When it comes to Pet Food, it seems there is no Consumer Advocacy Group looking out for pet owners. Actually, the same can be said for human foods.

Owning a pet is a huge responsibility. Proper feeding is just one aspect of ownership that is often overlooked. The original purpose of domesticating dogs and cats was cheap labor. Cats are used by farmers as mousers, dogs as herders, hunters, and protection.

These working relationships no doubt led to some close relationships. Over time, working animals (or more likely their offspring) were sold or given away to city folk. Today, over 90 million suburban households own an average of 1.67 cats or dogs, or over 150 million domestic cats and dogs.

You Can Domesticate Cats and Dogs but Not Their Diets

Wild or feral animals hunt and eat fresh kill. They also instinctively eat grass and dirt for the micronutrients and soil-based organisms needed to properly digest the meat.

When they kill an herbivore they first consume its' entrails which usually contain plenty of greens and digestive enzymes needed to break down, digest and eliminate the flesh. The closer pet owners come to replicating the diet of their feral relatives, the healthier and happier their domestic pets will be.

The recent pet food recall offers a glimpse of what is wrong with entrusting your pet's nutrition to corporations. If you own a cat or dog, Google "Dog Food Secrets". I was aware of much of what this book exposes, but it still left my mouth agape.

Wet pet foods are made from meat that failed to pass inspection for human consumption. Even the meats that are approved- cattle, pork, chicken etc, are all being given growth and fattening hormones, and antibiotics, and highly questionable feed. Additionally, according to the "Dog Food Secrets" book, wet foods likely contains euthanized pets!

Dry foods are just as bad, but in different ways. Feral cats and dogs would have to be starving before they would eat the ingredients found in dry pet foods. If for no other reason, these ingredients do not provide what they need to sustain good health.

Why is "gluten" an ingredient in dry pet food? It's a binder for the grains. It helps to hold this nutrition-less bulk together for the final insult- the extrusion process. Dry pet foods are extruded under high temperature and high pressure. If the ingredients actually had any nutritional value, the very process is sufficient to destroy it. About the best thing you can say about dry pet food is that it's "convenient"!

There is an old saying "You can pay me now, or pay me later." And that's exactly the result of many generations of domestic cats and dogs being fed commercial pet foods. Where humans typically only have one generation of offspring, animals raised for breeding can easily have 5 or more. Each generation inherits the weaknesses of the previous generations. Today, millions of kittens and puppies are predisposed to an unhealthy life.

Parallels can be drawn between commercial pet foods and human fast foods. Human and animal diseases are at an all time high. GI disorders are varied and common. Both are on multiple medications.

What are the common denominators? Fast, nutrition-less foods, chlorinated water, not taking advantage of bioavailable supplements/digestive aids, and lack of exercise.

According to The Royal Society of Medicine Great Britain, "Fully 90% of all chronic disease is caused by an unhealthy intestinal system."

GI disorders among cats and dogs is epidemic. Conventional treatment is archaic, potentially causing further damage to already weakened animals.

Stop The Insanity

It is up to the pet owner to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their pets. Local bookstores, libraries, and the internet offer a wealth of knowledge regarding proper care and feeding. Of course, many of these periodicals have their own agenda, so be alert to look for the most natural approaches to training, feeding, and exercising.

Generations at The Blink of an Eye

Purchasing a sheltered, or pet store pet is risky business. Aside from proper feeding and care, the best way to assure that your pet lives a long healthy life is to know how well the breeder cared for the mother, and the mother's mother. Pets are capable of having numerous liters within their lifetime. This is common in feral animals and commercial breeders (mills). Each subsequent generation carries more of the health risk from the previous generation.

Without healthy foods, even healthy animals will decline genetically within several litters.

The good news: Animals that are predisposed to diseases are less likely to do so when fed a healthy diet. Genetic predispositions can be bred out over several generations of proper feeding.