This is a subject that I think every pet owner has encountered.  On one side we have the pure minded...no mix breeding here! On the other we have the logic minded...lets take the best of two worlds to make things better! So who is right and who is wrong?  It's usually a decision decided on the individual pet themselves. Just like humans, although we all fall into some ethnic background and some sex, we are all individuals and so for must all be treated without stereotypes or preconceived notions.  The same is true for pets.

For instance some of the scariest dogs I've ever encountered while being a vet tech (and most techs will agree with me here) weren't the typical "feared" dogs like Pit Bulls and Rottweilers.  No the worst were sometimes the cutest little Yorkie or Pomeranian!  You just never know!  So what I thought I'd do is list some pros and cons of both pure breds and mutts and let you the reader decide what you think is best!

(when I say mutt, I mean the Heinz 57 variety, ones that you really don't know what is going on in the DNA - not labradoodles or cockapoos or those designer breeds)

Hard to choose which is better right?  Actually it isn't that hard!  My suggestion is, as always, do your homework.  Investigate the breed that you like the looks of, then the ones that you like the temperament of, talk to your vet, talk to owners of the breed you are looking at.  Most importantly, visit your local shelter.  There are so many pets out there that need homes and would love to be a part of your family.  Sometimes an older pet is just what you need and it gives them a chance to live out there lives in the comfort of your home, surrounded by love.  Many shelters will allow you to spend time with a pet before adopting to be sure the fit is right.  The rescue I received my precious little pup from insisted on a home visit to see how the dog liked the home (and to see if my cat, also a rescue, would react).  Needless to say, it was a perfect fit and I'm thankful everyday for my two rescues.

Just remember, not all pets are alike.  Just like humans, they all have individual quirks and personalities.  When you bring that new pet into your home, learn to love who they are, not who you want them to be and everyone will be the better for it.

During the time that I worked for an alternative medicine veterinarian, this idea of making pets vegetarians came up more often that not. Homemade diets were always our number one choice for the pets we would see but as soon as we would mention the idea of raw meat or even preparing meat for the pet, noses were turned up.  Most of the clients that we saw were those that sought out alternative medicine for their pets because they themselves were practicing natural health and medicine for themselves and knew the benefits of this lifestyle. Unfortunately our biggest obstacle was that most of these people were vegetarian or vegan.  This made things a bit difficult sometimes (no offense to vegetarians or vegans!).  The problem being, although we often think what is good for us is good for our pets, it is not always the case and diet is one of those times.

Cats and dogs both need protein in their diet and not through the vegetarian ways (beans and nuts), they need meat.  Here is the low down on our meat eating counter-parts:

Cats - these finicky felines are even finicky in their diet - they are obligate carnivores:

"Obligate or true carnivores depend solely on the nutrients found in animal flesh for their survival. While they may consume small amounts of plant material, they lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. The domestic cat is a prime example of an obligate carnivore, as are all of the other felids. The ability to produce synthetic forms of nutrients such as taurine in the lab has allowed feed manufacturers to formulate foods for carnivores (zoo animals and pets) with varying amounts of plant material." Wikipedia

In a nutshell - they need meat!  Tofu eating kitties will just not be healthy.  Be sure to check that the food you are providing your cat is loaded with meats.  All the veggies in cat foods seem like a great addition to the diet but in general, cats actually can't digest vegetables. A cat's diet should be at least 75% meat based protein (unless otherwise directed by your veterinarian - some diseases may constitute a smaller amount)

Dogs - our "garbage eating" companions are actually omnivores:

"Omnivores (from Latin: omni all, everything; vorare(infinitive) to devour) are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source. They are opportunistic, general feeders not specifically adapted to eat and digest either meat or plant material exclusively. Pigs are one well-known example of an omnivoreCrows are another example of an omnivore that many people see every day. Humans are omnivores." Wikipedia

Although this means that they are able to digest vegetables and use their nutrients, it doesn't mean that is all they should have.  Meats are high in Vitamin B (particularly B12 and folic acid) which allow the body to function correctly in day to day situations.  These B vitamins are essential for detoxifying the liver, adding energy and keeping the eyes healthy.  Dog's diets should consist of 40 to 60% meat based protein. (unless otherwise directed by your veterinarian)

So although a human's healthy lifestyle may contain a diet low in meat or lacking in meat, pet's need this ingredient in their life.

Recently the ingredient Xylitol was brought to my attention and immediately I had flash backs to a cat that was seen while I was a vet tech.  The cat, already in the first stages of renal failure, came to the vet due to excessive vomiting and lethargy.  After many tests and much research, it was found that the cat had been using a mouth cleaning product that contained Xylitol.  At first nothing was thought of this until all the pieces were brought together but let me explain Xylitol first.

According to Wikipedia : "Xylitol (from Greek ξύλον - xyl[on], "wood" + suffix -itol, used to denote sugar alcohols) is a sugar alcohol sweetener used as a naturally occurring sugar substitute. It is found in the fibers of many fruits and vegetables, including various berries, corn husks, oats, and mushrooms.^[2] It can be extracted from corn fiber,^[3] birch, raspberries, plums, and corn. Xylitol is roughly as sweet as sucrose with only two-thirds the food energy. As with most sugar alcohols, initial consumption can result in bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence, although generally rather less so than other sugar alcohols like sorbitol."

It is used in many dental products as a sweetener due to it's "tooth friendly" nature...in other words it sweetens without harm to teeth.  It has also been found to control yeast in the mouth, increases white blood cell activity helping the fight against bacteria and has even been thought of as a treatment for osteoporosis!  And although there has been very small side effects from regular use in humans, pets are another story.

Most pet products that contain Xylitol are oral rinses that are added to the pet's normal drinking water supply.  This in itself is a danger because of consumer misuse, the inability of pets to monitor their own water consumption and the chance of over-dosing.  Granted, it does take a bit of over-dosing to cause problems in a healthy pet but...

"Dogs that have ingested foods containing high levels of xylitol (greater than 100 milligram of xylitol consumed per kilogram of bodyweight) have presented with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) which can be life-threatening. Low blood sugar can result in a loss of coordination, depression, collapse and seizures in as soon as 30 minutes. Intake of very high doses of xylitol (greater than 500 – 1000 mg/kg bwt) has also been implicated in liver failure in dogs, which can be fatal." Wikipedia

Couple that with any pet that isn't in top condition and it is a recipe for disaster.  Let's look at the cat that I mentioned before.

Let me list out all the reasons that we believed that Xylitol was to blame...

1. The cat was vomiting

2. The cat's liver values suddenly elevated - liver damage

3. The cat was in renal failure and for anyone that has a cat in renal failure they know that the pet will drink more

4. The owner was using a oral wash for the cat and placing it in the water - good dental hygiene is essential in pet's with kidney conditions

5. Nothing else seemed to be to blame!

What had occurred was that the owner was following the directions on the oral rinse correctly but what wasn't put into consideration was the cat's voracious appetite for water.  The over consumption of the Xylitol then started to effect the liver and the cat's blood sugar would drop as well.

You wouldn’t let years go by between visits to the dentist for yourself, right? Probably not! Well your pet's dental health is just as important to his or her overall health as your dental health is to your general health. Here are some reasons why it is so important!

Dental Care for Pets?

Dental care of dogs and cats is one of the most commonly overlooked areas of pet health care. In fact, over two-thirds of pet owners do not provide the dental care that is needed. This results in over 80% of dogs and 70% of cats will have dental disease by the age of 3 years.

Dental disease doesn’t affect just the mouth. It can lead to more serious health problems including heart, lung and kidney disease, which makes it all the more important that you provide your pets with proper dental care from the start.

What is Periodontal Disease?

Your pet’s bad breath is not something to be ignored or dismissed as “doggie breath” or “kitty breath”. In fact they could be clear sign that there may be a serious concern inside of your pet’s mouth.

Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissue surrounding the teeth that takes hold in progressive stages. It starts out as a bacterial film called plaque. The bacteria attach to the teeth. When the bacteria die they can be calcified by calcium in saliva. This forms a hard, rough substance called tartar or calculus which allows more plaque to accumulate. Initially, plaque is soft and brushing or chewing hard food and toys can dislodge it. If left to spread, plaque can lead to gingivitis, an inflammation of the gums, causing them to become red and swollen and to bleed easily.

This condition allows bacteria not only to enter your pet’s digestive tract and lungs; it enters the blood stream easily and travels to organs throughout the body. The most easily effected being the heart, kidneys and even joints!

As plaque and calculus develop below the gum line, professional cleaning will be needed to help manage it. If the plaque and tartar buildup continues unchecked, infection can form around the root of the tooth.

In the final stages of periodontal disease, the tissues surrounding the tooth are destroyed, the bony socket holding the tooth in erodes and the tooth becomes loose. This is a very painful process for your four-legged friend, but these problems can be averted before they even start.

How is it prevented?

Fleas - We all know the name of this parasite but how many of us really know the terror these little "bugs" are?

Still not enough? Consider flea bites.  Again, being a vet tech, I've had them and for those that have had them as well, they are not comfortable.  For the average person these bites cause nothing more than irritation but for those that are elderly or have certain conditions, these simple bites can cause serious problems.

With the New Year now into full swing, resolutions are being sought.  Many of us resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, save money, etc. Why not make a resolution to ensure your pet's good health this year?  Really make a conscious effort to choose only healthy options for your pet. The best place to start? Reading your pet's food's label!  Do you know what all those ingredients are?  Do you know what secrets the label can tell you? Lets's examine a label from a popular dog food.

Ingredients: corn, soybean meal, beef and bone meal, ground wheat flour, animal fat (bha used as preservative), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficeint for processing, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol, salt, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, sorbic acid (used as a preservative), sodium carbonate, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), calcium sulfate, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40, BHA (used as preservative), dl methionine.

 How the ingredients are listed - 

The ingredients are listed by precentage in the formula.  Here we see that corn is the major componenet of this food. Why?  Because it is a cheap filler.  Soybean meal, beef and bone meal, and ground wheat flour are the next highest ingredients and so forth.  You want to find a food that the number one ingredient is a protien (beef, fish, lamb, etc).  I mean the WHOLE protien too, not just "meal" or "by-product".

What is "meal"? - 

"Meal" is what is left over after the processing of an ingredient.  For example, fish meal is the ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings. Corn meal is the by-product after the manufacture of corn syrup or starch, and is the dried residue after the removal of the bran, germ and starch.  I think you can get the picture here.  So it doesn't seem that there is much nutritional value to this ingredient, right?  Well, in some cases there is a small amount of value but not enough to constitute pet food companies using it as a main ingredient in their formulas.

The infamous "by-product" - 

Meat by-products are clean parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat. These include lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain liver, blood, bone, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, or hooves.  Poultry by-products are clean parts of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, and internal organs.  It does not contain feathers.  Although this seems like a way for pets to get the trace nutrients that normally are not found in the muscle meats of an animal, the food is normally so processed that any nutritional value to this ingredient is lost.

Corn syrup? Colorings? - 

Although black strap molassues has its benefits, corn syrup does nothing more than give flavor.  If a pet food needs to add "flavor" to help the pet eat it, something is wrong.  The other ingredient that is completely useless is any colorings.  Why? Why does a pet food need coloring? Think about it!

Wheat Middlings -

Here is a fun ingredient!  According to Wikipedia - "Wheat middlings or wheat mill run, stated by AAFCO, is coarse and fine particles of wheat bran and fine particles of wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flou and offal from the "tail of the mill". Wheat middling is an inexpensive by-product intermediate of human food processing, commonly referred to as floor sweepings. It is an inexpensive filler in pet foods."....Really?!

Animal digest -

Oh how I hate to even put this definition here but...

"Animal digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by AAFCO, 'Material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolisis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in food factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.'

A cooked-down broth made from specified, or worse, unspeified parts of specified or unspecified animals (depending on the type of digest used). If the source is unspecified (e.g. "Animal" or "Poultry"), the animal used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control of quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket reduse and so on.

FDA: Digests, which are materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Only a small amount of a "chicken digest" is needed to produce a "Chicken Flavored Cat Food," even though no actual chicken is added to the food. - (FDA)"

I'm not going to say any more about this...

Vitamin supplements - 

Many pet foods load on the vitamin supplements. Want to know why? Because during the processing of the food, high heat and pressure are used, ingredients are over processed and thus they lose all their nutritional value!  Pet food companies then need to add vitamins to the diet.  That's good that they add them back though, right? WRONG!  They use synthesized vitamins.  If you haven't read anything about whole food vitamins (like those found in Casey Pets Essential Supplement) vs. synthesized ones, now would be a good time to do that. Here is a great article...click here.

Lastly...AAFCO - 

This is a name synonymous with pet foods but what is it?  AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. The AAFCO develops guidelines for the production, labeling, and sale of animal foods.  These are called the AAFCO standards.  AAFCO has developed two standards which pet foods should meet. Pet foods which meet the AAFCO's requirements will include one of two statements on their label.

The first standard states 'formulated to meet AAFCO's nutrient requirement.' This means the food was tested in the laboratory and was found to have the recommended amount of protein, fat, etc.  But what is not mentioned is that the combination of shoe leather, used motor oil and coal would meet this standard!

The second standard states something like 'animal-feeding tests using AAFCO's procedures substantiate that this product provides complete and balanced nutrition.' For a pet food to be able to carry this label, it had to be tested on a population of animals for six months and shown to provide adequate nutrition.  But even with this statement, there are problems with its interpretation. If one particular product in a manufacturer's line was tested and found to meet this standard, the company is allowed to include this same statement on other products in the same "family" which provide equal or greater concentrations of all the nutrients.  So even if the pet food carries this AAFCO food trial statement on its label, you cannot be sure that specific product was actually tested!  In addition, testing for six months is not an adequate amount of time to determine if the food would cause deficiencies or what the long term effects would be.

In conclusion -

Be careful of what you feed your pet! Just because a food has pretty colors or a fun shape or even a great commercial showing healthy pets eating seemingly healthy foods, it may not be good for your pet.  Take some time to do a little research and look at labels!  There are great foods out there, you just need to look!