Food Rotation for Dogs and Cats

Food Rotation, in my opinion, is an important part of a healthy pet diet. (Human too, I would think) For Raw Feeders or Commercially fed companions, rotating the protein source from time to time more closely mimics the natural diet, and helps prevent food allergies.

It is easy for Raw Feeders to rotate by simply buying different meats when making their mix. For those who purchase their pets food, a bit more work is involved. Just because a bag of food says it's "Beef", doesn't mean that is the only protein source used. Look on the label of other meats, such as chicken, chicken broth etc. Many dog food manufacturers throw in whatever is cheap to fill out their food.

The dog and cat food I offer to my clients, Evo, has a chicken and turkey blend, or a red meat blend. The red meat blend has 4 different red meats in it. So I suggest to those who purchase from me that they shift every 2 or 3 bags over to the other protein source. Then stay on that one for at least 1 bag, maybe 2. I feel this really gives the companion's body a chance to rest from the other protein.

I discovered this for myself from experience with my own highly sensitive schnauzer who has food allergy. If I left him on a "safe" protein for too long, the allergy would start to return. So I fumbled onto the rotation system and I worked perfectly. After that I discovered many other people follow the same routine. I makes sense to me.

Keep a close eye on the canned foods as well, and make sure it only contains the protein you want.

I also recommend rotating any other foods you add. For example, if you use pumpkin in the raw feeding, switch to sweet potato for awhile. Just keep it different and interesting.

For commercial feeders, some same is suggested. Most of you know I strongly recommend NO grains for dogs and cats. However, if you choose a grain-based food, make sure you rotate the grain source as well. That may even be more important the rotating the protein because our companions can be very sensitive to grains.

Here is a link to Evo by Natura. Their site explains some of the details about species appropriate diets.

My website also has a growing body of info.

Pets Suffer from Mortgage Problems

I was saddened to see how pets are suffering from the national mortgage crisis. When people lose their homes, they are sometimes electing to drop off the family cat or dog at at shelter. Or they may simply leave the family pet behind in the yard or house. These practices are placing the animal is danger, as well as leaving shelter overcrowded.

This article suggests we be extra watchful when when a neighbor moves, and peek into the house or yard to see if a pet has been abandoned. Listen for the barking or meowing of pets left behind. Then call the local shelter for help.

I won't place a judgment on the actions of people who make this choice. I simply want us all to be aware that people DO make these choices, and try to fill in the gap in care for the sake of our beloved companions.

Or perhaps we can go one step further and adopt a "foreclosure pet" from a shelter.

I personally know of someone who moved and left their pets behind. They sent someone by to feed and water them, and otherwise left them alone for months. When a friend of mine made this discovery, she was able to adopt one of the dogs. I never heard what became of the other dog, but I sometimes think of that poor dog and hope it also found a wonderful home. I wonder if in these cases, we could contact the owner and ask if we can help. If we can't do that, then I feel a call to animal services is in order. Companion care is more than just shelter, food, and water.