| Can you comprehend a time when dog food, cat | | | | ground corn and wheat are common pet allergens. |
| food, or pet treats did not even exist? | | | | Also keep this in mind when choosing a cat food or a |
| The very first commercial dog food was a product | | | | dog food. |
| produced in the year 1860. James Pratt, an American, | | | | Artificial food coloring is widely used even though |
| was visiting England from the US when he saw dogs | | | | they are completely unnecessary and have even |
| surviving off left-over biscuits from ships. So he | | | | been linked to medical issues. It is believed by some |
| prepared a dog biscuit product consisting of wheat | | | | in the medical field that if an ingredient is foreign to |
| meal, vegetable, beetroot and meat, and began | | | | the body the body reacts to it and can cause |
| selling them entirely to British rural gentlemen who | | | | numerous health issues. Pets care more about taste |
| owned sporting dogs. | | | | than color. |
| Much has changed since then....... as our ideas of | | | | By-products are an easy way for dog food or cat |
| nutrition have advanced, so have our pets' foods. | | | | food and treat firms to keep costs down. Instead of |
| New products such as dry kibble, canned foods, and | | | | using whole meats, they use by-products. These are |
| moist products have varied our choices substantially. | | | | obviously the less desirable parts of animals. |
| For many dog and cat owners, the food that we | | | | Essentially, by-products are all of the items that you |
| give our animals means a great deal, while the treats | | | | would not willingly feed to your pet. Stawa away |
| we give them are merely an afterthought. Even the | | | | from them if possible. |
| most health-conscious pet owners who purchase | | | | There are a number of other items that the labels do |
| expensive cat and dog food often go to the | | | | not always reveal to us. For example, condemned |
| supermarket and buy the least expensive treats. | | | | parts of animals not good enough for human injestion |
| Why is it that so many of us have a habit of feeding | | | | are sometimes rerouted into commercial treats. |
| our pets top shelf foods and then give them | | | | These parts may be the parts of animals who are |
| relatively poor treats with the nutritional value of | | | | dead, dying, decayed or even diseased |
| paper? We ask a lot of our pets' foods. Even the | | | | In addition, certain meats, grains and other ingredients |
| healthiest cat or dog food does not have everything. | | | | cannot be sold for use by people. They are either |
| Each pet has specific needs. | | | | damaged or else the meat does not have the look |
| Because we only feed our pets around 2 times a day | | | | that the US Dept. of Agriculture officials want. Sadly, |
| or so, treats are a superb supplement to their diets. | | | | we cannot always decipher this from the label. This |
| Even 2 or 3 treats a day really adds up in the long | | | | goes for treats, dog food as well as cat food. |
| haul. If we are going to add calories, they really | | | | Furthermore, some companies have lower standards |
| should be healthy ones. | | | | pertaining to the freshness of the ingredients they |
| Your supermarket is filled with treats that are full of | | | | use. Though there should be a "use by" date or code |
| poor ingredients. Here are a few things you will | | | | on most packages. We would not eat stale cookies |
| definately want to look out for: | | | | so why would we want to give anything but fresh |
| Soybean meal, wheat, wheat meal, corn gluten meal, | | | | ingredients to our pets? Again this applies to dog |
| corn meal, whole/crushed corn, and maize are very | | | | food and treats and cat products. |
| frequently used for their protein. They cost far less | | | | For additional information go to Dog Food, Premium, |
| to include in a treat than the superior quality | | | | from Life's Abundance and find out about premium |
| carbohydrates or meat protein such as chicken or | | | | dog food and healthy pet products. |
| fish. In addition to this, soybean meal as well as | | | | |