thing for a day isn't going to kill your pet. Not getting into a habit of doing all these things for your pet can shorten their life and will make their life very un-fulfilling.

10. Pay attention to what you feed your dog. If you do all the other things I talk about but buy the grocery store brand of food you are not helping your dog. Would you feed your child McDonalds everyday? If you did wouldn't you expect them to be sick more often, do poorly in school, be tired and crabby and become lazy from lack of energy? The same is true for your dog or cat. The average pet food is not going to help your pet live a long, healthy, or happy life. Do some research and do the right thing for your pet. Find a healthy natural food and prove to the pets in your family that you care about their health and well-being the same as you care about your human families.

I
grew a healthy 17 1/2-year-old by doing these things. She has lived a long happy life with me because I know having a pet is not an experiment. I put as much thought into my pet's care as my own, sometimes more because they can't make decisions, it's 100% up to me. They love me too much to risk ever letting them down.

James Spratt started the first pet food production operation around 1860. He made a dog biscuit from wheat, vegetables, beet root and meat. Other U.S. firms joined the pet food market in the 1920's. The first meat used in canned dog food was horse. By 1930 pet owners could feed the canned or dry meat-meal dog foods, but most still fed table scrapes. When horsemeat wasn't as plentiful cereal by-products and meat by-products were used for dog food. Many varieties of pet food came about around 1960. Pet food companies offered more canned foods, added the life stages formulas and more dry kibble. Pet food became a commercialized profit center. Pet owners had been using table scrapes for their dogs and cats so at a snails pace many began to feed this new 'balanced' diet.

The pet food companies started promoting their food to veterinarians and these vets started selling the food in their clinic. Veterinarian schools don't have courses on dog nutrition and what they need to eat so I don't understand why a vet would offer pet food to clients any more than I could see a family doctor selling food to us when we go in for a check up. It's a moneymaker for the vet and pet food manufacturer. Just because your vet recommends a food, one that he also sells, doesn't mean it's the best for your dog. There is no one food that will be best for every dog. What's best for my 17-year-old dog may not be best for my other 2 dogs. My point here is just because your vet has gone to school and may have years of animal health care under his belt your pet's food may not be in his area of expertise.

A holistic vet will recommend a natural home prepared diet or a natural commercial food for the health of your dog. A holistic vet has sought nutritional training and they know what your dog eats will effect their health and mental well-being. When they do recommend a processed diet it will be natural, whole grain, real chicken, beef etc., no by-products, no toxic preservatives, no fillers. They have done their due diligence and know what your individual dog needs. To be fair there are times your dog will need a special diet because of certain health issues. But even then your vet may not prescribe the best food. There are many different opinions even between vets on what is best for certain conditions.

You as a responsible dog owner will have to put in your own due diligence when it comes to feeding your dog. Stop putting your beloved dogs health and possible life in the hands of pet food manufacturers or vets who have been trained by the same manufacturers.

To find a holistic veterinarian in your area check this link.
Holistic Vet

There is no one food that's best for all dogs. Even if you prepare your dog's food at home you wouldn't want to feed the exact same thing everyday, would you?

Every body is different with different needs. Some dogs are known to have allergies to wheat and can't digest chicken. This doesn't mean pet foods made with these ingredients are bad, it just means the food isn't a fit for your dog so look for a different formula. Most companies have several formulas using different meat and grain sources. Rotate your dog's healthy food so there's less chance of him developing allergies to the same meat and grain protein sources.

Small pet food manufacturers of healthy natural pet foods make smaller batches and pay higher prices for quality ingredients. Yes, you can expect the price you pay to be more but the cost to feed your pet a healthy diet is less because the food is concentrated so you feed less.

Healthy pet foods are made from human quality ingredients. This means no by-products like grain fragments or left over animal parts not fit for human consumption.

The food has natural preservatives. Sure the shelf life is shorter but do you really want a food with a shelf life longer than your pets?

Understand your pet's health depends on what he eats. If he isn't thriving on his food keep searching and find something else.

Healthy pet food isn't just for pampered pets, it's for the health and wellness of all pets.
HealthyPetNut.com

Did you read about the latest dog food recall? It was food sold at Wal-Mart mainly on the east coast.

* Update, another pet food recall September 18, 2007. Bravo! pet food.

It's unfortunate but a fact that pet food recalls will continue. It's going to happen because many mass-market pet food manufacturers target pet lovers who don't know what harm this food can cause. If the pet lovers knew more maybe the pet food giants would have to actually put healthy human grade ingredients in pet food. Maybe they would care about our beloved pets but it's not likely to ever happen.

I'm not writing to blast any company, make any comparisons or tell you what dog food is best. There is no one Best food for every dog and cat. What works for your pets may not help a friend's pet thrive. Pets are individual with individual needs. It is up to pet lovers to research and really put in their own due diligence to find the best food for their pet.

It is challenging to find information on the Internet that is really helpful. I know this because of the hours, days, weeks and months I've been sifting. All I wanted was some real unbiased information. I found a few sources and want to share it with pet lovers. The links will follow.

We can't blame the pet food manufacturers when our pets die from cancer or tainted food we feed them if we haven't taken the time to at least try to learn about the food. I did have a dog die from cancer, I do believe it was caused from the food she ate but the dog food company didn't force me to buy the food. They didn't care about dog's health and well-being but I was the one to feed her the food so it was my fault. I'll never make that mistake again and now I want to help other pet lovers not make that mistake either.

For the love of your dog I ask you to check these websites and start learning about healthy dog food.

Choose healthy ingredients

Healthy pet food

Bob says this about his food:

I was adopted from the shelter in 2003. I was very thin, with a matted dirty coat. I weighed 8.5 pounds when I went to my new home. In 6 weeks I was up to 10 pounds. My fur was silky soft, no mats, no dirt. I had never been fed this food they call Natural Healthy Cat Food. I always ate something red with a smell and little taste. I don't know what this Healthy food has in it and really don't care because I don't have anymore tummy aches or hairballs.

Okay there's my story and I'm sticking to it, any cats out there want to challenge me to a taste test? Bring it on, Meow...