YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT – 10.29.2010

I have received some questions about dog nutrition; in particular, what I feed our 3 furkids.

Luna and Mouse are fed Wellness Super5Mix Large Breed Adult Health Recipe and have been eating this for a couple of years now.  They eat once a day – at night – and their food is sometimes supplemented with raw meat & bones, egg yolks, an occasional tablespoon of high quality oil, cooked oatmeal, raw veggies, fruits, brown rice and warm water to mix.  Mouse eats 4-5 cups daily and Luna eats 2-3 cups daily, depending on their level of activity.  They are not on any dog vitamins or powdered supplements.  They are never fed from our plates – and thus do not steal or beg for food EVER – and we do not give them scraps.  They get Interceptor once a month and are not vaccinated.  Instead, our vet administers vaccine titers yearly to ensure that they have not been exposed to any disease.

Orso is fed Wellness Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy Health Recipe and has been on this food since he was old enough to consume dog food.  As of today, he is being fed 2 times daily, down from 3 times daily.  His breakfast is 3 cups of food and his dinner is 2½ cups of food.  We occasionally supplement his meals with cottage cheese, raw ground turkey or Gerber baby food (beef, turkey or chicken ONLY – no veggies or fruit!!!).  Orso also is given 2 different supplements with his feedings – Prevention Plus Complete Nutritional Formula and Nupro.  Since we are working a lot with him on training and developing his food drive, we are constantly giving him training bites.  We use Wellness Just for Puppy Mini Soft Treats or Bil-Jac Liver Treats, both high quality training treats.  Orso has been getting his required puppy vaccines and will soon get his rabies vaccine.  However, going forward, Orso will not be vaccinated unless mandated by local ordinance (such as in the case of rabies, and even then it’ll be the 3-year vaccine) and will be administered vaccine titers annually.  He has already been started on Interceptor once a month.

All 3 dogs are fed using elevated feeders to aid in digestion and avoid any undue stress on their joints.  Orso is also using a Durapet Slow Feeder to slow down how fast he finishes his meals.

We have made our decisions about our dogs’ wellness routine, which includes nutrition, vaccination and supplementation, based on research.  Vaccines and disease have been linked.  Traditional commercial pet food and disease have been linked.  Low quality supplements and disease have been linked.  All of our decisions are driven by research.  There is a plethora of information on the internet, which makes educating yourself very difficult and confusing.  Also, the marketing dollars spent by most of the big-name commercial dog food companies, such as Iams, Purina & Science Diet, make it very attractive to believe that your pet is receiving top quality pet food – research and investigative reporting strongly indicate otherwise.

For a glimpse of what really goes into commercial pet food, including “4D” meat, which means the animals used in the food are dying, dead, diseased or disabled (this also includes the use of household euthanized pets), consider reading this book:  Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, by Ann N. Martin.

If dog nutrition and holistic wellness are topics that interests you, The Whole Dog Journal is a publication that is very informative with regard to proper care for pets, including annual recommendations of near-human grade dog food.  This publication and the folks who put it together are doing their best to educate dog owners on proper and holistic care.  Below is the cover photo of The Whole Dog Journal’s 2010 list of approved and recommended dog foods.