With
alarming reports of toxic dog food being recalled by commercial
producers, it's frightening to realize there's a chance that your dog's
food might actually kill
your
pet!
Even
if your dog's food isn't tainted, how do you know if it's truly
healthy and nutritious?
Homemade vs. Canned
vs. Kibble Controversy
Commercially produced
kibble is easiest and generally least expensive way to feed your dog.
Canned dog food is often slightly more expensive, but also quite
convenient as compared with the requirements of making your pet's food
yourself at home.
But
which is best? How can you best balance convenience, cost and
optimal nutrition?
Click here
to learn more about the
argument against
using a
commerically produced dog food.
To
provide your Cavalier with the most nutritious diet, one key factor is freshness. The fresher a
food product is - that is, the closer it is to it's unprocessed,
natural state - the more nutrition is generally provided to your
pet. Processing depletes the vitamins and minerals from your
dog's food. Additionally, making a pet food convenient and easy
to use often requires additives and preservatives that are not
healthful to your dog.
Best
A balanced, homemade
diet consisting of meat, fruits and vegetables is the freshest and best
diet for your Cavalier. Ideally, this means a diet of organic, hormone-
and preservative-free food sources that are suitable for human
consumption. Many suggest that the best homemade diet is a raw
diet, or at least a diet that includes an abundance of raw foods.
Better
Frozen raw food diets are available for pet
owners who do not have the inclination to prepare their dog's food at
home themselves.
Freeze-dried
and dehydrated foods are another more convenient option that retains a
large share of the nutrition in tact.
Good
Canned dog food - particularly from a
producer that uses chemical and preservative-free food sources is the
next option. Canned food loses some of its vitamins and minerals
in the processing, but retains more nutritional value than highly
processed dry kibble.
Fair
Dry kibble is the most highly processsed
choice and is as far away from the food fresh natural state as your can
get.
But don't be fooled into thinking that buying
an expensive dry kibble compensates
for the loss of freshness. One sources warns "Please note that brands
like Iams, Eukanuba, and Science Diet - which were all
affected by the recall - are NOT healthy or natural foods."
