Oh my goodness this is an exceptional question and one food does not fit all. However there are lots of things to consider and hopefully we will be able to point you in the right direction. First a little about some basics to get you searching.
In short we find the fresher the food the better. We are not a fan of the highly processed foods that you mostly find on the supermarket and veterinary shelves!
Rule of thumb is, if you don’t recognise the ingredient on the pack, don’t buy it! If you are feeding dry food, no matter how good the ingredients are, we strongly suggest you ditch the bag and look for an alternative, if you can afford to. Even if it is grain free it contains a lot of starch to help the composition and structure of the dry food. Starch equals sugar and as we know sugar is bad for us, and our pets’ do not have a high requirement for carbohydrates in their diet.
Deceptively some of the dry food can contain almost 40-50% carbohydrates and the worst thing is, it doesn’t have to be stated on the pack. So there you are, feeding your grain free superfood blend thinking you are ‘rocking it’ only to find you are non-the wiser to it’s awful health implications. Yes your cat or dog might seem ok now but what about in the future.. nutrition is investment in your health right?
So it’s incredibly important what you feed to your pet as to what they may suffer later down the line. Part of the reason of wanting to consult in a different way and try and prevent issues is because we see many, many sick pets coming through our doors and we don’t always think it’s necessary.
There’s plenty that comes into play with our health and our pets. Genetics has a huge part to play but these genetics are majorly influenced with how we and our pets interface with the world. This includes nutrition, the environment, vaccinations, flea and worm treatments, physiological stress and so on. But if you get the baseline of nutrition right, then you are giving your pet a better chance at good health. With consistent toxins and technology exposure we need to consider supporting detoxification too.
My specialty is how nutrition can interplay with genetics,switching genes on and off. Using diet and supplements to help ward off issues but also to help manage them when they have arisen.
So far so good? Here are some of the foods we recommend. This is very broad and dependent on each pet but as a rule of thumb, we like these types of foods and the brands mentioned as a starting point.
Raw food/BARF
We started off as an avid die hard raw foodies! As time has gone on, we realised that this doesn’t suit all and to promote this being done at home, even well, is a risk as food alone does not give your pet everything he or she requires. That doesn’t excuse us from the raw food gathering and revolution.
We often suggest raw as a commercial food, from a reputable company who do it well. There are no nutritional shortfalls and an overall balance is offered. We might upset some raw foodies here but on average even those cats and dogs who come to me home raw food and ‘well considered’, a good 50% of them have nutritional deficiencies.
Home cooked food
This is a wonderful alternative to raw feeding. It’s fresh and lightly cooked and we offer recipes to follow if you wish to DIY. We love home cooked meals delivered to the door also. You can get this for your pet too.
Raw and dehydrated food
This is a great solution if you don’t have a freezer or much freezer space, going on holiday or even keep something in the cupboard as a back up. This is often raw or lightly cooked, fresh food that has been air dried, dehydrated or freeze dried. All processes are slightly different and freeze dried is the least processed but the most expensive.
Canned and Dry food
We avoid dry food and canned food if possible. Often canned food is irradiated whilst in the aluminium tin. This is rather dangerous longterm and offers dead nutrition! If you are going to buy tinned food I urge you to ask the company how they process at the final stages.
Our Ultimate Raw Feeding Guide and Ultimate Puppy Guide provide balanced recipes raw and a list of brands we recommend.
MPN Team x
