Most people with a pet rely on commercial pet food, with little thought to how nutritious it might be. This is understandable when you realise that most people don't feed themselves with nutritious food, instead relying on junk food, fast food, restaurant food, anything other than real food.
The fact is, food is vital to health. If you, or your pet, are not eating nutritious (ie quality), species-specific (ie that which your ancestors evolved on) food, then don't expect either you, or your pet, to be healthy. It really is very simple.
However, humans like to make things more complicated than they really are. That is, humans with a vested interest.
Only a few decades ago, it was common to feed a pet scraps from the table. This was in the days when the family diet was more healthy than it is today and when agriculture grew real food, rather than the chemically laden 'food' produced today.
And, for the most part, the pets thrived. This was not an unreasonable diet for dogs and most cats supplemented their diet by a little hunting.
Then, the pet food industry was born. Clever marketing ridiculed this practice as inadequate. Nothing affects people more than thinking they aren't being good parents or good pet carers. We are easy to manipulate.
Slogans such as 'veterinary approved', 'scientifically formulated', 'balanced', 'healthy', and so forth were convincing if not accurate. Advertising, then as now, does not have to prove it is being truthful. Careful wording can be legal, but still untruthful.
This industry was not wanting you to improve the diet of your pet. They couldn't care less about that. No, what they wanted, and still want, is to make a profit. This is the only aim of corporations. This is the sole role of every CEO.
To turn the best possible profit, the raw, that is the basic ingredients of pet food, comes from the cheapest resources. Quality is not considered. Neither is the natural diet of the species, such as the nature of the food, the balance, etc.
All pet food is cooked at high temperatures and pressures in an attempt to kill off the bacteria that is so rampant in the factories. This process destroys any vestiges of nutrients that may be present. And still food is constantly being recalled from contamination.
To address the shortfall of nutrition, to colour the end result, to flavour it to ensure the poor animal eats it, to preserve the end result, often indefinitely, synthetic chemicals are used. All synthetic chemicals are toxic by nature.
The importance of natural pet food cannot be over-emphasized if you want a healthy pet, if you don't want to shell out on expensive veterinary treatment. But you won't find it on any supermarket shelf. The best way is to learn how to make it yourself.
Don't expect your vet to come to the party. They have been trained well - by the pet food industry.
For more information, see Single Deadliest Mistake for Dogs and Three Natural and Economical Feline Treatments
