Most pet owners care about their pet’s nutrition. They wonder whether the way they feed their furry friends is right or at least acceptable. We have to admit that in a time of oversupply it is not easy to take the right decisions.
Just walk into a pet supply store and you will find thousands of different foods – bags of kibble, cans of wet food, semi-wet, super foods, snacks, treats, feeding supplements. What does my dog need, which bag of food do I chose? And how about my cat? Your head is spinning and you haven’t even checked all the ingredients lists of the products yet!
Variety is important!
Most commercial pet foods market themselves as 'complete', 'balanced' or 'optimal', but just think about it: How can one bag of food fulfill all the nutritional requirements? That would mean that living a healthy life could be so easy! Just mixing some ingredients together, adding some synthetic vitamins and minerals, and there it is, the 'elixir of life'!
It is true that most of the commercial diets are 'balanced', but considering all the heavy processing and the long shelf life it is only possible with synthetic additives and supplements. A constant, uncontrolled consumption of these highly processed diets can easily lead to over- or undersupply of nutrients.
If you think about it, our pets are the only animals on earth that sometimes do not get to eat fresh foods in their entire lives. The pet food industry claims that they have invented diets that are balanced and can be fed all year round because they contain everything what our pets need – but can we really trust that?
365 days, your pet’s life elixir?
We at Rara Petcare are critical about our pets’ nutrition just as we are about our own. We like to question these kinds of diets because we believe that it is just not possible to guarantee a healthy nutrition by offering the same food every day. We just ask ourselves: How can the pet food makers promote a '365 days, 24/7 balanced diet' for our dogs and cats, and why has nobody invented this for humans yet?
We understand that variety is the key for a healthy diet, and a diet can only be truly balanced if it is diverse. If it is not, this 'diversity' has to be added synthetically.
You have probably heard that changing the diet frequently can cause digestive issues for your pet? This is absolutely correct, but only counts for commercial and processed diets. There are no animals in the wild (and no humans either) that consume the same diet day by day. If frequent changing of diet would cause digestive disorders, how could a feral wolf survive by eating different prey? And how could we humans be fine with trying out new restaurants and foods on a daily basis?
The answer is quite obvious, as wild animals and us „wild“ humans consume fresh foods, our domesticated dogs and cats consume highly processed diets. Their organisms are so stuck to those diets and the composition of those, that any change can cause a big disturbance. They get so used to the daily repeating diet, that their bodies „forget“ the ability to be flexible and open for other foods.
Pet owners who feed their companion animals fresh and diverse foods will confirm that their pets do not react with digestive issues to food variety. Of course there will always be some foods that an individual pet cannot digest well or reacts adversely to for example with developing an intolerance, but in general it is very unlikely that daily changing fresh meals will cause diarrhea or constipation.
This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. It is not meant to substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or formal and individualized advice from a veterinary medical professional. Animals exhibiting signs and symptoms of distress should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.
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