MNN - Mother Nature Network

in my babies. Alexandra @www.healthydogclub.com

to ensure no harmful bacteria has grown or been introduced into the product. Second, all pet food manufacturers are required to comply with the same federally mandated standards for balanced nutrition. Our pet food products are formulated to provide a pet with 100% of its nutritional requirements. When pet parents are given the responsibility to formulate their pet's diet, they often don't realize there is more to it than giving pets an arbitrary amount of meat and vegetables. Do you know how many vitamins are added to supplement your pets diet? Just as humans benefit from supplements, so do pets. Third, all of our ingredients come from domestic sources. How would it make sense to ship animal or vegetable products from China when the US has the most fertile and productive agricultural land in the world? A lot of our higher end products are locally sourced. In addition we maintain close personal ties with all of our suppliers, and subject them to objective and thorough testing every time ingredients arrive. Fourth, we have plenty of options available for people who are uncomfortable with feeding their pets corn and processed grain based food products. A lot of these options include locally sourced whole grains and base meats like organ meats that are closer to what a pet would eat in the wild. Finally, what reasoning could you provide that extruded pet food products are less healthy than non extruded? Literally the only thing that happens to an extruded product is that it is cooked in steam (commonly referred to as the best way to cook human food and retain nutritional content) and then pressed through a small hole in a plate. There isn't any extra chemicals or fillers added in an extrusion step. I understand people like the raw diet because there is a big trend to go "back to nature", but look at it this way. Our ancestors ate raw and simple diets regulated but what was available in their environment at the time. If they were so healthy as a result then why was their life expectancy so low?

food? I eat lots of berries too - and get raw veggies in my food. So I do get a balanced diet. It's the only way to go and I thank my dog parents for feeding me raw. And, my coat is silky. Well, I could go on and go about the raw food diet. But you get the pic. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

their motives are not health oriented. Adopting a policy such as this shows they lack any objectivity at all, and are only puppets for their funders. They are only going to lose credibility in the long run, and that is very difficult to get back once it is lost. More and more people are realizing the health benefits for their cats in feeding a natural raw meat diet, despite the opinions of their vets. Veterinarians can learn from these enlightened clients, rather than discouraging them. A stance such as this from the AVMA only makes people distrust their vets, and that should be the last thing the AVMA should want.

happens. Just like pharmaceutical companies in the human medical industry, your vets are being bribed to push product instead of being truly concerned with their patient's health.