Healthy Dog Food for a Longer and Happier Life for Your Pet

Dogs are the most popular pets in America. After all, they’re not “man’s best friend” for nothing. Dogs are loyal, enthusiastic, loving, friendly, attentive, playful and often amusing, making them suitable pets for owners and families.

Being a responsible dog owner requires providing your pet with proper shelter, the space and the attention that it needs (depending on the breed) and a suitable diet.

Sounds easy? Taking care of a dog is rewarding but it’s no mean feat. You may think that you know everything there is to know about caring for your dog, like what to feed it and what to do when it gets sick, but what you may not know is that what you're doing with your pet may be doing more harm than good.

Take for instance, the type of dog food you give your pet. Pet foods are a relatively new addition to pet healthcare, and have only been around for about the last 100 years. The problem with conventional pet foods, including those which veterinarians recommend, is that they are not biologically balanced for dogs, which are scavenging carnivores, and cats, which are domesticated carnivores.

Many cat and dog food brands also do not use clean, inspected ingredients, thus the regular consumption of commercial pet foods results in a dull coat and causes diarrhea, increased flatulence, intermittent vomiting and prolonged scratching.

A growing number of veterinarians believe that processed pet food is the main cause of illness and premature death in dogs and cats. Studies show that processed dog food is harmful to your pet’s immune system and causes liver, kidney and heart diseases, as well as other degenerative conditions.

Raw Food is Healthy Dog Food

As mentioned above, dogs are scavenging carnivores and eat almost any food that provided calories – but rarely grains. The natural diet of both dogs and cats contain high levels of protein, fats and water, with very little carbohydrates – which is the exact opposite of the dry food diet consumed by most dogs and cats nowadays, which is high in carbohydrates, low in protein and fat, with almost no water.

Majority of the commercial pet foods being sold today are using poor quality meats that have not been approved for human consumption, and are difficult for a dog to digest and assimilate, which can lead to metabolic stress and kidney and liver problems.

Dogs and cats have thrived hunting and eating a variety of small prey for thousands of years; it would be pointless to argue whether or not a raw food diet is suitable for pets. Wild animals also avoid many of the degenerative diseases plaguing domestic pets.

The best dog food is one that is composed of fresh, raw meat, bones and vegetables. Due to financial constraints, we may not always be able to provide that type of diet.

If you are unable or not yet ready to give your dog raw foods, you can compromise with the next best thing: USDA approved canned foods. Quality canned dog food should be complete and balanced, does not contain grains, and contains more protein and fat than dry dog food.

If you can’t avoid not feeding your dog dry food, do your homework and research the best brands. Add up to 15 percent fresh meat to the dry food.

Your last choice should be kibble made with human-grade ingredients containing minimal or no grains. Be sure to give your dog plenty of water if you’re giving it kibble.

A healthy diet gives your dog more chances to live a long, healthy life, and more time to give you happy experiences and memories.

Let's face it, these are some of the harsh realities:

* Toxic pet food has claimed the lives of countless cats and dogs

* Seemingly innocuous household items pose serious dangers to household animals

* Routine vaccination triggers all sorts of diseases, from allergies to vaccinosis and cancer

It also doesn't help that most veterinarians adhere to the "reactive approach" in their practice of veterinary medicine, meaning they wait for symptoms of disease to occur rather than address the root cause.

Animals and humans are very different yet very alike in many different ways. But one important similarity is that what's healthy and not healthy for you goes the same with your pet.

You will be doing your pets a great favor if you follow the principles of natural health and holistic medicine while caring for them. However, finding reliable information about natural and holistic pet care is easier said than done. Finding natural health information for yourself is hard enough.

Dr. Joseph Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, the world's leading natural health website, knows how difficult it is to find a holistic veterinarian. That is why he called on Dr. Karen Becker, one of the leading holistic veterinarians in the United States, and joined hands to launch MercolaHealthyPets.com.

Mercola Healthy Pets is a dedicated towards providing information and solutions to pet owners that will allow their pets to live longer and healthier lives, including the latest news and tips on holistic pet care, nutrition, exercise, behavior, grooming and more.

Dr. Becker has over a decade of experience as a veterinarian and describes her practice as "lifestyle medicine" for pets, as she combines the proactive, integrative and wellness approach in veterinary medicine.

She explains that as a proactive integrative wellness vet, her job is to identify and remove the lifestyle and health obstacles that pets face before disease occurs and recognize that there are multiple ways to unlock the healing potential of pets.

Dr. Becker adds that wellness medicine is a new concept in veterinary medicine which advocates intentional lifestyle choices that transforms your pet from a "surviving" pet into a thriving and vibrant pet.

Under Dr. Mercola and Dr. Becker, MercolaHealthyPets.com aims to become a one-stop resource for natural and holistic pet healthcare. Become part of this new community of pet lovers and guide your pet to a longer and healthier life!