part 2 of the petfood discussion

ok, so now that you've had time to digest the first part of this discussion, let's move on to the "meat" of the topic. what the heck are byproducts? mmm, heads, feet, feathers, fur, eewwww. i know, in the wild, dogs/cats would eat these things (fur is a great source of fiber), but manufacturers that are putting byproducts in our pet's food are cutting costs, period.

and what about all that corn, wheat, gluten, and soy? not only do they cause a great deal of allergy problems, and health issues, but can be extremely hard to digest and eliminate - especially with cats. if the ingredient list on your bag of food starts with meat followed by 3 or 4 types of grain product, even though the first ingredient is meat, the next 3 or 4 combined outweigh the meat.

i like to feed very simple limited ingredient foods. i look for a food that breaks down into 4 sections - first protein, followed by antioxidants and beneficial oils, followed by pro & pre biotics, and finished off with essential vitamins and minerals. i also like a food that falls in the 22% - 32% range of protein.

if you're going to feed a high quality food, be sure to feed a high quality treat. single protein treats like lamb lung, or chicken strips, etc. are a great way to show the love in more ways than one. generally speaking table food is a no, no, but there are a few things that i eat that i gladly feed my dogs, and that is a topic for another day.

hope you're finding some valuable information here, that is useful either for yourself or someone you know. please feel free to share this link.

thanks for checking in on my blog, come back again soon.

woofs!!!

those first 4 ingredients

now that the initial niceties are out of the way, let's blog. grab your bag and/or can of dog and cat food that you are currently feeding, and let's have a look at the ingredients. many people take the colorful front of the bag (or can) with its fancy graphics, and words like, "healthy", "natural", "complete", blah, blah, blah at face value, never thinking to flip the bag (or can) over to see if the food they're feeding is really "healthy", "natural", well, you get it.

the first 4 ingredients are very telling about the validity of these claims.

the following is generally the first 4 ingredients you will see when you look at a bag of commercial brand dry dog (and in some cases, cat) food - ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour...

believe it or not, none of these ingredients have any nutritional value, and in many cases are the reason why our pets stink, lick their paws, develop hotspots, struggle with their weight, and are constantly sick to their stomachs.

the following is an example of the first 4 ingredients on a bag specialty dry food - chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, brown rice...

omg, is my reaction every time i compare foods. the industry standard is so low that companies can process and package just about anything and market it as healthy, nutritious, complete, blah, blah, blah, and we as consumers think that we are making the best choices for our furry companions based on the colorful, attractive bags with their positive claims.

so, what does your pet food bag (or can) have to say? flip it over, take a minute, check out the first four ingredients, go further, if you dare (we'll be chatting about all the other nasty bits very soon) and then look at your dog and cat, and ask yourself, "what can i do better?".

welcome to my blog

after a great deal of thinking about how i can share more information with customers, friends, fans, and casual observers of woofville & meow town, i have decided to blog. everyday, people come to my store and often in conversation they will share an issue regarding their dog or cat with me. things like, doggie breath, hot spots, paw licking, dull coat, joint pain, naughty behavior, just to name a few. by using this thing called "blogging", my hope is that i can share common issues, and in many cases, easy solutions to some of the challenges of living with a dog or cat.

ultimately, my hope is that woofville & meow town will become your go to place for everything dog & cat, weather it's by visiting my store, website, facebook page, or here.

well, here goes, i'm going to hit the "publish post" button now and take that first leap into the blogosphere ......