Six Signs it’s Time to Change Your Pet’s Food

It's long past time to change your dog's and cat's food if it is kibble.

Why is the picture you have used depicting an overflowing bowl? To start with, our pets are designed to graze, which is outlined in the NRC's latest book, complete with pages and pages of references to back their statements: http://tinyurl.com/3y7c55n

The suggestion that a bowl of food that large is a good idea, suggests that turnover of food in the bowl is definitely not frequent enough to be adequate for health, let alone any other problem that might be developing due to the use of the ingredients in the food.

I am also wondering at the term, "brand new bag" of pet food. Are you suggesting that pet food is best purchased in bulk? While I don't agree with Rod Russell's fanatical "kibble" stories because he prefers to eat raw, I do see some serious problems developing with the dry food not being used quickly enough, or improperly stored. There is no mention of the fact that the dry food you depict could turn rancid, or if in a moist climate, will easily develop aflatoxins that can make a pet very sick.

Personally, that picture shows me that owners who think giving their pet food is loving them, will possibly interpret that this form of "love" is an acceptable way to feed an animal.

Maybe you could change the picture you have used? And no, Rob, good quality ingredients in fresh dry foods are a great way to feed pets who need small frequent meals to keep tummies shrunk and prevent obesity. While we mix the foods we feed, only the dry can have meat "meals" that have the fat and water content rendered off in the processing, which allows for great portion control and weight reduction without punishing the pet with hunger. Our charges have been nutritionally healthy and die of age related issues - nothing to do with feeding dry food.

I have been buying Hills Science Diet ZD for 8 years. My dog seemed to have a sensitive digestive system. It seemed to help until the end of 2012. I recieved a new bag and within two days my guy had very! soft stool. I thought maybe he had gotten a parasite. Needless to say after hundreds of dollars of testing and another bag of food (which is not cheap)it turns out that Hills has changed their formula. Oops did not tell the vet. I found out by researching. Also I found out that one of the ingredients is "sawdust". really!!! I am so disappointed. Changed dog food and my guy is doing great! He doesn't even smell like he use to.

Cjaz

Side note- after having to have anal glands drained every month this problem has disappeared also!

Which food did you switch to from Science Diet? My dog has problems with his anal glands too.

Thanks,

A

To say that pet foods have "sawdust" is a rather sensationalizing misrepresentation. In reality, "cellulose" from plants makes a good high fiber diet for pets that need it, although beet pulp and rice bran are proven to be better intestinal substrates for our pets. Please check the reference material attached to your sources before spreading misinformation.

The term "cellulose" is a reference to the supportive tissue that keeps plants upright, such as the strings in celery as a simplified example. All our guts need fibers of one sort or another to support the good gut bacteria that help the body break down the food you feed into the needed nutrients. Here is a website with some reasonable information on this: http://www.felineconstipation.org

To Cjaz......

I would like to know what food you switched to for the anal gland problem. I must have my dogs cleaned monthly also.

Thanks
Karen