Pets Information

How Are You Treating Your Pet?


Can you comprehend a time when dog food, cat food, or pet treats did not even exist?

The very first commercial dog food was a product produced in the year 1860. James Pratt, an American, was visiting England from the US when he saw dogs surviving off left-over biscuits from ships. So he prepared a dog biscuit product consisting of wheat meal, vegetable, beetroot and meat, and began selling them entirely to British rural gentlemen who owned sporting dogs.

Much has changed since then....... as our ideas of nutrition have advanced, so have our pets' foods.

New products such as dry kibble, canned foods, and moist products have varied our choices substantially.

For many dog and cat owners, the food that we give our animals means a great deal, while the treats we give them are merely an afterthought. Even the most health-conscious pet owners who purchase expensive cat and dog food often go to the supermarket and buy the least expensive treats. Why is it that so many of us have a habit of feeding our pets top shelf foods and then give them relatively poor treats with the nutritional value of paper? We ask a lot of our pets' foods. Even the healthiest cat or dog food does not have everything. Each pet has specific needs. Because we only feed our pets around 2 times a day or so, treats are a superb supplement to their diets. Even 2 or 3 treats a day really adds up in the long haul. If we are going to add calories, they really should be healthy ones.

Your supermarket is filled with treats that are full of poor ingredients. Here are a few things you will definately want to look out for: Soybean meal, wheat, wheat meal, corn gluten meal, corn meal, whole/crushed corn, and maize are very frequently used for their protein. They cost far less to include in a treat than the superior quality carbohydrates or meat protein such as chicken or fish. In addition to this, soybean meal as well as ground corn and wheat are common pet allergens. Also keep this in mind when choosing a cat food or a dog food.

Artificial food coloring is widely used even though they are completely unnecessary and have even been linked to medical issues. It is believed by some in the medical field that if an ingredient is foreign to the body the body reacts to it and can cause numerous health issues. Pets care more about taste than color. By-products are an easy way for dog food or cat food and treat firms to keep costs down. Instead of using whole meats, they use by-products. These are obviously the less desirable parts of animals.

Essentially, by-products are all of the items that you would not willingly feed to your pet. Stawa away from them if possible.

There are a number of other items that the labels do not always reveal to us. For example, condemned parts of animals not good enough for human injestion are sometimes rerouted into commercial treats. These parts may be the parts of animals who are dead, dying, decayed or even diseased

In addition, certain meats, grains and other ingredients cannot be sold for use by people. They are either damaged or else the meat does not have the look that the US Dept. of Agriculture officials want. Sadly, we cannot always decipher this from the label. This goes for treats, dog food as well as cat food.

Furthermore, some companies have lower standards pertaining to the freshness of the ingredients they use. Though there should be a "use by" date or code on most packages. We would not eat stale cookies so why would we want to give anything but fresh ingredients to our pets? Again this applies to dog food and treats and cat products.

For additional information go to Dog Food, Premium, from Life's Abundance and find out about premium dog food and healthy pet products.

Ryan Joseph is a writer and researcher. For more info. go to http://www.premium4pets.com and http://www.premium-cat-food.com/


MORE RESOURCES:

Pets' Corner: Will our holiday set back our cat's rehabilitation?
Independent, UK - 42 minutes ago
When we take in pets that have had a rocky start in life they usually come with baggage. Some behaviour that they display, like wariness of strangers or ...


Calgary Herald

Hurricane Gustav Means Save Your Pet, Save Your Life
PR Web (press release), WA - 15 hours ago
A Zogby International study found that 44 percent of those who stayed behind when Hurricane Katrina hit did so because they wouldn't abandon their pets. ...
Video: New Orleans Braces For Gustav CBS
Pet shelters emptying cages as Gustav approaches The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
250 dogs, cats to leave New Orleans before storm St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bayou Buzz - AFP
all 5,647 news articles


Remember Pets in Family Emergency Plans
MarketWatch - Aug 28, 2008
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind., Aug 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Pets are often overlooked during disasters and emergencies, as seen during the recent ...


Group offers rides for pets to be sterilized at Harrisonburg clinic
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - 54 minutes ago
After pet owners pay in advance for a spay or neuter procedure, the vans will take animals to Harrisonburg for surgery and return the animals the next day, ...


The Sims 2 Apartment Pets and Apartment Life Now Available
Gamers Hell, UK - 2 hours ago
Electronic Arts announced that The Sims 2 Apartment Life for the PC and The Sims 2 Apartment Pets for the Nintendo DS are now available across North America ...


World Rabies Day Reminder - Vaccinate Pets
MarketWatch - Aug 28, 2008
It's more important than ever to vaccinate pets. Unfortunately, cats are less likely than dogs to be vaccinated against rabies, and as a result, ...


Things we do for the love of pets
Akron Beacon Journal, OH - 7 hours ago
Or you can clean 'em with these tips By Mary Beth Breckenridge Pets can be stinky, slobbery, messy and hairy. And they can be just so darned endearing, ...


Pets column: Teen's fowl behavior starts early, flourishes
Akron Beacon Journal, OH - 5 hours ago
The family eats the eggs but keeps the chickens strictly as pets. Adam's reputation as a bird man has wings at Tallmadge High School, and he is a steadfast ...


Longview animal shelter preparing to take in pets
KLTV, TX - 3 hours ago
Happy Days Kennel in Longview is preparing to take in pets of evacuees from Gustav. They'll be available 24/7 all weekend long at (903) 746-DOGS (3647). ...


Change in Pet Evacuation Plan
WWL, LA - 28 minutes ago
Lafourche Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness will ONLY be assisting with the evacuation of pets from those residents who need transportation. ...

Pets - Google News

home | site map
© 2006