Do You Really Know What Is In Your Pet's Food?

By: Baker Knight
You’ve probably heard the scary stories of feathers and beaks and other "things" commonly found in pet foods. Whatever the reasons, hopefully you will get out the ingredient list of what you are now feeding your pets and compare these notes. Many pet foods today use ingredients and supplements, such as by-products, artificial flavors and fillers, which those pets with sensitive systems may not be able to tolerate.

Pet food should contain:
NO Steroids
NO Hormones
NO By-Products
NO Artificial Colors or Flavors
NO Corn, Wheat, or Soy
NO Chemical Preservatives

So why shouldn't our pets eat a healthy diet too? Dogs and cats have the potential to live into their 20's when feeding on only fresh, natural, wholesome ingredients.

Pet health is dependent on the pet owner’s desire to have a healthy pet and is directly proportional to diet and nutrition. Pets require many different nutrients in their diets, often in very specific amounts. Natural pet food can help provide additional nutritional support that your pet may require for a number of different reasons.

Natural Pet Food is actually less expensive, and pets can live longer, healthier lives with the proper nutrition. Throwing out the commercial pet food and replacing it with natural pet food is the first step to optimizing your pet's health. The best part about giving your pet natural pet food is that there will not be any chemicals, or other artificial ingredients that they will be consuming that can harm them.

Today there are a wide variety of natural healthy pet food products to choose from and there's been a significant increase in the market share of natural and holistic pet food. Pet food sales are projected to hit 15.2 billion dollars in 2007.

Why would you feed your pet less than human quality ingredients?

Feeding and Keeping Your Dog Healthy

by: Peter Garant

A healthy puppy should be clear-eyed, somewhat roly-poly, loose-skinned, free from any skin trouble, hungry for its meals, and lively. It should not be timid or shy.

If the puppy seems warm or sleepy most of the time, ask one of your parents to take its temperature. A dog’s temperature normally is between 38 and 39 degrees Celsius. If its temperature rises above 39 degrees, call your veterinarian.

When you buy your puppy, ask what shots it has received and when it got them. If it has not received shots to prevent distemper, infectious hepatitis, leptospirosis, and rabies. take it immediately to a veterinarian to have them. Then get yearly boosters.You should also find out whether your puppy has been wormed. Most puppies have worms at some time.

For the first few days, you should feed your puppy the same diet as the owners did. If you wish to change the diet, do so gradually. Each day, feed a little of the new food mixed with the old.

Puppies 6 to 10 weeks old maybe fed 4 times a day. From 10 weeks to 6 months, 3 times a day should be enough. After 6 months, twice daily will serve. And after 1 year, once a day—plus a biscuit for breakfast—is ample.

Meat should be the main part of your dog’s diet. Fresh, canned, or frozen beef or horsemeat are good choices. It is not necessary to cook the meat, but it should be served at room temperature. With the meat, mix a dog meal or kibbled biscuit soaked in hot water, soup, or milk. You can get the meal or biscuit in the supermarket, feed store, or pet shop. Puppies need vitamins and minerals, and your veterinarian can give you vitamin tablets that your dog will enjoy chewing.

Other foods you may safely give your dog are well-cooked chicken, lamb, beef hearts, liver, and leafy vegetables. Hard biscuits of the right size for the dog’s mouth and dog candy will be appreciated too. A little cooked rice or dry toast may help the dog in illness or when it is recovering.

A puppy loses its baby teeth when it is between 4 and 5 months. It will be grateful for beef hide or rawhide strips to chew. You can buy them at supermarkets and pet shops. These strips are also very helpful in keeping the puppy from chewing your shoes and the furniture. Pet shops and markets also carry special hard marrow bones that help in teething and in keeping the new teeth clean and healthy.

Leave a bowl of water so that your dog can have a drink at any time—but remove the supply of water at 5 or 6 PM when you're housebreaking a puppy. This will help the puppy go through the night without mistake.