Animal Food . . . It's A Lot More Than Just a Meal

Through ongoing scientific research, major advancements have been made in the manufacture of animal food, which together with owner's care, allows pets to live longer and healthier lives.

Since dogs and cats have completely different needs, this fact was also taken into account.   

There are, of course, different types of food, each with its own specific advantages.

Dry foods, like biscuits, are easy to use and can stay all day in the bowl. Because the animal has to chew the food, the teeth stay clean and healthy, and biscuits now come in special shapes which clean the teeth even more.

The "wet" food, like tins, cups and specially-packaged dinners, is preferred by most pets and it helps with the animal's body fluid in a natural way. However, it is best to feed your pet a combination of both dry and wet food, to take advantage of the benefits of each.

As we said, research has provided information leading to huge improvements in pet food, which makes it much healthier for your animal than feeding it "human" food. Also, we can now choose food made especially for the needs of individual animals.

 
For example, there is food specifically designed for young animals, which provides everything needed for a growing pet, which adults don't need. The young, active, growing dog or cat needs more proteins for development and an accurate amount of calcium and phosphorus for strong bones and teeth.  

If the animal is fully grown, they need a food which has everything for good conditioning and maintaining a healthy life. This food is designed for the average activity of dogs and cats. Also, there are different kinds of food for small as opposed to large dogs.

Also, the life-style of dogs and cats can be very different. Certain foods are for active animals, such as hunting dogs, police dogs, etc, which need a lot of energy to do their work. Some animals have an "easy" life and should eat "light" foods to keep them from getting too fat.  

Older animals should also have a specific meal, which is called senior food, and is much easier to chew and digest, and doesn't provide extra energy which is no longer needed.

A large dog is considered "senior" from the age of six, and smaller or medium-sized dogs from the age of eight. For cats the senior age starts around eight.

Also, researchers have come up with snacks in all sizes and for all purposes, such as cleaning teeth, curbing bad breath, etc., and these snacks are much healthier than table scraps. 

As we all know, good skin and shiny fur is the measure for a pet's general health. The proper foods contain vitamin B, biotin, zinc and even fish oil with omega 3 & 6 – all things that have a direct influence on the coat, and can prevent things like dandruff, loss of hair, lots of shedding and dullness of the coat, which can be the effect of poor diets.

While some specialized foods are at the regular market, most are only available from a veterinarian, who can determine the proper diet for each specific animal.  

Research also looked at the antioxidants. With humans, they proved that these play an important role in the immune system and in the aging process. The same benefits apply to the animals, and certain foods take this into account.

Every day, thanks to our researcher friends, pet food is developing and getting even better.

So, help keep your pet healthy and have a long life by feeding it the proper diet. And remember, human food is great for us, but it's not the best for your dog or cat – even though they may beg for it!