{Post By Sara!} Buying the Best Food for Your Pet

I subscribe to a Flame Point Siamese cat group on Facebook since I own a 9 month old. Today, one poster said she was at the vet all day and just found out that her cat Elliot’s kidneys were failing. He was only 5 years old. She came to the conclusion that her mistake was feeding him Blue Buffalo brand food, which she found out later has been known for causing diarrhea, vomiting, and the worst: kidney failure like what happened with Elliot.

There’s nothing more heart wrenching than indirectly being the reason why your pet got sick. I can’t imagine how she must feel. You want to rewind time and pick up a different bag of food, but unfortunately there’s nothing that can be changed except how act in the future. All pet owners must research brands before they buy and try their hardest to get the best food within their budget. It could save an animal’s life. There are some steps you can take in order to stop unknowingly giving companies that poison pets your money and start giving it to companies that care.

Here are three tips to ensure you are well-aware of what you’re feeding your pet:

1.) Know what your pet is eating. Ingredients in pet food are listed according to the greatest amount to the least amount – the same with how human food is labeled. Chicken, lamb, and turkey listed as the first few ingredients is a good sign. Brown rice, grain, corn, and soy products placed before the meat is never good.

Here are lists of good and bad ingredients for cats: Happy Cats Haven, Betty Vine

For dogs: The Dog Food Project.

2.) Pay attention to food recalls. Sometimes newspapers run stories on recalls but companies often have ties to other companies that run the journalism world (it’s the sad truth). Your best bet is to do a monthly Google search on the brands you buy. Simply search “Cat food recalls 2013” or “Alpo recall 2013” to come up with more than enough results to satisfy your worries.

3.)  Join an online pet group. Whether it’s a message board, chatroom, Facebook group, or Meetup.com event, it feels go to have a group of animal lovers to go to if you have an issue or question. You could be concerned about your pet because she hasn’t eaten in two days but don’t have enough money for a vet visit or life gets in the way. Proposing questions to a social group by no means should be a replacement for a veterinarian consultation, but it can ease your worries or tell you that it could be an emergency.

What furry friends do you have at home? What brands do you feed them? Let me know in the comments!

~Sara