With the recent dog food recalls and the general issues about feeding your pets heathy food some companies have come out with all natural, and holistic dog foods. Some of the brands I’ve looked into are Nature’s Best and Holistic Blue. Many dog foods contain by products things you’d never want to eat let alone want your dog to eat. Beaks, feet and worse. A problem with a lot of these by products is that they may have come from contaminated animals meaning you’d be passing on diseases to your dogs this way.
Some breeders have even begun feeding raw foods on the premise that animals in the wild lived on raw foods. My thoughts on this are that one. It’s too difficult to prepare two: dogs in the wild didn’t live all that long living like this. Dogs used to live on scraps once they became part of a family and then dog food companies were developed as a way to get rid of all those animal by products.
Blue has no animal by products or artifical preservatives, colors or flavors. It has no corn, soy proteins (glutens) or wheat. Dogs did not eat grains in the wild. They are meat eaters. The corn, soy wheat items are more like fillers in other brands of dog food. Dogs do need fiber to avoid intestinal and anal sac problems. I have two little Chihuahuas and was told by my Veterinarian that when dogs were downsized through breeding it caused problems like anal sac issues because everything in their bodies became unnaturally smaller. The sacs couldn’t be expelled properly.
Blue contains deboned chicken (now see, other breeders are giving bones if they are feeding their dogs the raw diet). Blue uses wholesome whole grains, garden vegetables and fruit and little bits they call life source bits that contain Glucosamine Chondroitin, nutrients and antitioxidants for an extra measure of protection. The Glucosamine Chondroitin is important for bone health, especially in older dogs. We’ve been giving our dogs Glucosamine as an additive since one of our dogs has a luxating patella (knee pops out of joint, his back rear leg is always at an odd angle)and were trying to prevent the need for surgery.
If you go to the Blue site you can enter your current brand of dog or cat food and do a comparison of ingredients.This is an informative site and can give you a lot of good information.
Nature’s Best is produced by the same company that makes Science Diet, Hill’s. When you buy this branad $5 is donated to hep pets find adoptive homes. This sits well with me since I’m a foster to cats right now.
Nature’s Best uses fresh chicken as a first ingredient. It contains Chicken meal that is good for your dogs coat skin and muscle. This is the second ingredient. Third are wholesome grains similar to Blue. This would include brown rice, whole wheat, oats and barley for fiber, vitamins and fatty acids. Fourth is Vegetables. Carrots,peas and broccoli to maintain your pets immune system and add fiber as well as antioxidants and phytonutrients The comes apples and cranberries for Vitamin C & F (support immune system) and lastly egg. Egg builds lean muscle , it’s a source of protein and ammino acid. This helps maintain a shiny coat and build muscle. For some reason the vegetables come from North america and Europe. WHy? I don’t know. I prefer all ingredients come from the USA especially since we’ve had problems with China.
So, I’ve read up on both of these products, I’m blending them slowly with my dogs current foods to see which they will actually eat and i’m stilldeciding which is the preferred food. Each has it’s good points.
We’ve already invested so much money and love into our animals we want to give them the best possible nutrition. If you feel this way as well, do a little homework and read up on these homeopathic foods.
