Read The Labels!

I read an article that was posted last week about poison being found in pet food. It’s another reason to always read the label. Sometimes I feel like I need to be a chemist when I read the labels on pet food. I have a degree in English and still can’t pronounce the ingredients. You can find the article at http://ktna.org/2012/01/04/thousands-of-pet-deaths-caused-by-antifreeze-in-pet-food/.

I found out from the article that cheaper semi-moist foods contain Propylene Glycol as a preservative. You would know it better as antifreeze. It doesn’t take much antifreeze to kill your pet. A little bit does a lot of damage.

Propylene Glycol is used in both dog and cat food. So you aren’t safe because you have one or the other. Antifreeze poisoning causes kidney failure. Your pet will have excessive water intake, finicky eating habits, and weight loss. And there’s not much you can do to reverse it.

Other than reading the ingredients label and switching foods, you could cook your pets’ food yourself. You will know what is in it and how fresh it is. There wasn’t a huge pet food market 50 or 60 years ago. Pets ate a lot of leftovers because there wasn’t kibble in the store. You could get canned food in some places but that was about it.

Do an internet search for “homemade dog or cat food recipes.” You’ll get hundreds of pages of recipes. It’s a lot of information to wade through but you’ll find some easy recipes to cook. Some of them can be done in a crock pot so you don’t even have to be in the kitchen standing over a hot stove.

An alternative to cooking your own pet food is to use the raw diets available. There are several kinds from several companies. You can get them at pet supply stores. You can also get Fresh Pet meals in the grocery store. Munchkin loves the raw nuggets and the Fresh Pet meals. The Queen of Picky Eaters knows what’s good!

Two good places to look for recipes are www.all-natural-dog-treat.com and www.allthebestpetcare.com. You can also check out The Honest Kitchen. They have a cook book and sell ready made meals too.

So, start reading the ingredients on your pet food. You need to know what is in the food your pet eats. And, you would be amazed at what companies will put in pet food just to make a buck.

If you’re like me and planning what to get for Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day, You can get great gifts and help 2 local shelters. New Kent County Humane Society is having a Scentsy party. Send an email to warmingmoments@gmail.com and mention NKHS. Ten percent of net proceeds goes to NKHS.

Dogs Deserve Better is also having a Scentsy party. Go to www.buildingmemories.scentsy.us and look for the DDB party. The consultant is donating 50 percent of her commission to DDB during the month of January. There’s also a prize for the person with the highest order.

Get you calendars out! I’ll have the weekend events for you tomorrow!

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