Notes and Photos from the April Social. Thanks to Iman of Lola & Baxter for being our guest expert! We had a great time!
The first three photos in the slide show are by Houston photographer, byryanb.com.
Watch Pet Fooled. It’s a short hour long documentary on Netflix that will give you a ton of info about making better choices for your pup when it comes to what you are feeding them
Add real food to your current pet food to make it instantly healthier. You can add a raw egg to the food, steamed veggies, fish oil, fruits like blueberries, cranberries, and apples. Carrots help their eyes, and green veggies instantly gives their meal an upgrade.
Is your pet food from the USA or Canada? Canadian pet food standards are way higher than the USA. If you want to know more about the food you are feeding, check online. I use dogfoodadvisor.com and petsumerreport.com. You can sign up to get pet food recall alerts on Dog Food Advisor. I get them and unfortunately I get them way too often. It’s good to stay on top of these things.
Find out what is the main protein source in your pet food. What is the difference between Chicken, Chicken Meal, Chicken by-product? Stay away from anything that has by-product after it. And if they don’t name the meat. For example, some say Meat, or Bone Meal. No one knows what that really is. If they knew they would prob tell us. Amiright? You can bet it is low quality.
If it says, Chicken Meal that’s a good sign, it means that it has more condensed protein. It was weighed after it was dehydrated. AND if it just says ‘Chicken’, they are weighing it before its dehydrated and added to dry food. So that is a little misleading. Not to be confused with Fish Meal, which is suspect and poor quality.
Look to see what ingredients are on the package of your pet food. What ingredients should I watch out for? When looking at the label, I look at the first 5 ingredients. This is what the food is mostly made up of. But some of the ingredients that are bad and cause food allergies are wheat, corn gluten meal, canola oil, sugar, soy, there are more but these are the ones that I def stay away from.
Be aware when buying pet food. When they say Natural, Artisan, Holsitic it can sometimes mean the opposite. Brand marketing is confusing. Hallo Marketing! Because the standards are loosy goosy, you really have to be mindful and not just pick up a new food because the packaging looks healthy.
AAFCO standards can be suspect too. They have the basic standards in place. But just because they say it’s balanced, they don’t know what is making up those percentages. What type of protein is in there? Is it real chicken, or is it from corn gluten?
Have you considered home cooking or trying some of the real food companies that deliver? Real food can help keep pets healthier longer and help them heal. Lots of pet foods have chemical and toxic ingredients. 50% of dogs get cancer. If real food helps us hoomans feel better and heal, then it makes sense that it can do the same for our pets.
In my last blog post I talk about what foods Akasha has recently tried and how we deal with her being a picky eater.
This checklist and info is based on my research, Iman of Lola and Baxter, and my opinion. Do your own research too, ok? I follow Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Becker on Facebook. They are excellent advocates.
We are proud to be the first to join Lola & Baxter’s Health Ambassador Program for Pet Info and Education. I’m a HAPPIE Ambassador! Stay tuned for more from Lola & Baxter!