Providing a balanced, nutritionally complete diet for our domesticated dogs and cats can be challenging. Most animal professionals recommend dry kibbles calling them a complete and balanced diet. You see fancy commercials all claiming to be the best dry food for your beloved pet. This cannot be farther from the truth. In fact, in some [...]

It is important to provide protein for all stages of your pet’s life. Protein is essential in early stages to sustain rapid development, and as your pet ages, protein provides regenerative support. The labels on commercial pet foods list crude protein values, which indicate overall protein in the package rather than the amount of usable [...]

Meat by-products: The “by-products” from the meat, but not including meat: lungs, spleen, kidneys, brains, liver, blood, bone, intestines, none of which are fit for human consumption. Livers can be infected with worms (liver flukes), lungs with pneumonia, kidneys and brains can be cancerous. – Ann Martin, Foods Pets Die For, (New Sage Press, 1997.) [...]

You’ve seen animal kills on television nature shows. When a wolf pack makes a kill in the wild, the alpha wolf gets first choice at the feast. What does he go for? He consumes the GI tract of the prey. The digestive enzymes in the stomach of the prey are important in helping carnivores to [...]

Put the lime in the coconut… This song conjures up good feelings about coconuts- but it doesn’t let you in on the secret of the amazing coconut oil inside. Coconut oil has received a bad rap because it is a saturated fat; however its health benefits come from medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA). MCFAs do not [...]

The term “fiber” refers to the tough plant cell walls that are resistant to digestion by GI tracts. Although there is not a physiologic requirement for additional fiber in our pet food, almost all commercial foods include it as filler. High quality pet food manufacturers rely on whole grains (such as whole barley or whole [...]

The cats that share our homes have diverse personalities. We describe them as playful, aloof, nosy, cuddly, and maybe even finicky. Most cats are not shy about letting us know which foods they prefer, and which foods are not fit for their discriminating tastes. As conscientious cat owners, we want to provide a diet that [...]

Does your dog suffer from persistent yeast infections? Many dogs suffer from canine candida, an organism classified as both a yeast and a fungus. Symptoms are often misdiagnosed as allergies or rashes, and can appear as skin outbreaks on the feet, face, underarm, underbelly, or genital areas. Yeast infections can also appear as recurring hot [...]

In today’s world it seems that pet allergies have taken on a life all their own. As pet parents, we are constantly battling excessive chewing, licking and scratching, recurring ear infections, and idiopathic hair loss. Add to these issues digestive upset, foul body odor, dull and brittle coat, dry and flakey or oily skin and [...]