BETTER PET CARE

Our pets deserve better care as well.  Alternative care will often have more positive results with our pets than with adults--resulting in fewer health issues and lower vet bills.  This is because most pets weigh a lot less than human adults so they are more easily affected by toxins in the house, poor diet, and over-vaccination--much like our smaller human children tend to be more easily affected by negative environmental issues for the same reasons.

FEEDING

Let's stop and think about feeding for just a minute.  Forget about advertising.  Forget about what we have been told.  Let's put on our thinking caps, use a bit of common sense, and think for ourselves.  Think about what is considered good food for humans.  What does a cow or horse eat?  How about zoo animals--what do they eat?  Do animals get viruses like us?  Of course!  Do animals get degenerative diseases such as cancer like us?  Of course?  Do they have an immune system like us?  Of course!

Do you believe the immune system is influenced by diet?  Of course!  If we eat better, do we tend to be healthier?  Of course!  Which is healthier for humans--highly processed food such as hot dogs, potato chips and candy -or- unprocessed food such as chicken, potatoes and fruit/vegetables?  We all know the answer to that one!

Is there ANY reason to believe our pets are completely different from humans, farm animals or zoo animals?  They get sick like us.  They get cancer like us.  They get arthritis like us.  They have an immune system like us.  And their immune system IS affected by diet--just like ours.

Now how about quality of ingredients.  Which is healthier--fresh, inspected whole chicken -or- the diseased and/or otherwise leftover parts such as carcasses, beaks, skin, feathers and such?  Is it healthier for us to eat whole grains or highly processed rice flour?  Do vegetables contribute phytochemicals, nutrients and other things that enhance health?  Is there any reason to believe this wouldn't apply to other mammals such as our pets?

Now, grab a bag of pet food and look at the ingredient list.  How many ingredients do you recognize?  How many are a bunch of chemical names?  (LOTS!)  Those chemical names are ALL the added vitamins and minerals.  Why were all those vitamins and minerals added to the food?  Could it have something to do with the fact that the food has been so highly processed/cooked that there is little nutrition left in it?  So little that the vitamins and minerals have to be added BACK into the food to make it nutritionally good?  Could this stuff actually be GOOD for our pets?  Think about it!  Do you think taking that lovely chicken, rice and salad dinner--baking it in your oven for hours until all the water is evaporated, then feeding it to your children along with a vitamin/mineral supplement would be as good for your children as feeding it to them fresh and whole--with ALL the nutrients still intact, including the ones we don't know about yet?  Or how about feeding your children nothing but cereal--every meal, every day?

NOT ON YOUR LIFE!

Pets are much healthier on whole, unprocessed food, just as we humans are.  For some reason pet food companies have done their best to convince us otherwise, but if we use common sense we know better.  The best thing to feed your pet is whole, unprocessed food.  Unfortunately pets do need a different balance of nutrients as compared to humans.  And they tend to be smaller so a balanced diet is more critical as shortages are more like to show up quickly.  Little research has been done so far on how to feed pets fresh food properly although that is slowly changing.  It can be a rather tricky thing to do.  It is best to contact a professional on how to feed your pet a whole foods diet or use a commercially-prepared whole foods diet.  Some of the sites listed below will help you find some of these.

So far as treats go--best to forego the processed treats, especially if you are going to feed a highly processed commercially-prepared pet food.  Let your pet have SOME real food!  Feed pet-appropriate real food to your pets as treats.  For dogs this can be bits of fruit or vegetables or small pieces of meat without added butter, salt or spices.  For cats bits of fish would be good, again without added butter, salt or spices.

The Best Dog Food For Feeding Your Dog
Healthy Eating for Your Cat
Holistic Veterinary Center another good page in regards to feeding pets

A FEW COMMERCIALLY PREPARED WHOLE FOOD PET FOODS
Darwin's
Bravo
Primal Pet Foods
Nature's Variety
Three Cheers
Oma's Pride
Steve's Real Food
BARF Diet

HEALTH
The same advice that is good for humans is also good for our pets.  Avoid antibiotics for viruses--unless there is a REALLY good reason you need to take 'preventative' measures.   Do not over-vaccinate your pets.  Check out Jean Dodd's site for professional advice on vaccination.  Most pet vaccines are known to last 7 years to the entire life of the pet so they do NOT need to be vaccinated annually.  Vets will often use the excuse that vaccines are safe and I agree, they ARE safe so far as death is concerned.  A pet is very unlikely to die from being vaccinated or even have a mild issue with being vaccinated so far as an immediate effect is concerned. I am however convinced that over-vaccination, over time, will eventually compromise the immune system causing more allergies or more severe allergies and other debilitating effects from a compromised immune system.  I strongly suggest following Dr. Dodd's vaccination protocols.  It is backed by decades of research.  Following are some websites to visit for more on healthier alternatives for pet care.

Pet Care Naturally site
The Whole Dog Journal site  Great newsletter in regards to dogs
Jean Dodd's Hemopet site

If you are interested in buying healthier products for your pet, here are a few sites to start with:

Organic Dogs and Cats
Purrfect Dog and Cat Toys
Planet Natural  Toys for pets
Healthy Pet Products

More will be added over time as with the other pages of this site.  It will be an ever-evolving website. The idea is as always, to live on this earth safe and healthy, and do as little damage to this earth of ours as is possible.  We want to be able to leave this earth to our children in as good of shape as possible, and maybe even better than we came into it.