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For the
sake of you pets, learn all you can about the
ingredients in commercial pet foods and the
chemicals you
are using in and around your home.
 There is a lot of information on
this page and our hope is that it will provide you with
the guidance you need to
help you make an
educated decision about how to keep your dog healthy and
happy. Please take the time to read through it, or bookmark it
to read later. Let us share with you what we have
learned in our years of working with
pets. We want you to realize exactly what is
in commercial pet foods and treats and how to avoid them
and their potential risks to your dog's health. We believe many
people
just don't know about
these chemicals. By de-toxifying your
pet's environment and not exposing them to harsh cleaning and
lawn chemicals is another huge step towards keeping them
healthy for many
years.
We have had the pleasure of working with companion
animals for many years through our petsitting
business, and have
seen the benefits of feeding natural foods not only to our
pets, but to our clients pets as
well.
We continue to be
horrified at the inferior quality of commercially
available dog foods and treats. Taking a walk down the pet
food aisle at any grocery store (which happens to be
bigger than the baby food aisle) is maddening. Preservatives,
artificial coloring, inferior by-products and chemicals
added that have been reported to cause degenerative illness in
dogs. Treats that are so brightly colored, you just have to wonder
what's in them. If a dog food resembles candy, it's probably a
close equivalent. Dogs don't care what color their food is.....these
chemical colorings are added to please YOU....the unwary
consumer. Why are these potentially disease-causing
chemicals used, you ask? Money.....big
money.
Over
$10 billion is spent in the US per year on pet food and the
competition is
steep!
Current marketing research shows that people are
seeking natural alternatives not only for themselves but
for their pets as well and several large pet food companies were quick to
respond with their own version of "natural" or "holistic"
dog foods. Just because there is a picture of a vegetable on
the pretty bag, or the words "natural" and "holistic", doesn't
mean that anything that closely resembles a vegetable or anything
natural is inside. These so called "healthy" foods are not all
that healthy. This deception has to stop, and only we as
consumers can see that it happens. Stop buying those "pretty" bags
of dog food and learn what is in them. Call the toll-free
number on the bag and ASK!
It is now widely
accepted that the alarming increase in cancer among pets is
primarily due to the use of chemicals in their
food. Cancer
accounts for almost half of the deaths in pets 10 years and
older.
Among those chemicals are BHA, BHT, and worst
of all, Ethoxyquin. These preservatives may also cause liver,
kidney and other major organ damage. Most of the chemicals used in
pet food are banned for human
use, but they are much less expensive to use than
their natural counterparts. Cancer is
common in pet animals, and the rate increases with age. Dogs get
cancer at roughly the same rate as humans, while cats get fewer
cancers. Read this very important report about disease in pets
and the link to their diet.
Understand that most pets
eat the same food every day which offers the opportunity
to either improve health or to risk degenerative
disease. Varying the diet and adding fresh foods is
another way you can help your pet stay healthy. It's not
true that domestic pets
need to eat the same
thing every day, although many people have been told that they do.
This is just another myth being perpetuated by pet food companies.
Did you know that three of the five major
pet food companies in the US are subsidiaries of human
food companies?
Call and ask them about the ingredients they
use. It's whatever if left over after all the "good"
ingredients are used in the human food products. What
a interesting concept.....profit from
waste.
Nestle (Alpo, Fancy
Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog)
800-366-6033
Ralston Purina (Dog Chow, Pro
Plan, Purina One) 800-778-7462
Procter
& Gamble (Eukanuba, Iams), 800-525-4267
Visit www.iamscruelty.com for a real
shocker.
Mars the candy company, (Kal Kan,
Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham’s) 800-525-5273
Colgate-Palmolive (Hill’s Science Diet)
800-445-5777
Quaker Oats (Kibbles & Bits,
Special Cuts, Ken-L Ration) 800-4MY-PETS
Nabisco
(Milkbones) 800-NABISCO
For your pet's
sake:
1.Seek out a
holistic veterinarian. This link will take
you to the American Holistic Veternarian site to find a holistic vet
in your area.
It
could be the best thing you ever do for your pets, besides
loving them! Vaccines, flea and tick treatments and
popular steroid shots for allergies have also been linked to
illness. There are many natural products and alternative treatments
available that work just as well without the harmful
side-effects. Are yearly
vaccines necessary? These are questions you
should be asking. Many vets are now agreeing that yearly vaccines
should not be administered.
A holistic
vet seeks out the cause of the problem or illness in order to
correct it, instead of just prescribing drugs that only mask or
suppress the symptoms which can lead to serious illness down the
road.
Supressive therapy is commonplace in most
veterinary practices, and where it does seem to temporarily
alleviate the symptoms (itching from allergies, for instance), it's
not always in the pet's best interest. How many times has your dog
taken antibiotics in the last 5 years? How about
Rimadyl, Prednisone/steroids or other drugs that can have
serious, long-lasting side effects? If your vet is
not open-minded about holistic treatments, find one who
is.
We use Dr. Norman Ward of the Holistic
Animal Center of Arizona. If you are fortunate enought to live
in Arizona, he is one of the top holistic vets in the country
and the only veterinarian in the US certified in oxidative
therapies for pets. He's also available for phone
consultations at 480-609-1147. His practice is located at 6990
E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale AZ 85254.
2. Learn
about good dog nutrition.
This is something
that YOU decide on. Doesn't it make sense that what you feed your
dog has a direct impact on his/her overall health? Read the
reports included on our site and others like ours on
our links
page so you can make an
educated decision regarding what you are feeding your pets.
They ARE what they eat.
3. Support a breed rescue
group.
This is something we truly believe in.
Rescue organizations are usually run entirely by volunteers who
freely give of their time, funds and hearts to dogs
in need. These dogs have ended up at shelters and
then rescue by no fault of their own, and usually
misunderstood, mistreated or worse by the humans they
loved. Over 10 million animals are neglected, abused and
abandoned yearly.
A sad statement about our "disposable"
society. Many are euthanized because of lack of funds and
homes.
There are hundreds of online rescue organization both
local and national for your favorite breed. We are happy
to help support
Italian Greyhound
Rescue by volunteering each
year for their annual online auction/fundraiser. We also donate
a portion of our proceeds from several IG related items on our site.
Do what you can for these groups who are dedicated
to the health and happiness of each dog that comes into their
rescue program.
No gesture is too small. Sometimes all they
need is an extra hand stuffing envelopes or someone
to do light computer work.
4.
Please spay or neuter your pets! It's the one
thing you CAN do to cut down on pet over-population and save lives.
Our Observations: (
please be patient and keep reading....we're almost done!
)
During our years of working with
companion animals, we have found that many of the
common problems our clients encounter are due
to inadequate nutrition, over-vaccination and exposure to
environmental toxins including commercial cleaning products and lawn
treatments, to name a few. Try plain white vinegar to clean
countertops and floors. We use Dr. Bronner's
Pepperment Soap diluted as a
deterent for insects in and around our home. Organic lawn
care is inexpensive and easy.
Hot spots,
allergies, ear infections and even cancers are believed to be linked
to chemicals and inferior ingredients found in most
commercially available dog foods. Here are just a
few:
Ethoxyquin, one of the more
popular pet food preservatives, has been highly debated the
past few years and banned for human use.
It has been linked
to liver cancer and organ disfunction, although not proven, hence
it's continued use. Further testing because of public outcry is
ongoing.
Propylene glycol is
known to cause illness in dogs, and still used in pet
foods. Why is this allowed?Recent studies have shown that
processed foods are a contributing factor in increasing numbers of
dogs suffering from degenerative disease. Cancers are at an all
time high in the pet population. Could it be from the
over-processed foods that our pets are eating?
In most states,
the USDA laws allow 4-D
meats to be used in pet food. These 4-D meats are described as
"dead, dying, disabled or diseased". These meats can be riddled
with cancer and have questionable hormone levels. Rancid, moldy
grains rejected for human consumption as well as used
restaurant grease can be processed into a pet food ingredient. Why?
They have to get rid of it somewhere, why not make a profit
from it?
If they allow "downer" cows to be used for
HUMAN food, as recently uncovered in the news with the mad cow
scare, just imagine what they send to the rendering plants for
pet food. Read this important report about rendering
plants and the horrifying ingredients in most commercial pet foods.
You will be shocked.
The FDA recently reports
that sodium pentobarbital, a drug veternarians use for euthanizing
companion animals, was found in over
40 major brands of commercial
pet food. It's been reported that some pet food companies use
these dead companion animals in their formulas. Do you want your dog
to eat even a LITTLE bit of this stuff? We don't think so.
The fact is, human and dog health is not all that
dissimilar.....eat chemical laden foods and you could be
jeopardizing your health.
Are you slowly poisoning
your pets and don't even know it?
Dogs &
cats especially, thrive on meat. If this is the case, why
are so many major brands mostly grains and cereal fillers? Are
you feeding a horse or a dog? Smell the food.....does it smell
like meat, or horse feed? Can they survive on this?.....sure they
could, just like humans could survive on unhealthy fast food or dry
cereals. Is it the best source of nutrition? Absolutely
not. Dogs are not "designed" to eat grains, as
their saliva doesn't have the necessary enzymes to aid in the
digestion of grain matter. Grain can be a healthy part of a
dog's diet, but it should not be the majority of it, as it is with
most commercial foods. For more
detailed info, read this article about feeding grain to
dogs.
Modern pets require a variety of natural,
fresh foods to maintain optimal health. Organic is best, but
not necessary. Fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and whole grains have
all the vitamins, amino acids, anti-oxidants and naturally
occurring enzymes to keep you
pets in peak condition.
Read your pet food label.The first 4
ingredients are the major components of any food and one of the
first two ingredients should be a clean meat source,
meaning no by-products, soy or corn.
Federal guidelines require that manufacurers list their
ingredients by order of weight. What many people don't realize is
that many list their protein source in it's "wet" raw state when
as much as 75% of the weight is water, pushing that ingredient
to the top of the list. When the meat is processed in the "meal"
state (removing the water) it becomes about 5 times light and should
probably be listed as the 4th or 5th ingredient. Don't be
fooled by deceptive marketing campaigns!!!
Whole
meat meals (chicken meal, lamb meal, fish meal...) are
just the meats with the water removed for ease of blending, and
an excellent source of protein. Many "Senior" formulas will
have a grain first on the label. This is fine too, as long as
it's a whole grain such as whole wheat, millet,
rice or barley to name a few. Corn, soy, wheat
middlings, rice hulls, corn syrup and the like are RED FLAGS that this is not the
most nutrition food you could be feeding your dog. Don't just take
our word for it. Read more info
here.
The label won't
lie. If any of the above mentioned chemicals
or ingredients are in your dog's food, please re-think
feeding it.
If you have a question about a specific ingredient on
your dog's food label, email
us. We'll refer you to
an unbiased source for an answer. We don't just want to sell
you something but want to help you learn as much as you
can about pet foods.
Please know what you are feeding your dog.....their life could
depend on it.
There are many forums
that discuss the horrors of pet food manufacturing and the
chemicals used in more detail than we have here.
We
also recommend the
books below for more information. If
you read nothing else on our site, PLEASE read this report from the
Animal
Protection Institute. It is one of the most
informative.
 The Animal Protection Institutes Pet Food
Report
You will not find
hundreds of items in Our
Store, but just a few tried and
true products that we use in our home. We are not vets,
nor do we claim to know everything there is to know about animal
nutrition. We're just concerned pet~owners who, after working with
other people's pets for many years, decided to do the research and
find out why so many dogs aren't as healthy as they could be.
We truly believe that proper nutrition is the key to a healthy
pet.
Reading through our site, and others like ours
listed on our Links
Page, will help
you make an educated decision about what to feed your
furry friends. We do not provide medical advice, but do offer
pet food counseling.
If you have a medical question or
problem, call your vet!
The
books we recommend are listed at the
bottom of this page and are both useful and informative for
those seeking the truth and more information about natural pet
care.
In
conclusion, natural canine care doesn't have to cost a
fortune, require a huge inventory of products or require a
lot of extra time. If you are feeding your dog a human~grade,
chemical~free food, you are already on your way to
helping your pet stay healthy and happy, as nutrition is the
foundation for good health.
Thank You
for read this far (your dog thanks you too). You are
obviously a caring dog lover and if you are anything like us, your
pets are your family.
Treat them right....feed them natural !
More
scary info on commercial pet
foods
More info about
poison in
petfood
 Yearly
Vaccines Unnecessary???? YOU
BET!!
Our
Angels
 
Valentino, Vinnie & Mugzy
These are the resident "guinea pigs" for every product you see on
our site.
They are the reason we started
researching dog food, natural products and holistic pet
care in the first place.
We thank them for sharing their doggie~wisdom
and unconditional love with us every day....they are our
greatest
teachers.
A very special, heartfelt thanks to my
Mom, for teaching me that pets make the world
a better place to be.
 Don't
litter.....please spay & neuter!!
Books we
recommend:
Click on link
for more info and to order through our affiliates
 Dr.
Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural...
If you
only read ONE book about natural pet care, this should be
it. Our "bible" of holistic pet care. Great
recipes.
 Holistic
Guide for a Healthy Dog
Another important
resource for your natural dog library.
 The
Allergy Solution for Dogs: Natural...
Easy
recipes for dogs with allergies and natural remedies to fight
that itch.
 The
Consumer's Guide to Dog Food: What's...
All the
info you will EVER need about dog food ingredients, labels and
manufacturing practices.
 Food
Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About... Pet
Food
The title says it all.
Order these books from our affiliate,
Dog's Health.com......
NO PIC AVAILABLE The
new complete Italian greyhound
All about our
beloved IG's. A must for everyone owned by
an Italian Greyhound.
 Tony,
Tony, Tony: Tails of an Italian...
Fun book for
every IG lover! Profits from sale go to Italian Greyhound
Rescue.
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