Choosing Your Pet’s Food is Not Necessarily Easy
Carrots can be a healthy treat for dogs, and can even become a backyard toy!When feeding time comes around, does what your pet ingests really matter? The answer is a resounding YES!
Pet food recalls happen frequently. Salmonella, Listeria, Vitamin D, even poisons and medications like phenobarbital have made it into commercial dog and cat food. Whether the pet food is dry, canned, or raw, recalls take place frequently, and it seems to not matter if the brand is considered quality, recommended by veterinarians (like Hill’s Science Diet or Royal Canid), or poorly made – pet foods are susceptible to manufacturing problems and recalls.
Mary enjoyed strolls near the river in our community. Her spaniel instinct to find birds, squirrels, and other animals always kicked in during our outings. She died of cancer in 2019 at the age of 13.Over the years, I’ve lost three dogs to cancer. Mary, a springer spaniel my husband and I had for more than six year, died from the disease last April. We began feeding her FreshPet, a semi-cooked pet food that is refrigerated, a few months before she passed. FreshPet has never experienced a recall, and upon reading the ingredients found in the grain-free turkey roll, I discovered many of those ingredients (such as blueberries and spinach) are recommended in a cancer diet for pets. I’m more conscious about the food I feed my pets than I was five or ten years ago.
Like any pet food product, one can find positive reviews and negative ones. Choosing a pet food is not necessarily easy.
Some people believe in feeding “raw.” Because many pet owners are suspicious of what goes into pet food, and what is left out, they have began feeding their dogs and cats more foods that people also eat, including meats and vegetables. Benefits of such a diet include healthy skin and coat, cleaner teeth, and keeping the animal at a healthy weight. However, this type of feeding program can also be expensive … but, then again, so can the price of kibble and canned pet foods.
What to feed our pets isn’t a decision to be taken lightly. Talk with your pet-loving friends and your vet, and do research — not all pet food is created equal.We pet owners need to conduct research and not buy a food product because “that’s what we’ve always fed our animals.” Talk with other pet owners. Talk with your veterinarian. Do online research. Sites such as DogFoodAdvisor.com, Petful.com, and ConsumerSearch.com can help you find good food for your pets. Many sites also list pet food recalls, including the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
Even if you feed your pet “human food,” such as chicken, beef, and turkey, spinach, blueberries, and kale, you should keep an eye open and an ear to the ground regarding recalls and alerts (remember the Romaine Lettuce problem?) These foods can also become contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, and other bad things. I thoroughly wash vegetables and fruits and cook meats before feeding such things to my dogs just as I do before eating these products myself.
Whether you feed your pet kibble, canned pet food, raw, or partially cooked human food, do your homework – research, investigate, discuss, and then choose what you think is best for your furry friend. Even if you pay more to feed your pet, a trip to the veterinarian and the potential (or actual) loss of your companion are much higher costs than providing the best healthy diet possible.
Our pets provide companionship, devotion, and love — shouldn’t we feed them the best we possibly can?For more information as well as guides on buying pet food and discovering which foods have recalls, visit the following sites:
https://yourdogadvisor.com/best-dog-food/
https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
https://pets.webmd.com/features/pet-food-ingredients#1
