When a Choice is a Bad Choice

by

Jane Anderson

Choice Magazine writes..... We respond....
You want the best for your pet. Quite clearly we're not sure that's correct. And to get an opening statement incorrect, doesn't really bode well for the rest of the document. But we'll help explain the errors in your report down below. Quite frankly, I think your opening statement should have been,

    "Well we want the best for your pet, but we neither have the time, the inclination, nor the expertise to write this report well. But we've thrown something together, and hopefully none of the public notice the gaping holes and our mistakes."

While we want the best for our pets, it looks by the standard of the report done by Choice that clearly the health interests and the "research" by Choice are headed in entirely different directions.

But do dogs and cats really need expensive, fancy food? What should they be eating? The first question is good. Although I'm not sure I'd label any commercial dog food as "fancy". I'd be more inclined to label it as "waste food which consists of a number of ingredients your pet doesn't need, isn't biologically able to process adequately, and often containing harmful additives and preservatives, which will probably either long or short term lead to health problems in your pets".

I'm glad you asked the second question. Unfortunately, your report does not provide that answer.
For most healthy pets there’s no evidence that ‘premium’ pet foods improve overall health and longevity, compared to cheaper foods that meet appropriate standards. Yes, that bit is true if you are referring to commercial dog food as "premium". I'm not sure I'd refer to any of that as premium. However, there is substantial evidence that commercial pet food does not provide for healthy pets. If you can show such, that'd be like saying that cigarettes lead to healthy people, but we digress...

In terms of cheaper foods, in just about all parts of the world, it is signficantly cheaper to feed your pet a biologically appropriate diet much cheaper than it is to feed a processed diet out of a bag or can.

Look for claims of a food being ‘complete and balanced’. Why? The terms"complete and balanced" come from the pet food industry, and are an advertising ploy to imply the following:

  • that an average person, although being able to work out what to feed themselves, cannot feed their dog, and hence must need to have a manufacturer create something for them
  • that "balance" is needed everyday in a dog's diet, when there has never been any evidence to prove this suggestion

In addition, the following questions must be asked,

  • do all the preservatives, colours, thickeners, additives, etc make it more "complete" and more "balanced"
  • given waste food is substituted for real food, why isn't this put on the label?
  • when you provide vitamins and minerals in artifical forms, while they make up the "completeness" which apparently is required, and given there is no proof that the animal's body can process those things in their artifical format in an appropriate way, how can we then say these are good for the pet?
and finally,

  • When did you come to the conclusion that processed waste is better than fresh food?
Dry pet food has a higher energy content than wet food, so your pet doesn’t need to eat as much of it. And it’s good for their dental health. Actually, your pet doesn't need to eat any of it. What they need to eat is a biologically appropriate food.

I've just had a terrific laugh at the second sentence you wrote.

Clearly you haven't done your research well at all here. The research done by the pet food companies themselves shows that when eating commercial pet food, that by aged 4, 85% of dogs will have periodontal disease.

Given this fact (btw, you did tell me in a separate email that you had done thorough research), how can you possibly claim that pet foods are good for the dental health of animals?

Shame on you!

With pet food, "the best for your pet" now seems to mean "omegas for skin and coat health", "antioxidants for systemic health" or even "a new approach to health" altogether. Yes, don't you hate it when people make claims that are blatantly untrue!
If you took too much notice of some of those ads, you’d start thinking it was downright irresponsible to keep feeding your moggy from a carton or your pooch from a tin. Yes, well rather than being "irresponsible" for the consumer, perhaps they've been hoodwinked. Wouldn't it be good if we had an independent consumer rights organization that should be uncovering all of this. Perhaps one day...

Many of the ordinary pet foods available in supermarkets have been tested to a high standard to ensure they provide a complete and balanced diet. Given all the health problems resulting in the feeding of commercial pet foods, you've got to wonder how high those supposed "high standards" are.

But again, we've got Choice Magazine talking about "complete and balanced" again. Are you being irresponsible or have you just been hoodwinked as well?

You don’t generally need fancy foods to keep your cat or dog healthy, or to pay the high prices asked for premium foods sold through pet shops and vet clinics. Ain't that the truth!

In order to keep your dog, cat, or even ferret healthy, you simply need a quick trip to the butcher. Simple. Easy. Cheap.

There's an internationally recognised 'standard' for pet foods, which you can rely on. It's awarded to foods that have successfully completed feeding trials developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). This means it has the right amount of nutrients and energy to keep your pet healthy. And what a standard it is! As long as the pet survives the trial, then the food is allowed.

It's a real shame that Consumer organizations such as Choice magazine is merely scratching the surface with their reports and not getting down to really understanding how standards are set, what the problems are with these so called standards, to some of the more complex subject.

Remember Choice Magazine - you did tell me that you didn't have time to investigate this. (Don't you hate it when you send the wrong person an email by mistake!)

But don't panic, with my learned contacts from around the world, we'll set up a separate web page about the issues surrounding the AAFCO trials. And we don't need to get paid by anyone in order to do good research!

We do it because we care about the truth. And we find the time, our own time, to investigate. Yes again, it's a real shame that there isn't a Consumer Rights Organization that cares as much.

There's an enormous range in prices, even among the same categories of food. But price isn't a reliable guide to quality. As our table shows, some AAFCO-standard foods are relatively cheap. Tinned food is a lot more expensive than dry food. Simply pop down to your butcher, see what nice juicy bones are on special and buy those. No need for processed food for your pet!
Most 'special' foods cost more than other pet foods of the same type. Among their claims are to provide a healthier coat, smaller faecal volume and better-smelling breath, but for most healthy pets there's no evidence that they improve overall health and longevity, compared to cheaper foods that meet the AAFCO feeding trial standard. Or, better still, feed your pet an appropriate diet to begin with, and significantly reduce the chance of picking up health problems, and you'll never have to worry about "special foods".

And if you feed your animal an appropriate diet, they'll have a healthy coat, there will not be a problem with large, messy, smelly poo, and they will have good breath. (Choice Magazine - you might want to note just in case you missed it, that 85% of dogs fed commercial dog food will suffer from periodontal disease by aged 4, which amongst other terrible problems, is the most common reason for bad breath. Whoops, sorry, you mustn't have had time to do that research.)
Dry food has a higher energy content than wet food, so your pet doesn't need to eat as much of it. Why would you want feed eat processed food at all?

Remember - an appropriate raw diet is cheaper and easy.

For dental health and to keep their jaws working well, cats and dogs need a regular supply of foods that require chewing. Well it goes beyond that. They need to be able to rip and chew. They need to do this daily.
Raw chicken wings are recommended for cleaning cats' and small dogs' teeth. At last, some sense. But why have you just stopped at that? And what about big dogs' teeth? What do we use for them?

I know, I know - you didn't have time to do that research.

There’s only one really reliable way to test animal food, and that’s with lengthy feeding trials. AAFCO trials last six months for adult ‘maintenance’ products, during which time the animals are given only the test food and water, and their health and progress are monitored for signs of nutrition-related disease. Foods that pass this test can carry a label claim along the lines of: "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Product X provides complete and balanced nutrition." That's the extent of your research on AAFCO trials, and the associated complexities?

Don't worry, we'll set up our own webapge for more thorough information about the problems with AAFCO trials.

We've all seen the ads. Beautiful, glossy-coated, energetic dogs bounding through the fields, winning prizes, not quite co-operating (in the most endearing way) for the vet. But it's not just the food that makes these animals such winners. They've been bred and trained that way too. Actually did you realise that many of the pets that appear in these ads aren't fed those products at all. In fact, many of these animals are actually fed a biologically appropriate diet, which does not include commercial dog food.

I'm sorry, but you can't train a dog to be energetic. Can't train them to be beautiful or glossy either. Nice try though.

Despite the advertising claims, there's little evidence that premium foods will be more beneficial than other 'complete and balanced' foods for an already healthy animal. And despite their advertisting, and despite your "research" (let's use that word kindly), there's never been any findings that show that commercial pet food is ever as good as an appropriate raw diet.
As one animal nutrition expert told us, "There's no convincing evidence that premium diets improve overall health or longevity. It's only when a pet is under physical or emotional stress or is suffering from a health problem that a premium diet becomes clearly beneficial to health." We could further give you the opinions of a number of animal nutrition experts and a number of pet owners who recognise the truth about how poor generally pet foods are. Let us know if you'd like their contact information.
Premium brands are more likely to claim they use 'real' muscle meat, poultry or seafood as their main ingredient. Some supermarket brands use less muscle meat and make up the balance with meat by-products like organs, blood and bones, which are also highly nutritious. Why not just buy real meat, rather than a concoction that you'll never really know what goes into it. Remember, there are some brands of pet food that actually use euthanased dogs and cats as a base ingredient. This never makes it onto the label.

Having bigger chunks of real meat will probably make the food look more appetising to you, but it'll mean little to your pet. A higher proportion of muscle meat and other high-quality ingredients, though, can lead to a reduction in faecal volume. The use of these ingredients means the food is digested more easily and therefore there's less waste. However, many supermarket brands use muscle meat too. hmmm... again... why not buy directly from the butcher? Then you'll know it's real chicken, because it is a real chicken that you're buying.

And if you feed an appropriate raw diet, then there is less poo.

It should come as no surprise given the waste in pet food that an animal cannot digest, that it comes out the other end without being used.

Healthy skin and hair. Omega-3 fatty acids are all the rage for shiny skin and coat. The fact is, any cat or dog getting good-quality, complete and balanced nutrition should have healthy skin and hair. However, some veterinary studies suggest omega-3s may have a positive effect if your pet has inflammatory skin disease (dermatitis), which causes itching. Any difference you'll notice may take several months. Best way to get healthy skin and hair is to feed an appropriate raw diet to your dog. Once you start processing and cooking its food, then this leads to health problems. And one of the biggest sources of allergies is through grains, which just about all dog foods have as their main ingredient.

There have been a significant number of people who have found that when they have switched their dogs/cats to an appropriate raw diet, the skin diseases start clearing up within a week or so.

Perhaps Choice Magazine, if you'd had time and the energy to do this research (clearly a 15 minute tour of Google was too much to ask), you could have found this out for yourself.

Again, why are you promoting feeding processed foods which lead to health problems?

Joint disorders. Manufacturers have come up with products containing glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and green-lipped mussels to help prevent canine joint disorders and other aches and pains. Again, claims are sometimes vague and often anecdotal. However, there's growing evidence that some of these products do have an effect on joint disease. Product formulations aren't standardised so it's difficult to evaluate them. Animal nutritionists and regulatory authorities need to reach an agreement about optimal levels that are beneficial in pet foods. I agree with you - claims are sometimes vague - like much of the report you've written.

Given you've looked at "evidence", why haven't you reported that there is a direct link between dogs being fed commercial pet food, and the incidence of joint problems such as hip dysplasia? And that in dogs fed an appropriate raw diet, joint problems are only rarely seen?

Rather than having more meetings to work out omega levels in artificial processed pet foods, why don't we just promote feeding our pets a natural diet, which naturally will contain all the omegas they will need?

Antioxidants. There's little evidence yet that healthy pets require additional antioxidants, like vitamin C or E or beta-carotene, over and above those already available in complete and balanced pet foods. Synthetic antioxidants in pet foods, like BHA and ethoxyquin, aren't there for the animal's health, but to ensure the food stays shelf-stable and doesn't go rancid. If a pet is fed an appropriate raw diet (can we see a theme yet anybody?), then any supplements are not needed.

Now these synthetic antioxidants - which of these are actually cargiogenic? But you didn't raise that issue. So did you not know about it, or forgot about it, or didn't care about it?

I know- you told me - you don't have the time to look into this.

Fibre. ROYAL CANIN Indoor 27 is "designed" for "adult cats living entirely indoors". It contains fibre, claimed to "help reduce stool odour by stimulating beneficial intestinal flora and absorbing toxins". It's a similar claim to those for probiotic yoghurt and the like "stimulating beneficial intestinal flora" in humans, but there's no definitive evidence about their role in pet food.

Interestingly, rather than trying to create a pet food for cats, all they simply need is an appropriate raw diet, which costs less than $1 to feed. Yes, less than $1 a week. Cats have no need for artificial fibre regardless of whether they live inside or out.

Dental health. Animals keep their teeth clean and gums healthy by chewing on dry foods, raw bones and chewable toys. The abrasive action from the chewing scrapes tartar off the teeth. Some foods — such as WHISKAS with Vita-Bites — have added calcium to "promote healthy teeth", but it's not necessary. All 'complete and balanced' products have adequate calcium.

Chewing dry food and chewable toys do not promote dental health. It's a bit like saying which cigarettes will cause less lung damage.

It is actually physics fact that dog food cannot scrape tartar off teeth. It's not my opinion. It's not anecdotal. It's a fact.

In terms of "added calcium", in many instances, when added artificially it will bind with other chemicals making them both unusable by the animal. This is a chemical fact.

So rather than playing the game of adding bits of pieces, much of which an animal is biologically incapable of using appropriately, why don't we just feed our dogs a natural diet? An unprocessed diet? A non-artificial diet?

Why is Choice Magazine promoting we feed our animals food which results in health problems, when for a fraction of the cost, we could feed our animals a natural healthy diet?

Anti-furball products. Cats swallow their own fur all the time, and most of it's digested and passed naturally. But if they swallow too much or it collects in the stomach and oesophagus, it can form a furball, which may be regurgitated. Many supermarket and premium products are anti-furball formulations — increased fibre is supposed to pass the hair gently through the digestive system and stop furballs forming. There's no agreed definition for a furball formula, but if these products seem to work for your cat, it's fine to keep using them. Make sure your cat's diet is based on 'complete and balanced' products overall.

Why is it that people who feed their cats an appropriate natural diet, they have little if any problems with hairballs?

Again, the concept of "complete and balanced" is a concept created by the pet food industry for the niaive public, and has no basis in scientific fact.

At least 70% of what dogs and cats eat should be ‘complete and balanced’ products that have passed AAFCO feeding trials. If you want to give them home-made food, get advice from your vet first

Again, this is based on your opinion, rather than fact. I don't feed my dogs home-made food. They get food that's made by nature, and I pick it up from the butcher.

Now given the majority of vets receive their only education (yes even at universities) from pet food companies, or those sponsored by pet food companies, it's unlikely that most vets will be able to give you anything other than the spiel of a pet food manufacturer. Even the Australian Vet Association (and it's US equivalent, and many others around the world) have as their primary sponsor a pet food company. They also have pharmaceutical companies as their other major sponsor, but let's deal with that issue another time!

The truth is that most pet food owners are going to receive their best education about what to feed their animals by surfing the net. And if they want to learn more about feeding their dogs, cats, and ferrets a natural diet, an excellent source of info is the email list. It's free. It's comprehensive. And it has some of the world's most knowledgable people on pet food on the list.

Needless to say, no one from Choice Magazine has ever joined it! (but they don't have the time, remember!)

A healthy dog will be alert, energetic, with a good coat and not too thin or fat. It’s similar for cats, although alertness and energy can sometimes be hard to judge! If this description doesn’t fit your pet, they may not be getting a complete and balanced diet.

Actually, a pet which isn't healthy is more likely than not to be fed a commercial pet food.

If you don't understand what has caused the issue (and the cause is not the myth of being "complete and balanced"), then you'll never work out how to fix it.

Commercial dry food is a good base, as most products are complete and balanced, and it’s cheaper than tinned food. Make sure there’s a ready supply of clean drinking water as well.

Commercial dry food would probably be a good base for concrete, but not certainly anything I'd put into my dog's mouth.

If cheap is the option, a quick trip to the butcher for some off cuts will fix it!

Many tinned foods are also complete, although to keep the teeth clean and the jaw working well it’s important to supplement these with dry foods, a raw bone, tough meat or a chewable toy several times a week.

No, to keep the teeth clean, an appropriate raw diet must be fed. Dry foods, not tough meat (thanks for the giggle on that one), nor chewable toys will clean teeth.

Lots of raw meaty bones on a daily basis with no commercial dog foods, is the recipe for clean teeth.

If you use dog rolls, choose AAFCO-tested ones. Our sister organisation in New Zealand took a close look at the market and found few that had been AAFCO-tested by independent feeding trials.

Again, why not just feed an appropriate raw diet?

If your pet is unwell or develops skin or gastrointestinal problems, get advice from your vet.

It is wise to consult a vet. However, don't be surprised after spending a small fortune, the issues are yet to be resolved. If you are feeding an appropriate raw diet, your dog will rarely if ever, be at the vet.

Here's a tip: if your vet has an office full of dog food product they are trying to sell, and wants to fill your dog up with fake dog food, rather than a natural raw diet, and also tries to fill your dog full of drugs, you'd be even wiser to check your options on the internet when you get home. Don't let anyone fool you that because they have a degree in anything, that they have the right answer. (And yes, I have a degree. And a Masters.)

Given how poor the information is out there about the dangers of commercial pet foods, it's no wonder the general public is resorting to the internet to do their own research. They are sick of being hoodwinked!

Under the Trade Practices Act, pet foods, like any other product, can’t make misleading or untrue claims. You can’t call a dog roll ‘beef’ if it doesn’t have beef in it.

You think the Trade Practices Act can protect dogs? It can't even protect humans. All you have to do is look at the junk that goes into human processed food.

Perhaps you should read, "Not on the Label" by Felicity Lawrence. It's an eye opener.

But what if it has some beef — just not very much? There are no government regulatory guidelines, but the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia’s (PFIAA) code of practice is based on best practice and incorporates standards for labelling, marketing, nutrition design and claims.

For example, the code stipulates that a ‘complete and balanced’ or ‘nutritionally complete’ pet food must meet the minimum recommended nutritive requirements for that species. Pet snacks or treats should be labelled ‘complementary pet food’, as they aren’t nutritionally complete.

Yes, you have to love an association which just protects its own. I'm not sure I'd call anything in the commercial pet food industry "best practice", other than the ability to turn waste product into something that the niaive public will feed to their pets.

Clearly no consumer organization is interested in really investigating this.

A pet food may not be labelled ‘beef’ unless it contains at least 25% beef and beef is the major ingredient. If beef isn’t the main ingredient but still makes up 25% or more of the meat, and the product is the ‘beefiest’ in the range, it can be labelled ‘beef dinner’ or ‘beef casserole’. If more than 5% but less than 25% of the food is beef, the words ‘with beef’ can be used — as in ‘dog stew with beef’. But be warned: if it just says ‘beef flavour’, the product is likely to contain hardly any beef at all.

Or go to your butcher and buy a chicken which will be 100% chicken. Or a meaty beef bone which will contain 100% beef bone.

Wouldn't that just be easier?

Ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight — so the first ingredient is the most plentiful.

Yes, I love this one. So dogs, which aren't designed to eat grains at all, find they are eating huge proportions via commercial pet foods (which then results in allergies). This is how it works - the first ingredient will be beef or similar. The second, third, fourth, and fifth, will then be some variety of grain or grain by product. So while it may contain 15% beef, all of a sudden, 65% of it is a type of grain. But grain is cheap. Really cheap. Particularly if you sell grain "flats" to pet food companies (going rate is about $50 a ton), which the pet food company can use as fillers.

There’s no national standard for processed tinned or dry pet food. If it’s imported it has to comply with Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) import regulations and must be certified to come from disease-free animals that were inspected before and after slaughter.

Well we're not sure how this works given that one of the major source of pet food is what is known as "4d" - dead, dying, diseased, de-natured. And yes, those lovely expensive pet foods often use these too. And I really don't think AQIS has the resources to investigate this at all.

For processed pet food made in Australia some state regulations apply, otherwise the industry is largely self-regulated. Major manufacturers are members of PFIAA and have to comply with its code of conduct and AAFCO standards.

Looks like we have the fox watching the hen house, yet again.

Fresh and frozen pet meat is regulated by the state and territories’ agriculture portfolios or meat authorities. The Primary Industry Ministerial Council’s Meat Standards Committee is working on establishing a standard for such pet meat.

My advice - go get your supplies from the butcher and don't settle for "pet quality food". Feed human quality. It's the same price or cheaper in any case!

Should cats and dogs eat the same food?

No. Dogs are omnivores, while cats are carnivores and need the higher levels of protein, fat, niacin and arachidonic acid provided by meat. They can't use vegetable sources to make vitamin A as dogs do, so must get it from meat. They're also sensitive to thiamin, potassium and arginine deficiencies.

Taurine is essential for cats and a deficiency can cause heart disease and blindness. There's sufficient taurine in most cat foods, so the 'added taurine' claimed by some is not necessarily advantageous.

The protein content of cat food is unnecessarily high for dogs.

Firstly, dogs are carnivores. This is not my opinion. This is a scientific fact. If, however, you've found some evidence in your not so comprehensive research, that would indicate that dogs are omnivores, can I suggest you contact the Smithsonian Institute in the US. They do the classifications.

The pet food industry loves it when you call them omnivores - this then means they can put all sorts of unnecessary product in the pet food. The prime example is grain and grain waste. There is not one single shred of scientific evidence which suggests dogs should eat grains.

And when you or your animal eats food they are not biologically designed to eat, then health issues can, and often, result.

Your dog does not need vegetables. Ever.

Dogs and cats are both carnivores, and do eat the same sorts of food.

By feeding your dogs, cats, and ferrets appropriate raw diets, you don't have issues with vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Do younger and older pets need special foods?

In dietary terms, AAFCO recognises that animals go through three life stages. The first is growth: kittens and puppies have extra nutrient needs and a special food is recommended. The second is when a mother is nursing: special foods are recommended for a lactating cat or dog.

The third stage is simply adulthood, during which animals need to maintain their 'complete and balanced' nutrient intake. In most cases, older pets don't need special foods because they've no consistent nutrition peculiarities — though some may need to lose weight and others to put it on.

Actually, there is no need for special foods in any age of either cat, dog, or ferret. In fact, the only allowances you make is that you wouldn't give a 4 week old puppy a big beef bone. You'd give them food portions they could manage.

From my toy poodle, to my ferrets, to my cats, to my Portuguese Water Dogs, to my racing greyhounds, and to myriad of other breeds which have been in my care at one stage or another (including labs, borzoi, great danes, spaniels, etc), they all eat exactly the same foods. The differences are mostly in the amount that they eat.

The only other allowance I make is to ensure that whelping bitches get a bit more offal.

There is absolutely no scientific evidence which states that dogs need food according to life stages. Once you start to try to use waste product to create artifical foods, then all sorts of statistics can be brought into play.

Is milk bad for pets? Cats and dogs are a bit like us: some like milk and some don't, some can tolerate it and some can't. If your pet likes drinking milk, that's fine. A pet that can't tolerate milk will usually suffer from diarrhoea. Special reduced-lactose cat milks are available, but they're expensive and usually unnecessary.

Again, simply advising people to feed a natural appropriate diet would answer these questions.

Is a home-made diet better than a commercial one? If your pet is eating 'complete and balanced' foods, tested by an AAFCO trial, it'd be hard to improve on their diet with home-made substitutes. However, if you have the time to prepare a home-made diet for your pet, ask your vet for advice on what to include. Table scraps and other leftovers shouldn't make up more than 30% of your pet's dietary intake — preferably less.

We're not quite sure what Choice Magazine means by "home-made" diet. Perhaps if they'd had a little bit more time and inclination to do the research properly, they would have realised that feeding an appropriate raw diet, is a simple as a trip to the butcher.

A note to Choice Magazine - there is no evidence to suggest feeding commercial pet foods come even close to being as good as an appropriate raw diet.

Should pets eat a variety of foods? Animals are mostly concerned about meeting their energy needs rather than variety. But if you do feed your pet the same thing every day, you may find it reluctant to eat different foods, so a variety may be the best approach.

A variety of appropriate raw foods is the key. It starts to get interesting when you see all the great things your dog, cat, or ferret can eat. For a comprehensive FAQ on raw feeding click here.
Is there any risk of BSE with pet food? There shouldn't be. BSE in animals hasn't been detected in Australia. Pet food products must meet stringent import health standards or comply with state or territory legislation that applies to pet food production in Australia.

As yet, BSE hasn't been detected in being passed to dogs. However, always educate yourself as to what is going on in different parts of the world, and don't take one source of information as being enough to educate yourself.

For example, I'd want to know why so many vegetarians have contracted BSE. Now that gets you thinking, doesn't it!

Should pets be fed only once a day?

Most cats can eat when they like, but if you leave food out for dogs or greedy cats, they're likely to overeat.

o Growing dogs should be allowed to eat until they're full in a short time period two or three times a day. If there's any sign of obesity in a pup it's important to reduce its food intake: a fat puppy isn't a healthy puppy. As they get older the eating time doesn't matter as much as the quantity.

o Working, pregnant or lactating dogs and very small breeds cant usually eat enough at one sitting to meet their energy needs and should be fed smaller amounts more often.

o Kittens and pregnant or lactating cats need to be fed at frequent intervals.

o Once a day is fine for other cats and dogs.

 Adult dogs on an appropriate raw diet are often fed once a day, with younger animals receiving 2-3 meals a day.

Dogs will easily get fat on commercial dog food because of its inappropriate contents.

Puppies raised on an appropriate raw diet will look leaner and healthier than their fat counterparts on commercial foods.

Does dry cat food cause bladder problems? Cat biscuits used to, but manufacturers have altered the formulation and the problem has reduced. Cats fed on well-formulated dry food don't run a higher risk of getting bladder stones. Give them access to clean drinking water at all times.

There are a number of health issues relating to commercial pet food products, which will continue.

If you'd like to learn more about these health issues, get your hands on Tom Lonsdale's book, "Raw Meaty Bones". Click here for more info.

Costs - Choice has provided a chart of cost prices for a number of commercial products.

If you feed your dog an appropriate raw diet, you can easily feed it for less than $5 a week. Easily.

If you're having trouble sourcing providers of raw food, then there's an email list for this. Click here for more details.