Feed Your Pets Right -Roger Mason

About one third of American households own dogs and cats. Almost all of these people feed their pets commercial dog food  because they don't know any better. Commerical dog food is junk, even the expensive brands. Feed your dog or cat real food. Isn't your dog or cat a member of your family?  Isn't your pet a family member? If you really love them feed them real food. It's easy and cheap to do. 
 
First of all, dogs and cats are carnivores by nature. Look at their teeth, and you can see that clearly. They cannot be fed a vegetarian diet or they will get sick and die. Buddhist monks in Asia feed their temple cats half rice and half fish even though they eat no fish themselves. They realize cats are biologically different.  
 
What can you feed your pet that is practical, easy to fix, nutritious, and inexpensive? Lots of things. The best way is to feed them half whole grains and half animal products with a spoon of green or yellow vegetable thrown in. You can  feed them brown rice or finely chopped whole wheat pasta, for example, mixed with chopped various meats. 
 
When we shop for our food we shop for his too. Often beef or pork is on sale for less than two dollars a pound. You can get very inexpensive varieties of fish especially when frozen. Chicken and turkey are always cheap. Eggs are high in cholesterol. There are a wide variety of organ meats you can buy including liver, kidneys, gizzards, brains, tripe and other parts.  
 
You do NOT have to cook for your pet every night. You can cook, say,  a pound of beef or pork and put it in the refrigerator. It takes all of a minute to chop this up well with a chef's knife and mix it with some precooked brown rice, warm it up in the microwave and give it to them. This costs us no more than 50 cents a day for a small 20 pound dog. What if you have a 60 pound larger dog? Isn't it worth a dollar and a half at most to feed them, keep them healthy and well, avoid vet bills, and have them around for as long as possible? Aren't they part of your family? Don't you love them? 
 
We also freeze some of his meals in plastic bags for a variety of reasons. When we leave him at the sitters we have food ready to give her. When we just don't have the time or energy to feed him we warm up a frozen meal.  
 
You can and should give your dog and cat supplements just like you would the rest of your family. They will live longer, get sick less, have less vet visits and be happier. What supplements work for dogs and cats? First of all this must be in proportionate amounts. If a dog or cat is 15 pounds give them one TENTH a human dose. If they are 30 pounds give them one FIFTH of a human dose. Flax oil is a very good supplement as it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. Beta glucan is good for their immunity. Vitamin E, certainly for their hearts and arteries. Vitamin D is good. All Your Minerals and Vitamins is vital here. Supplements like CoQ10, lipoic acid, and glucosamine are good when they get older. These are not expensive at all since they will only need a fraction of what you take. Acidophilus is certainly important but be sure to get a good brand with 1-3 billion units per capsule and keep it refrigerated along with your flax oil. L-glutamine and FOS work with the acidophilus. You can even give them PS, ALC, and N-acetyl cysteine for as they get into old age. 

Hormones can be more difficult. When they are old you can consider melatonin, pregnenolone, and progesterone. DHEA and testosterone are more problematic. There are vets who can test hormones like blood sugar (instead of insulin), T3, and T4. Females can be tested for their three estrogens. 
 
If you were a dog or cat wouldn't you want to be fed real food instead of chemical filled substandard commercial pet food?