Our pooties would love to have us feed them our food and so would the Woozles. Wolfhounds aren’t known as counter surfers for nothin’. But I dearly love my animals and as much as I like my vet, building a wing for her hospital is not what I want to do. So over the years I have tried to learn as much as possible about improving their health through nutrition and herbs. (Everyone says my animals eat better than I do and they are absolutely right- I hate veggies).
Wolfhounds tend to have a short life span, and I have one that is almost 11 ½. She has been eating raw since she was 8 months old and I give her a handful of herbs. Is this the answer? I don’t know – it is my experiment in progress. I now have my first young cat on raw – from 10 months old. I hope he makes a healthy old age. Many people want to feed their animals better, but aren’t ready for raw, so let’s look at grainless.
Most commercial cat and dog foods contain grains of some sort and usually those are corn and wheat, the better ones rice, oats or barley. As obligate carnivores, cats do not ever need grains and the refined grains in commercial cat foods may be responsible for many of the diseases we now see in our aging kitties, especially diabetes. Cats evolved as desert animals needing to drink very little water. By feeding such ultra refined foods we are stressing their systems with foods they were never intended to handle. Another needless additive in many pet foods is added salt. There is absolutely no reason to add salt to any pet food. But that will definitely increase the amount of water they need to drink – again stressing the kidneys.
A little over 2 years ago the melamine in the gluten horror killed or damaged a huge number of cats and dogs. Gluten is still being used in pet foods, not from China anymore, though.
Two of the biggest food allergens for dogs are wheat and corn, the next are beef and chicken, and although dogs are omnivores meaning they can eat pretty much everything, commercial dog foods have the same problems in supplying good nutrition as cat foods. Although foods may meet AAFCO guidelines bioavailability will vary depending on the quality of the food. There are indications that gluten whether as an additive or from the grains in the food may have serious consequences for our animals: allergies, immune mediated diseases and cancer. For a comprehensive discussion see www.dogtorj.com
Fortunately, concerned owners and companies have responded and we now have excellent choices available. These are premium foods for the most part – I have looked at the foods available in the grocery stores and there are no grainless foods available in the average grocery – none. So these foods are more expensive up front, but you will have fewer veterinary costs to make up for it. You will have cats and dogs that don’t have foul breath and their poo doesn’t stink as much. There is less filler in the food so less to clean up in the kitty litter or yard.
Many cats are addicted to their "Kitty Crack" and it can be difficult to switch them over. It is absolutely critical that you do NOT starve them into it – there is a disease called lipidosis or fatty liver that cats can get when they go without food for too long, especially if they are overweight. It can be treated, but it is very expen$ive. Using a combination of wet and dry is an easier way to go.
Some people feel that wet foods are best, but not everyone can do that due to lifestyle, or to particular issues of the pets. My cats are on a combination of Nature’s Variety raw (Slate because he sneaks some of Tabitha’s) and Natural Balance Duck and Green Pea kibble (Tabitha – she has Chronic renal failure and Irritable Bowel syndrome). My dogs all eat raw with an occasional meal of Wellness Core Senior for Arafel if she is having an off day or I forget to thaw enough.
Grain free cat food and treat brands:
Acana Pet Food, Back to Basics, Before Grain, Best Feline Friend, Best Feline Friend, Blue Buffalo, Canine Caviar, EVO, Felidae, Fromm, Go! Natural , Grandma Lucy's, Grizzly Pet Products , Horizon Pet Nutrition , Natural Balance, Nature's Logic , Nature's Variety , Newman's Own Organics , Now! , Orijen, Petcurean, Pinnacle - Breeder's Choice, Solid Gold, Stella & Chewy's, Taste of the Wild, Wellness, Weruva, ZiwiPeak. Evanger’s has a line of canned single meats that cats love.
Check within each brand for the grainless variety.
Grain free Dog foods are the same with the addition of:
Artemis, Barking at the Moon, Embark and Force by The Honest Kitchen, Merrick, Archetype by Wysong.
If you want to improve the health and well being of your animals, please consider grainless if you aren’t ready to go to raw.
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