Healthy Eating

I'm not afraid to admit something: My pets eat better than I do.

I am pretty picky about what my animals eat. Not crazily picky, but picky enough. I make sure they get the proper nutrition, and research any new food I give them.

The big dogs, Bella and Jax, eat Taste of the Wild. I know this isn't the best food, but I've been pretty happy with it. When we first started feeding it, I very quickly saw a huge improvement in Bella. Her coat was shinier and she had more energy. Taste of the Wild is a grain free diet with plenty of meat. It has no corn or soy. If I had things my way completely, I'd have Bella on a raw diet.

The little dogs, Maggie, Ellie, and Ricky, eat a brand called Country Naturals. This food is not grain free, but it has a higher meat content than most brands. Ellie has a very sensitive stomach and gets sick (mostly diarrhea) if she eats most dog foods. Anything with corn, wheat, or most other gains, makes her sick. We tried her on Taste of the Wild, and for a while, she was better, but she started getting sick again. When we got Ricky, he was already eating this food. We decided to try it for Ellie too, and she has done very good on it, so we keep the little dogs on this food.

Shadow and Delilah are on completely grain free diets. They get Taste of the Wild dry food, and Delilah gets Wellness canned and Taste of the Wild canned. Shadow gets canned food if she asks for it, and she eats whatever she catches. Tin Tin would be on a grain free diet if he quit going to the neighbors and eating their food. Like Bella, if it was totally up to me, the cats would be on a raw diet.

The birds, if they would just cooperate, would be getting a good diet too. I'm working on this (see other posts). My last bird got pellets, vegetables, and a small amount of seed. She had a decent diet, but I've learned more about bird nutrition since her, so the lovebirds will have an even better diet (if they would eat it).

Even the smaller animals get a high quality food. The guinea pigs get fed Oxbow pellets and timothy hay. They also get dark, leafy greens everyday, and usually another vegetable and a bit of fruit. Maxwell gets whatever greens and veggies the pigs are having and gut-loaded crickets.

Meanwhile, us humans don't eat as healthy. We eat things like McDonalds and other restaurants. I've read the book Fast Food Nation, and I've also read the book Food Pets Die For. The pet food book bothered me way more than the one about fast food. If only I made myself eat as well as I make my pets eat...