Dear friends,
Like you, I want your pet to be in the very best of health and I want you to have the tools and factual knowledge to keep them that way! If you have ever had an appointment with me, you know that we have discussed what you are feeding your pet. This is because nutrition matters and because I want to know what my clients are looking for and also want to know what is working in the pets who are living long, healthy lives.
These days, the store pet food aisles and amount of internet pet food discussions can be overwhelming. I often get approached sales people in the pet stores telling me what is “right” to purchase for my dog. How does this sales clerk know anything about the health of my dog? Are they perhaps trained to sell the food with the biggest profit margin? I want you to be able to easily purchase safe, quality pet food for your dog or cat at the store without relying on the sales clerk. I want you to be empowered to choose appropriately without the pressure of buying the highest dollar bag as it may be the best (trust me, it might not be). My team and I want you to ask us for guidance and we want to help! Please email, call, come see us – we love to talk about your pet’s diet.
The amount of accurate information about pet nutrition is vast, detailed, scientific and can never be covered completely in one veterinary appointment or one email, so Dr. Sands created this infographic to help simplify the overwhelming choices before you buy your next bag or case.
If you spend any time online, you likely have seen that there is validated scientific proof of terminal heart disease linked to feeding grain free diets and these cases are more common in certain brands of food. Grain free diets caught on as a fad and we all hoped they were the best for our pets. Now, though, as a country, we have been feeding them long enough and to enough animals that we are finding out that they just aren’t right for our pets and that they and are actually linked to scary disease!
Research has not yet pinned down the exact reason grain free diets are contributing to dilated cardiomyopathy but it consistently and definitively shows that they are. My personal friend (a veterinarian) owns 2 Shelties and keeps in contact with all 5 Shelties of their litter. 3 of the 5 littermates developed this heart disease and died – the only 2 that did not were the only 2 dogs not eating grain free food. This problem is real, happening more often than it is reported, and scary.
If you are feeding your pet grain free food – please read this infographic, contact our doctors for help choosing the proper diet, and be sure to transition your pets to that diet over a one week period to avoid stomach upset. Something as simple as a change in food can help protect your pet from deadly heart disease – we are here to help you with that easy change!
Remember that many of the buzzwords you have heard to avoid are buzz words created by food manufacturers trying to lead you to your diet and many companies such as Blue Buffalo have lost cases in court about inaccurate label claims. There are 3 companies that have stood the test of time, have research centers dedicated to testing their foods, are willing to perform their own food recalls instead of waiting for the government’s insistence and that time and time again I have seen patients live long and healthy lives while eating. These are all brands that am currently feeding or have fed to my personal pets and they are: Royal Canin, Purina ProPlan, and Science Diet.
Please don’t hesitate to email, call, or even schedule a nutritional consult at Healing Paws. Unlike pet store clerks, big box online food retailers, breeders, and dog trainers, veterinary professionals undergo years of training to learn how to analyze what food is best for your pet. I want your pets to live long and healthy lives and we want to help you!
Take care
Dr. Sands
“Your Pet Deserves To Live Its Best Life!”