Tips for feeding your pet right

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Stacy Busch-Heisserer has been certified in dog and cat nutrition since 2015.

With the new year approaching, we look at how we can be healthier, but have you ever thought about how your pets could be healthier? You might think scooping colorful food out of a bag might be enough for your pet, but think again.

The invention of dry dog food came about as a convenience for pet owners in the 1950s, and that’s exactly what kibble is, a convenience food. It’s overcooked, over-processed and overloaded with synthetic vitamins, needless food colorings and often inferior ingredients. It’s also the No. 1 purchased and fed pet food in the world.

The extreme heat and drying in the process of making kibble actually removes beneficial vitamins, nutrients and moisture your pet needs. While these are added back in the form of synthetics, those can’t completely replicate what comes from fresh, real food. With this extreme overprocessing comes a host of diseases your pets can be affected with. The incidences of diabetes, kidney disease, liver failure and cancer are so prevalent in today’s world, it’s likely your pet will die of one of these ailments, and not of old age like we all hope for.

Dogs and cats ate real food before they were introduced to processed food. Wolves and wild cats don’t eat piles of kibble they find in the wild, so why do we assume dry bagged food is what our pets should eat? With extensive and persuasive marketing, companies have led us to believe pets should not eat real food. That’s incorrect, and frankly, dangerous information.

It’s important to be a conscious pet food consumer. Don’t be fooled by pretty bags and fancy names. Make sure there’s no corn, wheat or soy — or by-products of these — in the food. These are the bad guys that will cause your pet to have allergies, gain weight and leave large piles to clean up. The first ingredient should always be meat, but make sure there’s more meat listed than just the first item.

Pet food ingredients have to be listed from greatest to least, but some companies utilize “ingredient splitting,” where one ingredient is divided into smaller portions and renamed. It’s a sneaky way to artificially boost a more desirable item to a higher spot, while lowering the ranking of a less desirable item. The unfortunate part is not only that it’s deceptive, but it’s completely legal, as well.

Don’t let yourself be talked into the idea that feeding a better-quality food is going to cost you more money. A better-quality dry food alone contains fewer fillers, meaning you actually feed less to your pet, so the cost comes close to the same. And there are ways you can make dry food better.

At Busch Pet Products, we always ask customers if they add water to dry food. Dry dog and cat food has to be digested entirely in the stomach. Adding just enough hot water to the kibble and letting it soak for approximately 10 minutes will help your pet digest the food better, meaning less digestive upset, less guzzling water after eating and better breath.

Other items we recommend adding to your dog’s dry food include bone broth, goat’s milk — dogs and cats are lactose intolerant, so stick with goat milk or even raw cow’s milk if you can find it — blueberries, sardines, and even raw or lightly-cooked eggs.

It's not difficult to make some minor changes to your dog or cat’s diet, with long-term, lasting benefits. It is much easier to spend your money on a good-quality food in the beginning than to have to pay even more money for countless medicines, surgeries and stressful vet visits in the end. At Busch Pet Products, we are all about preventative health. Stop by and let us help you find the right food and treats for your furry family members!