Nutrition

This has been bugging me for months. Animal nutrition. For years, the general public has trusted many "high end" brands to feed their dogs and cats, and many of us have fallen for it. 

MEAL BY-PODUCTS

These CORPORATIONS have very smart, highly-paid marketing teams who work everyday to convince us that crap is good for our pets. And the larger the corporation, the lower the quality of their product. 

These companies have figured out a way to get us to trust their labels without researching their ingredients. One common example is meal by-products. The Hills and Royal Canin brands are some of the largest culprits. They have convinced us that meal by-products are FOOD. Do you know what meal by-products are? If you love and care about your pet, you should know EXACTLY what you are feeding it. So why take THEIR word for it? Let me tell you something that might shock you. NO ONE CARES MORE ABOUT YOUR PET THAN YOU DO. Meal by-products are the undigestible parts of an animal, such as hooves, snouts, feet, undeveloped eggs...essentially the waste products of meat processing…what's left AFTER the edible parts have been removed (probably scraped off the slaughterhouse floor, if you ask me). 

CORN

A vet prescribed one of our family cats a Hills diet to help her lose weight. She prescribed Hills T/D Dental Health, because it was the lowest calorie food they had available. Months later, she has NOT lost a single pound. She is currently 15 pounds. I read the label, and this is what I found...

Does anything stand out? Well, I've covered some of the by-product problem. Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn. SERIOUSLY. THIS is what they prescribe an overweight cat???

You might say, well, this particular vet is an idiot. Yes, in this case, she was. Or who knows…the Wall Street Journal came out with an article earlier this year you might want to read about how the Hills corporation gives veterinary hospitals incentives and puts veterinarians through school… So who do you think is teaching nutrition at school?

But…DOES Hills make an actual low-calorie diet for cats? They do. Hills R/D Feline Weight Loss-Low Calorie. Get this. The first three ingredients are EXACTLY THE SAME, except in this order: Brewer's Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal.

What is wrong with this picture? Three things.

1) The vet recommended a prescription diet. Why does ANY animal need a medicated diet for weight loss? How about play with it for a few minutes a day? Or don't leave food out. Or feed it a WHOLESOME diet so that it won't be craving food all day? Just some thoughts.

2) The vet sold the WRONG prescription diet because it is all they HAD. This means that instead of suggesting another veterinary hospital for the correct product, she recommended next best thing, because it was somehow in their best interests to have it purchased THERE.

3) CORN. CATS ARE OBLIGATE CARNIVORES. This means that their bodies are HIGHLY dependent on a high-protein diet. If this is so, WHY are the first ingredients on these foods anything but? And why would ANY low-calorie diet have CORN in it? Cats CANNOT digest corn well! They get very little nutritional value from it. It takes several hours to digest. AND cats have a short digestive tract, so food needs to be broken up quickly before it leaves their bodies. Shouldn't Hills know this? I mean, they are "soooo high-end" and all.

MONEY

It's the same reason your Doritos (crap) bag is mostly air and not enough chip! It's why Lucky Charms (crap) has way less marshmallows than it should have! It's why they always put extra ice in your soda (crap) and not enough soda!!! BECAUSE it increases the overall protein level of the food, and is thus a CHEAP FILLER. 

STAYING TRUE TO NATURE

We are learning more and more everyday about eating organic, gluten-free, hormone and antibiotic-free food. WE are NOT living off of human pellets or canned food. Why should our pets? All my cats have been eating a raw food diet for over a year now without incidence. They might not need to hunt anymore, but their digestive systems remain unchanged from that of their wild counterparts. They are eating what their bodies are designed to digest. 

IS IT SAFE?

Absolutely. But always do your research! These companies are small enough that if ANYTHING were to happen, they'd probably be at risk of shutting down. Their goal is quality. They are run by people who LOVE animals. If it is done right, salmonella and E. coli WILL NEVER be a problem. They are not so much in it for the money. Yes, like the M&Ms commercial says. THEY DO EXIST. But question everything! Ask where their meat comes from, how it's slaughtered, how it's cleaned… They'll give you an answer. Try asking Hills!

Throwing a handful of kibble into your pet's food bowl might save you a ton of time, but it is likely to cause long-term degenerative illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and renal disease, a couple of which I have personal experience with, and in a very small way… has been a blessing in disguise.

And hey, if raw still freaks you out, cook it a little. A Little. 

If that's STILL too much, there is hydrostatic high pressure (HHP) raw food (i.e Primal pet foods and Stella and Chewy's).

And if it's just no use… at least get kibble with wholesome ingredients, ingredients you can read and understand (i.e. Blue Buffalo). Although anything that has been cooked under such high temperatures probably has very little nutrition left in it.

TRUSTED COMPANIES

I've used all of the above, and still feed Stella and Chewy's to my girls. But here are some raw food companies I whole heartedly trust and currently use:

Bioethics Pet Food - They are by far my favorite. You can find them at the Hollywood Farmer's Market every Sunday and just recently, at Tailwaggers in Hollywood. The owner ACTUALLY formulates a special diet for Sweetie to help treat her kidney disease, all achieved through natural, local ingredients. Needless to say, her BUN and Creatinine levels have been great! They make homemade cooked food too and jerky!

Small Batch Pet - Small family owned company. Sustainable sources. Organic, hormone-free and antibiotic free.

Stella and Chewy's - Products produced from start to finish at their plant. They clean and sanitize their machines at the end of every day. Every batch is tested for E. coli and Salmonella before shipping. 

Rad Food - Small, family owned and operated. Antibiotic and hormone free. Certified organic. Free-range or pasture-raised. No preservatives, by-products, or grains.

PLUS… everything is energy. You can rest assured that the meat from these companies carries a different energy than the meat from animals who have lived a tortured existence. So by feeding your animals a good quality diet from a small company, you are also supporting animal welfare. Cheers!

DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY

We live in a highly commercialized world, and sometimes we trust too often, so my intent is to inform the misinformed… not bash or insult. I'm also not a know it all, but I like to question and research. I know the "better" diets can also be pricier, and for many of us working in rescue, for example, we can't afford to feed all our fosters a raw diet. It would absolutely break the bank! But just know that if you CAN do it…there are other options.

Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food. -Hippocrates