Food

For humans, a source of vitamin C in the diet is literally necessary for survival. Early sailors deprived of fresh foods for extended lengths of time often suffered from scurvy

I don’t think any pet food company has taken the “specialty diet” concept farther than Royal Canin, who has developed foods for dogs of every size, age, and condition, and even a few specific breed varieties. Here’s a list of its dry foods for toy and small breeds; no wonder people are confused about what to buy!

Three months ago, I asked, Why can't veterinary nutritionists design recipes that meet most nutritional needs through the use of whole foods

Looking for a special gift for a friend – or, better yet, a friend’s dog? We've put together this helpful gift guide for dogs,...

Nature's Variety was founded on the principle that dogs (and cats) should be given a variety of dietary options, both in terms of ingredients (chicken, beef, lamb, pork, etc.) and in the very form of food they are given (kibble, canned, etc.). While many companies offer a dry and a canned form of their products, Nature's Variety is ahead of the curve in adding frozen raw diets to its offerings. To ensure that consumers were well educated about these unique products and the concept of rotational feeding" – very new at the time – Nature's Variety products were sold only in independent pet supply stores when they were introduced to the retail market in 2002. Nature's Variety offers two distinctly different lines of food: Instinct and Prairie. True to the promise of "variety" present in the company's name

There are many benefits to feeding your dog or puppy by hand – and only a couple of situations when it’s not advisable.

By applying the foregoing criteria, we’ve found a thousand or more good foods to choose from; their manufacturers appear on our “Approved Dry Dog...

There are two types of people in the world: Those who give their dogs treats, and those who don’t, ever. I think all of us here belong in the former group. Right? Everyone with me? Good. We are all aware that we could make our own dogs treats rather than buy them. Some of us do make our dogs’ treats, sometimes. But there is something special about buying snacks for our dogs – sort of like buying Popsicles from the ice cream man for the kids; it may be expensive, and impulsive, and foolish. But so what? The joyous little doggie dance that dogs do when they know you’ve got something yummy for them is worth any price.

Over the past few months, I've read more than 30 books on homemade diets for dogs. Many offered recipes that were dangerously incomplete; a smaller number provided acceptable guidelines but were confusing, unduly restrictive, overly complicated, or had other issues that made me recommend them only with reservations. A few were good enough to recommend without reservation. This review is about the cream of the crop: three relatively new books (one is a new edition of an older book) whose authors have taken the time to analyze their recipes to ensure that they meet the latest nutritional guidelines established by the National Research Council (NRC).

Worst (Top) to Best (Bottom)Kibbles 'n bits beef & chickencornsoybean mealbeef and bone mealground wheatanimal fat (BHA)protein 19%, fat 8%Pedigree Adultground whole grain cornmeat and bone mealcorn gluten mealanimal fat (BHA and citric acid)soybean mealprotein 21%, fat 10%Purina dog chow complete whole grain cornmeat and bone mealcorn gluten mealanimal fat (mixed tocopherols)soybean mealprotein 21%, fat 10%Beneful originalground yellow cornchicken byproduct mealcorn gluten mealwhole wheat flouranimal fat (mixed tocopherols)protein 25%, fat 10% …

Sometimes, the deficiency is discovered when a blood test is performed for the purpose of analyzing the dog’s nutritional status (although, in my opinion, there are some problems with this methodology (see “Blood Testing for Deficiencies,” next page). In other cases, a dog owner might know that the diet he feeds is deficient in a certain nutrient, and he supplements rather than changes the formulation of the diet. For example, dogs who are fed a diet based on raw meats and vegetables, but who don’t receive fresh ground bones, are more than likely to be deficient in calcium.

Research is needed to analyze the nutritional adequacy of raw food diets. However, a published study didn’t accomplish that goal. The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) published an article written by two veterinarians about homemade and commercially made raw meat-based diets. (A similar article, based on the same data, was published in the AKC Gazette.) The article has been regarded by many proponents of homemade diets as a warning shot fired by the commercial-food -producing community and their traditional veterinary medical footsoldiers over the bow of the raw feeding ship.