Lets Talk About Food Again, Shall We?
AnimalCare 
Feb 25, 2012 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
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So, we’ve been talking a lot of the benefits of raw food and home-cooked for our animals, but granted, some of us cannot home-cook, while some of our pets refuse to take home-cooked and what more, raw, especially after they have been on kibble or wetfood for years.
I’d like to adopt the moderate stand, and also to “listen” to what our pets want. Animals, believe it or not, may not be able to read the ingredients list, but sometimes, they actually KNOW what is good for them. Try giving your cat leftovers, and mine would turn their noses up in the air and say, “I’d rather DIE before I eat that!”
So, I was really gung-ho on home-cooked when Indy was critically ill because Dr Susanna said it’s probably the diet that had got Indy into that state (months on prescription diet, because we thought he was a kidney case). So, by hook or by crook, I would get Indy to eat home-cooked or at least wetfood. And yes, Dr S was quite right. The change of diet saw Indy improve gradually and now, he’s not even a suspect kidney case anymore, and he is as confident as ever (that’s thanks to the acupuncture sessions).
So, what does my brood take now?
Only Bunny and Cleo can take raw food, and they only take meat and skin. Refuse to take raw organs. Indy loves raw liver, and that’s about it. Now, that won’t be balanced, so I have to supplement with Natural Balance wetfood.
Some days, I cook for them, but again, not all of them like home-cooked now. Guess the novelty is over and they’ve gone back to the old eating patterns. This was especially so because my success in getting them to eat only home-cooked was interrupted when I moved house – I had no stove for 2 weeks! So, I only fed them Natural Balance, which they naturally loved!
My brood loves this, so it’s become their staple food.
They get home-cooked as well, but not every day, as I just cannot manage the time on certain days.
Cleo still loves kibble food, so for kibble, they get Go!, but more as a treat.
As for Bobby, the old boy gets all three – the best of all worlds!
He gets his favourite stir-fried chicken, wetfood and kibble in every meal.
This is the Go! wetfood for Bobby.
Bobby’s life-saver – Canine Caviar Special Needs.
I’m also giving Bobby the all-new Canine Caviar adult Chicken and Pearl Millet.
And Bobby also gets Orijen Chicken kibble (sorry we just finished the packet, so no photo to show).
You’ll see this diagram on the Canine Caviar packet, advising us to rotate the type of food (dry kibble, raw, wetfood, home-cooked) for the purpose of protein rotation and making sure we get as much as we can.
In summary (this is NOT expert advice, but just my opinion):
1. Raw food is great, but not all animals can take raw food especially when we have been feeding them processed or cooked food all their lives. Raw food has to be balanced as well. Try the BARF recipes and if you have infant animals, start them on BARF if you can maintain it for the rest of their lives.
2. Home-cooked is next best to Raw. Again, it has to be balanced so please source for well-tested and well-researched recipes. Please do not give cooked bones. You can add crushed eggshells as a calcium supplement.
3. Wet canned food is processed, but has sufficient water content (and that’s good). Choose brands with the least jelly as jelly is toxic. Source for brands with quality protein and is species-appropriate.
4. Kibble is highly processed, and thus, furthest from being “natural”. But it doesn’t mean it is not good. Source for those with quality ingredients.
For Nos 3 & 4, please look for independent food ratings and make an informed decision.
There is probably no one best food for dogs or cats, rather, it is all about choosing THE best food for that particular dog or cat. Test it for yourself.
All said, our animals may be the best judge on what’s best for them!
Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/02/25/lets-talk-about-food-again-shall-we/
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