Pet Food

You are what you eat. The same holds true for your pet. It is important you feed your adorable friend a healthy and balanced diet to keep him happy and playful. Staying away from processed food and increasing the intake of fresh food is important for you as well as for your four-legged friend.

The highly processed dry pet food could be detrimental to your pet’s well being. Homemade meals, raw food and even high-quality canned food are superior to dry food. Dry food comes in packages that do not have long shelf life to begin with. When you purchase a large-sized bag of dry food and use it for weeks on end, you are putting the food on risk of being contaminated.

It is not that difficult to make well-balanced meals for your furry friend at home. And, if you are smart about it, it will not cost you much. If you do have to buy dry food, make sure to buy small portions and keep the opened food in airtight jars. If your pet’s health is of prime concern to you, you will do well to avoid dry food altogether. Here are some of the reasons why.

The Sub-Par Ingredients

If you knew what went into your pet’s dry food, you might not even give it a second thought and start serving him nutritious homemade food. Intestines, lungs, udders, spleens, diseased organs, tumors as well as unborn fetuses of animals are all mixed up in a plant and are “cooked” for days to come up with a mushy mixture that is dried and sold for animal consumption. Expired meat as well as the meat of euthanized animals gets into the mix as well.

Unnecessary Carbs

Dogs and cats do well on high protein and fat diet and can do without excessive carbohydrates. Unfortunately, it is cheaper for dry food makers to add potatoes and peas into the food mix than the quality proteins. The high glycemic index of carbohydrates means increased release of insulin from pancreas. Feline type-II diabetes as well as metabolic disorders in dogs is associated with intake of sugar-rich foods.

Excessive Calories

Synthetic vitamins, low quality fat, protein, and alarming amounts of genetically engineered carbohydrates make for a diet from hell. The high-caloric contents of dry food are sure to take your pet on the dreaded path of animal-obesity. Obesity can bring down the quality of life for your pet and invite chronic ailments like arthritis, kidney and bladder diseases, pancreatitis, asthma, cardiac diseases as well as gastrointestinal abnormalities.

Inapt Hydration

If you are feeding your cat dry food, you are putting her on an increased risk of getting seriously dehydrated. Cats get most of their moisture from their food. Giving them food that is literally dry can wreak havoc on their health. This combined with their natural low-thirst drive can usher bladder infections, urinary stones, constipation as well as compromised kidneys. Low-moisture content does not do dogs any favors either making them extra thirsty.

Preservatives and Contaminants

Most dry foods rely on synthetic preservatives to keep the contents edible. Many of these preservatives like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) can cause cancer. The additives are dangerous, however, most probably not as much as the main ingredients themselves. Protein collected from unhygienic sources can be teaming with bacteria, viruses as well as animal hormones and drugs even after the extensive cooking process.

If you want to enjoy the company of your furry friend for years to come, take him off the dry food diet and get him hooked on nutritious homemade meals, or better yet a balanced raw food diet.

When I switched completely to raw, I started a video series to chronicle the transition and help share everything I learned. Click here to watch!