Supporting a Food Argument (Hopefully, this makes sense...)

[her_aesthetic]

I have to vent.

For those of you who feed non-commercial diets like Natura brand foods ("the healthiest pet food in the world" ;), how do you support your argument that these foods are better than what's on the shelves at grocery stores and PetSmart/PetCo?

My fiance's mom bought their pittie (adopted from the CNYSPCA two years ago) a bag of Innova

Comments

[her_aesthetic]

I feel like I should mention that Patrick's mom and my best friends' dad can both EASILY afford to feed high-quality expensive foods... believe me. Money definitely isn't hard to come by for them.

[adina_atl]

I feed a home-made diet, so I can't speak for any of the specific brands you mention. But to me, the most important, even defining, characteristic of food for a cat or dog is whether or not it contains carbohydrates. It doesn't matter (IMHO) whether the carbohydrates come from corn, other grain, or non-grain sources, nor whether they are "human grade" food. Cats and dogs don't need carbohydrates, they need protein, meat-based protein. When they are fed foods that are 40% or more carbohydrates, they eat more of it, trying to get the same amount of protein, and thus get fatter. (Or they have protein deficiencies, also not good for them

[gruselig]

My SO and I are constantly at odds with her parents about dog food. They seem to think Pedigree is a healthy meal and that our dog gets 'bored' with her food (Timberwolf Organics and whatever meat we have laying about for treats). Floy has food allergies and a sensitive tummy, but if we don't watch my SO's parents carefully, they'll feed her a full meal of Pedigree or some other equally bad food if they think she 'is hungry.'

Their argument is, "the dog only lives once, so shouldn't she eat whatever she wants?" I haven't found a diplomatic way to answer that we only live once, so we should just eat unhealthy things (not to mention, it's hard to translate that into their language). Know that you're not alone!

[kerath]

You know what? I gave up arguing with people about dog food. I feed raw, and I let my dogs' health speak for me.

Since I quit preaching about it, I've had more friends and family members approach me and ask about it than ever before. They see that my dogs are trim, healthy, that they smell good, their teeth are clean and their coats are beautiful.

What's really funny is, I don't talk about what I feed my dogs unless someone asks, but my mother and husband (whose only involvement with raw feeding is me and my dogs) preach it like it's a religion now. It cracks me up.