Jennifer McVey asked:


In a time when more and more pet owners are concerned about what they’re feeding their pets, finding a nutritious dog food can be pretty complicated. Lots of products on the market claim to offer complete and balanced nutrition for your pet, but in many cases, this is just a marketing term used to sell the product. Unfortunately, such labeling doesn’t mean that every food is equally good for your dog, rather that the percentages of protein, fiber, fat, and moisture meet the minimum standards. While any food your feed your dog should have this kind of labeling, that’s not all there is when it comes to nutritious dog food. When you decide what the best food is, you have to start with the label.

First, rule out the least expensive brands in the store. It’s not that you have to break the bank to buy a good dog food, but that cheap foods use cheap ingredients. The lowest cost dog foods on the market will use a lot of fillers and low quality ingredients, making them a lower value, even though they don’t cost a lot per bag. A nutritious dog food will be more expensive than a grocery store brand in most cases.

Secondly, pet owners need to learn to read pet food labels. Avoid foods that have a lot of corn, soy, or wheat, especially if they’re high on the ingredients list. These are very cheap sources of plant protein, which are hard to digest for dogs. They’ve been linked to a number of health problems, like colitis and urinary tract infections. Of course, dry dog food always contains some quantity of grain. However, choose a nutritious dog food that includes grain further down the list and uses ingredients like brown rice, barley, oats, or other easy to digest choices. Some foods also include potatoes.

The bulk of any nutritious dog food should come from animal sources, since dogs are naturally meat eaters. Avoid cheap filler ingredients like meals and by products, which can come from already stripped animal carcasses. Also, if you see a generic term such as ‘poultry’, ‘fish’, or ‘meat’, avoid that food in favor of one that names the type of meat used. Whole, named meats are the most desirable, and should come first on the list of most nutritious dog foods.

Colorants and other additives are also problematic.

They’re in many different dog food brands, but they’re only there to make the product appeal more to the human who’s buying the food. Look for a food that includes as few preservatives, artificial flavoring agents and coloring agents as possible. These chemicals can cause allergic reactions in some dogs, and are undesirable in a nutritious dog food. While there are good foods out there, you might have to do some research to find them. However, if you care about your dog’s health, it’ll be worth it in the end. A nutritious dog food will make your dog happier, feel better, and live longer.

nlwest21 asked:


When taking care of a new turtle the first thing you want to know is how and what to feed them. There is a variety of turtle foods that are available in different sizes and shapes and can be made with different ingredients. You can buy flakes and small pellet foods that are sold specifically for baby turtles.

The most common turtle foods that you can purchase are turtle sticks. These are great for any type of turtles including the babies. Water turtles will most likely need to eat the much larger floating pellets – but again they can be given to most other turtles.

One thing that we urge you never use are dried whole shrimp and bugs. The way that these are sold is very questionable and may not be safe for any turtles and especially the babies. There are shrimp pellets that can be used as treats – but not as a main source of food.

In order for your baby turtle to get all of the necessary nutrients and vitamins to stay healthy you can continue to feed them the sticks, flakes, and pellets. They have been made to contain all of these important and healthy nutrients to keep your baby turtle strong and well cared for. You can feed them cooked eggs and poultry as well as the shells.

If you need a slight substitute in the diet than you should consider fish foods. Many fish food have the same types of ingredients as turtle food. Don’t even waste your time trying to feed your baby turtle fruits and veggies. They won’t eat them. Other foods to stay away from are raw seafood and other raw meats. These contain too much fat and could make them sick with salmonella.

If you have any questions or concerns about what else to feed your baby turtle and where to buy the right turtle food than ask your veterinarian. Your vet will be able to give you all the instructions you need and can answer any questions that you have.

Alison Grimston asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 The Naturally Healthy Pet.com

The systems in animals are accustomed to raw food and use it effectively for maintaining good health and well-being. In this way, in the wild animals live long and healthy lives. However, in our homes, we tend to give our dogs and cats cooked food or processed food bought from supermarkets. They may affect their natural vitality and immune systems and make our pets prone to infections, allergies and other diseases. Raw food diets for dogs and cats are generally advantageous in terms of the nutritional support they provide to the body, promoting the immune system and making it strong enough to fight off diseases.

Studies have revealed that commercially processed foods lack several vital nutrients; this c an m

ake a dog hypersensitive and extremely susceptible to allergies. Moreover, consumption of too the quantity of grains that these processed foods contain can also be harmful for the dog’s teeth. In one particular study carried out with 900 cats over 10 years, it was found that the rate of degeneration was higher in cats that were not fed on raw foods than cats fed on raw foods. Cats fed on two-thirds raw meat and one-third raw milk with little cod liver oil diets were found to do better than cats that had processed food of identical calorific value. The study also revealed that cats fed on cooked food were at higher risk of heart problems, thyroid complications, vision problems, infections of kidneys, liver, testes and bladder and even paralysis and meningitis. Irritation and sexual displeasure were also some of the symptoms that the cats fed on cooked foods displayed.

Many owners are afraid to put their dogs and cats on raw food from the fear of contracting infections by the pets from parasites, salmonella and harmful bacteria that raw foods may contain. However, such thoughts are reasonably misplaced, as dogs and cats have short alimentary tract with strong acidic environment that ‘kills’ these harmful organisms and prevent their proliferation in the body. Owners can also add Fulvic acid to the raw food diet of dogs and cats; this acid is an excellent neutralizer of toxins and can drastically cut down the risk of food poisoning.

Raw food diets for dogs and cats can have several choices and may include raw meat such as chicken, pig feet, beef heart, raw vegetables including sea vegetables, raw eggs, chia seeds, coconut oil, raw garlic, grounded or pureed raw carrots and other greens and nutrients. The bones in the meat are excellent source of dietary calcium that dogs and cats require abundantly for good health and vitality.