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Feeding Your Pet

October 14, 2015

Over the last few years there has been an increasing interest in feeding raw food diets. There is much debate about what is the best for your pet, with there being pros and cons for feeding commercial or raw food diets.

An important factor is to ensure the diet is complete and balanced, and appropriate for the age and stage of your pet. Correct amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins, and the correct fatty acid and amino acid balance are extremely important. Nutritionally unbalanced diets can affect the overall health of your pet: effecting skeletal growth, organ, skin and immune health, to name but a few.

To achieve a nutritional balance with a raw food diet you need to feed many different parts of a carcass including internal organs, the carcass frame and the entrails. A diet consisting of solely muscle meat, or a diet with a mix of meat and commercial food will not be balanced. To attain a balanced diet with a raw food, advice from a specialist nutritionist is advised.

Feeding a high quality commercial food that has been developed by a reputable company will also provide a nutritionally balanced diet. There is a wide range of commercially prepared foods, but they are not all created equal. The source and quality of the ingredients, additives and preservatives all vary.

It is a personal choice which diet you prefer to feed your pet and factors including cost, time and ease of use and storage will affect your decision. However, please don’t take this decision lightly and do some research into the topic, we are lucky enough to have veterinary nutrition specialists in the Waikato.   For information on RAW food diets or high quality commercial pet food, please contact us and we can head you in the right direction.