Health and wellbeing | PETS
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Once you have protein covered, whole foods
such as vegetables and fruit come next, as
well as micronutrients such as vitamins and
minerals. “These can come from various sources,
such as whole foods, seeds, herbs, seaweeds
and oils,” Annabelle says. And don’t forget about
balancing calcium and phosphorus, which is
really important for dogs. “If you are not feeding
your dog raw bones, make sure they are
receiving good calcium in their diet. Eggshell
powder is a great
natural source.”
According
to Dr Leigh
Davidson,
veterinarian and
founder of Your
Vet Online, dogs
don’t generally
require anything
special. “They are
omnivores and
have evolved
to handle most
things due to
developing
alongside
humans andscavenging from our waste,” she says.
Leigh adds that as a general rule, it’s
important that at least one of the fi rst fi ve
ingredients in your dog’s food is an animal
protein. “This is not to say that plant proteins
are bad. That is another fallacy. There is
absolutely no study that shows plant proteins
or grains are inappropriate for a normal animal.”BEST FOOD FOR CATS
“Cats are obligate carnivores which means they
cannot survive without meat protein,” says Dr
Leigh. “Taurine (an amino acid) is essential. If
a diet is depleted of taurine, cats can develop
central retinal degeneration resulting in blindness
and dilated cardiomyopathy (heart failure).
“Vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, is an
essential vitamin for cats, which means it must
be part of their diet in order for your cat to
maintain optimal health. The brain and other
high-energy organs require thiamine for proper
function because it is used for carbohydrate
metabolism. If a cat does not get enough
thiamine in its diet, you will fi rst notice a lack of
appetite, weight loss and gastrointestinal upset.
As symptoms progress, cats will experience
neurological symptoms such as neuromuscular
weakness, unequal pupil sizes and decreased
light response by the pupils. Extreme cases can
lead to heart problems,” she adds.
You can fi nd taurine in red meat, especially
heart and liver, poultry, eggs, dairy and shellfi sh.Feed your cat according to his life stage.Absolute MUST AVOID Absolute MUST AVOID
ingredientsingredients
Annabelle Selleck, owner of Good
Pet Food Kitchen, shares her list of
ingredients to avoid.-^ BHA — Butylated hydroxyanisole
— a chemical anti-oxidant.
-^ BHT — Butylated hydroxytoluene —
another chemical anti-oxidant. Both
BHA and BHT are used to slow the
deterioration of important oils in pet
foods and have been shown to promote
liver disease and other illnesses.
-^ Ethoxyquin — a chemical
preservative that is only allowed in pet
food, not human food, and in studies
has been shown to promote cancers.
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