Today I had a shopper wagging her finger at a dog food company, yet buying their kibble. She wagged her finger and said "Shame on them!" but still bought their food!
She doesn't want to read the labels, she doesn't want to feed fresh, but she wants to have an opinion nonetheless.
Too many people still want the easy way out when feeding their pets. That's what started this whole mess in the first place - No one was paying attention!!
Complacency is already on its way back.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
If all this pet food recall business hasn't convinced you yet...
Come on folks! If you still trust these food companies you're crazy! or lazy? There's a whole secret, incestuous world of pet food the world is just now getting a glimpse of.
I've discovered the wonderful Dogster blog to follow along on all the latest news and opinion on this topic.
And it's finally come to haunt me directly at work - one of the foods I sell at the store had a recall. We had a sign out saying "Safe Pet Food Here" with a big arrow. Now we joke about crossing out the arrow and writing in a question mark. Or pointing the arrow directly at our freezers of raw food.
Fresh is best! Of course you need to worry about livestock eating contaminated food too. Funny how this pet food scare has opened people's eyes up to the food chain they use too. Let's see how long they stay open.
I've discovered the wonderful Dogster blog to follow along on all the latest news and opinion on this topic.
And it's finally come to haunt me directly at work - one of the foods I sell at the store had a recall. We had a sign out saying "Safe Pet Food Here" with a big arrow. Now we joke about crossing out the arrow and writing in a question mark. Or pointing the arrow directly at our freezers of raw food.
Fresh is best! Of course you need to worry about livestock eating contaminated food too. Funny how this pet food scare has opened people's eyes up to the food chain they use too. Let's see how long they stay open.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Recent Meal - Just Stir!
Homemade flaked grain mix (quinoa, oat, spelt, maybe something else), poured hot water over it.
Tad of Honest Kitchen Preference (hot water again)
Coconut oil (the white chunk at the top)
Western Supreme Lamb (meat, organs, veg - great mix!)
Wholistic Pet Canine Complete
Animal Essentials Calcium (the other white splotches).
Animal Essentials Omega 3 Oil
-------------------
The homemade grain mix is so easy if you have a health food store that has bulk and boxed grains and cereals. For a few bucks I have a big bag full that will last me a while (since it's a minor portion of a meal when I use it).
It's easy once you have the supplies. If you don't have a local store that carries it you can get most online.
The hard part is the organ meats. I love Western Supreme because, depending on the species, you can get parts like spleen and kidney, which aren't commonly available. You should use more than liver! Heart is excellent - halfway between muscle and organ, high in taurine, among other attributes. Remember, every part of the carcass has it's nutritional benefit.
While the Preference has calcium, I didn't use enough to cover the whole meal, so I included the calcium powder.
I worry less about developing deficiencies because I strive for variety, within which I balance as best I know how.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Junk Food - from owner to pet (now I get it)
Driving trips can put you to the test for healthy eating and healthy feeding. Feeding the dog was easy compared to feeding myself.
Driving alone means you don't have someone to help prepare food. It also means that you're more likely to look at food as entertainment (I drove for four and a half days this trip). I have a great book called Healthy Highways that tells you where all the health food stores and vegetarian restaurants are. I love this book, and use it, but not for every meal. I don't have the time nor the patience to find the places, then spend a precious hour eating there. I want to get the long trip done. So I do what everyone does, eat while I drive, and eat fast food.
Fast food is usually a novelty for me. Not that I have the healthiest diet, but jeez, how do people eat this stuff every day? Every day! You know lots of people do. No wonder they look at you crooked when you talk about health food for pets.
If people eat processed food, fast food, fried salty food every day, their perspective on their pet's food will reflect that. Not that they want to feed their pet badly, but their understanding of what's healthy is skewed by their own experience.
They also have a skewed idea of convenience. If they drive through and pick up a burger that they eat while driving, of course doing more than scooping dry food that they pick up at the supermarket will seem like too much. I've heard that so often, that they won't do more for their dog than they do for themselves, and they do so little for themselves.
I need to have compassion for where they're coming from, but sometimes it seems so obvious that indeed they feed themselves badly, that I can't understand how they do it day in and day out.
No wonder there are rampant health problems related to food - in people and in pets.
Driving alone means you don't have someone to help prepare food. It also means that you're more likely to look at food as entertainment (I drove for four and a half days this trip). I have a great book called Healthy Highways that tells you where all the health food stores and vegetarian restaurants are. I love this book, and use it, but not for every meal. I don't have the time nor the patience to find the places, then spend a precious hour eating there. I want to get the long trip done. So I do what everyone does, eat while I drive, and eat fast food.
Fast food is usually a novelty for me. Not that I have the healthiest diet, but jeez, how do people eat this stuff every day? Every day! You know lots of people do. No wonder they look at you crooked when you talk about health food for pets.
If people eat processed food, fast food, fried salty food every day, their perspective on their pet's food will reflect that. Not that they want to feed their pet badly, but their understanding of what's healthy is skewed by their own experience.
They also have a skewed idea of convenience. If they drive through and pick up a burger that they eat while driving, of course doing more than scooping dry food that they pick up at the supermarket will seem like too much. I've heard that so often, that they won't do more for their dog than they do for themselves, and they do so little for themselves.
I need to have compassion for where they're coming from, but sometimes it seems so obvious that indeed they feed themselves badly, that I can't understand how they do it day in and day out.
No wonder there are rampant health problems related to food - in people and in pets.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
Travel Food
A road trip with raw food is tricky. Ease depends on your willingness to cut corners - nothing my dog can survive, I say. If you have some raw, some dehydrated, and a little dry and canned, it's no problem.
Now that even modest motels often have fridges in the rooms, you can do almost anything.
I bring a couple servings of raw food and cocoon them in a cooler. Anyone can feed at least a day and a half that way.
I have a little bit of Holistique kibble in a ziplock, and some small pop-top cans of merrick stew (yes, dog food). These are for those quick and late dinners.
If I can warm up some water I have Honest Kitchen.
I'm foregoing Oils on the drive, only bringing along my Wholistic Pet all-in-one pouch for supplementation. Once I get to my vacation destination I'll share my flax oil with her. Figure a month off of coconut oil is a good switch. We'll see, since I've been feeding it consistently since November (when I get back I'll switch off the wholistic pet for awhile).
Should only take 4 days from CA to NH.
Once I get there I should be able to get some prepared raw food. It's a bit of a drive, so I also have Honest Kitchen and some flaked grains, so I'm good to go.
It's odd trying to figure out how much one's dog eats in a month. Who really calculates that?
Of course I can't forget the chewies! Fish skins and bully stix!
Now that even modest motels often have fridges in the rooms, you can do almost anything.
I bring a couple servings of raw food and cocoon them in a cooler. Anyone can feed at least a day and a half that way.
I have a little bit of Holistique kibble in a ziplock, and some small pop-top cans of merrick stew (yes, dog food). These are for those quick and late dinners.
If I can warm up some water I have Honest Kitchen.
I'm foregoing Oils on the drive, only bringing along my Wholistic Pet all-in-one pouch for supplementation. Once I get to my vacation destination I'll share my flax oil with her. Figure a month off of coconut oil is a good switch. We'll see, since I've been feeding it consistently since November (when I get back I'll switch off the wholistic pet for awhile).
Should only take 4 days from CA to NH.
Once I get there I should be able to get some prepared raw food. It's a bit of a drive, so I also have Honest Kitchen and some flaked grains, so I'm good to go.
It's odd trying to figure out how much one's dog eats in a month. Who really calculates that?
Of course I can't forget the chewies! Fish skins and bully stix!
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