If you're lucky enough to be the caretaker of a dog or cat, I suspect you already have an idea about the topic of this article. Within the last several weeks, the US pet food industry has been turned upside down as contaminated products have been pulled from the shelves.
Aside from the obvious tragedy of the sickened pets, two aspects of this situation really concern me...
First: For all the people who blindly trust that anything put on a shelf in the U.S. of A. is safe, guess what? Maybe not.
Sure this event is about pet food, not people food. Sure the FDA has tighter standards for foods intended for human consumption than they do for pet foods. Sure anything "obvious" has been winnowed out through the testing system.
But...
Mistakes happen.
And we honestly don't know about the long-term consequences of some of the additives, preservatives, and processing methods we accept in our own foods.
So to those who say, "It couldn't happen," I'll say plainly that it just did.
Second: Bear in mind that this is a Healthy Living DIY blog. That means that it's intended to appeal to people who expect to participate in creating a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families. For most of us who are pet owners, those little bundles of fluff really become part of the family.
Creating a healthy lifestyle for your pet might ... just might ... include preparing his or her food yourself. I'm not saying you have to. I've been feeding my little darlings commercial food, too. But I'm really thinking about my alternatives.
20 years or so ago, I adopted two kittens. For their first 7 or 8 years, I did feed them food made from scratch. (Got the idea and recipe from The (New) Natural Cat
Yesterday, the Associated Press ran an article about people making their own pet food as a result of the recent scare. Read the CNN version here.
Now here's what I really wonder about. From the article: "But veterinarians warn that making balanced meals for pets can be complicated and should only be a temporary remedy until the scare passes."
So basically they're saying that the commercially prepared foods are what ... healthier than we can prepare in our own kitchens? Think about this. For how many thousands of years did cats and dogs get along just fine without brand-name canned food or kibble?
What I think they're saying is that the level of nutritional awareness in the average American home is so poor that if we feed our pets like we eat, their health will suffer. And put that way, I would agree. Feed your poor cat pizza for dinner and toaster pastries for breakfast. Take Bowser through the drive-through for a cola and large fries. Watch what happens.
What they're really saying here is that our culture is losing the art of preparing nutritional food -- not just for our pets, but for ourselves. If they're right that canned commercial pet food is really better for Fluffy and Fido than our home-cooked alternatives, it's a pretty sad statement about what's being served at home. Wouldn't you say?
By the way, the AP article also mentioned that books on home-prepared pet food are absolutely FLYING out of Amazon.com. I'm not surprised. And from where I sit, it stands to reason that if we take the time to learn the unique nutritional needs of our animals, we can do just fine on our own.
What do you think?
Elizabeth Eckert can help you explore how simple everyday choices create health — or undermine even the best of intentions. With a background that ranges from energy medicine to structural bodywork to developmental psychology, this "Stick-To-It Coach" has the experience to support you in creating the healthiest possible expression of — you!
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