pet food Archives - Oh My Dog!

Would you feed your dog crickets?

01•20•18

There’s no question that the world’s food production system is broken.

It’s so complex with factors like soil degradation, water crises, climate change, population explosion, and changing demands for food. For example, according to an interview on Time.com with soil scientist John Crawford, just taking into account three of those factors, “Under a business as usual scenario, degraded soil will mean that we will produce 30% less food over the next 20-50 years. This is against a background of projected demand requiring us to grow 50% more food, as the population grows and wealthier people in countries like China and India eat more meat, which takes more land to produce weight-for-weight than, say, rice.”

This has significant, far-reaching implications for the almost eight billion people in the world.

But what about our pets?

OhMyDogBlog.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

The scary reality is that our pets consume enormous amounts of resources through their diets that, quite frankly, will not be available to pet food manufacturers in the not-too-distant future because of the massive increase in demand for more resources to feed the exploding human population.

Honestly? I don’t necessarily think my dog needs to eat a prime cut of steak for dinner. (Personally, I don’t think people need to, either, but that’s another topic for another day…)

What’s the answer?

Of course, I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does yet. But I do think we’re going to be forced to answer this question far sooner than anyone’s expecting because the earth just can’t sustain the practices we currently have in place.

Two things I’m trying to learn more about:

Byproducts. They have a bad reputation, but the more I read, the more I wonder if it’s an American perception issue because the definition of byproducts: “is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, & stomachs & intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth & hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food.” (In other words, feces, hooves, roadkill, etc. are not legal byproducts.)

Those parts–heart, livers, kidneys, etc.–make up a generous portion of raw feeders’ diets, I believe, and in many other countries around the globe they’re eaten regularly by people.

So, why have we cut them out of our pet food to replace it with meat? Just thinking out loud… I don’t know the answer, as I said…

(For the sake of discussion, here’s the legal definition of meat: “is the clean flesh of slaughtered mammals and is limited to…the striate muscle…with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh.”

Crickets. Bear with me here. Cricket protein is supposedly more nutritious all around than beef and chicken, and it seems to be far more sustainable to raise crickets than livestock (though in my reading, it seems like the benefits have been inflated by marketers). There are going to be 9 billion people on the planet by 2050, and the UN says insect protein is pretty much the only solution to meet those protein demands. So, why not dog food out of cricket protein? I’m learning more about all this, but if you’re interested, here’s some reading material for you: Huffington Post, CBS News, Time.com, and Men’s Health.

Here’s a great video put out by the Pet Sustainability Coalition that touches on this issue, including mentions of cricket protein and another alternative protein, Asian carp. The most startling fact to me in this video: The average European cat consumes more resources in a lifetime than the average African. Not the average African cat. The average African person.

One final note: If I could find dog food made from crickets or Asian carp, I’d totally switch Cooper to it (since he’s allergic to most non-novel proteins, byproducts are probably out for my little guy)! In our family, we aren’t vegan. Even if we were, we wouldn’t impose that on our pets. That said, we do eat vegan three days a week. We subscribe to a dinner box of vegan meals and sides (Hungryroot <— referral link for $30 off) and we’ve made a ton of other, super-simple swaps like vegan mayo for regular, vegan sprinkle cheese instead of dairy shredded, plant-based milk (for John and I) instead of cow’s milk, that sort of thing. Violet’s formula is made from cow’s milk, and the cats eat cans of Wellness meat, and Cooper eats The Honest Kitchen fish formula. We’re trying to do better, and now that I’m researching this in depth, we’re going to try even harder to do even better. But I still don’t have any answers.

So, I’d love to hear from you: What are your thoughts on how we feed our pets? Have you thought through the relationship between our food production system and what hits your pet’s dish? Anything I missed here? Or any further questions you have that I should include in my research?

Some cricket and carp dog treats to try:

Jiminy’s (tons of options from this cricket-based brand!)

goBARE (Asian carp treats for dogs and cats… my crew LOVED these!)

Want to learn more about enjoying an eco-friendly life with your pets? It’s easy and oh-so-rewarding to lessen your pet’s carbon pawprint. Check out The Zero-Waste Pet to learn more, sign up for challenges, download freebies and so much more!

MORE ON PETS AND PET FOOD:

Why I don’t feed my dogs raw (but couldn’t care less if you do)

How to budget for pet care (including pet food) and a free budget tracker

What should I feed my dog?

On priorities, passions, and pet food #HealthyMeetsHappy

06•09•17

At the start of 2017, I wrote out a handful of goals for myself. One of the biggest?

Simplify.

I’ve come to realize, though, that simplifying isn’t just a matter of clearing out the clutter, creating routines, and so on. It’s a matter of defining your priorities, then shifting time/effort to focus on what matters most.

For me, it starts with a fundamental priority: my herd’s (John, Violet, Cooper, Newt) health and happiness. But, I believe that includes values and passions like kindness and compassion, and lessening our impact on the world around us… and improving it when and where possible.

No one can do it all, though, and that’s where the priority-balancing piece comes in.

For example, it’s incredibly important to me to feed Cooper and Newt the best food possible, and that can mean cutting other budget areas to accommodate the food I think they deserve.

This post is sponsored by Wellness® and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share the availability of Wellness Complete Health and NEW Complete Health Grain Free Cat Food available at PetSmart, but OhMyDogBlog.com only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Neither Wellness nor PetSmart is not responsible for the content of this article.

In April, I wrote about how Wellness Pet Food named 2017 as the year of the cat. That theme continues, of course, and it aligns perfectly with my goals and priorities!

How?

Some of the specs:

All Wellness Complete Health products are carrageenan-free (a food additive linked to cancer).
The formulas are nothing but simple, pure, authentic ingredients that help Newt thrive.
Wellness® Complete Health™ and Wellness® Complete Health™ Grain Free dry food packaging can be RECYCLED through their partnership with Terracycle!!!! <—- This is huge, you guys! You can sign up for their recycling program, and you totally need to because not only do they recycle or upcycle the food bags, the packaging you send in generates donations to other nonprofits. It’s a full-circle cycle of giving. Seriously, this is the kind of thing that makes my heart swell!

But–more importantly in Newt’s opinion–is that the food makes her happy! Check it out:

Here’s what she was eating in the video: Wellness ® Complete Health® Morsels wet food: Wellness Complete Health Morsels feature cubes of tender meat in rich gravy. She was devouring the chicken formula, but I’m telling you… that “rich gravy” does her in!! Recently my mom cat sat for us, and she even commented that clearly we’d found Newt her favorite food!

Truly, this food is the cat’s pajamas. 🙂 It totally nails the things that are the most important to me and my herd, and for that… I’m a loyal Wellness customer.

Here’s what I’m wondering: Do any of YOUR cats sing and dance like Newt does to get food? Any other kitty members of the Clean Plate Club? I’d love to learn about your cat-feeding experience in the comments!

Please visit and support our sponsor on Facebook or purchase products here! They make this site possible, and for that I’m forever grateful!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Wellness®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Newt loves trying natural cat food! Well, she loves to eat. This week? #InstinctRaw

09•30•15

You guys, my cat is weird.

I know this to be true because every time I find myself talking to other people with cats, my experiences are vastly different. We were in the pet store the other day chatting with this woman who said her cats are so picky that she buys all this food but ends up cooking for them. I have friends who tell me that their cat will only eat one food for a while, then refuses, then another food for a while, then refuses… and I’ve heard people say that their cat skips meals altogether.

Not Newt.

Newt eats anything. If I don’t put her bowl on the counter before I put down the dogs’ bowls, she shoves them out of the way to start eating their kibble. (Please note that she weighs 8.08 pounds.) She attempts to eat everything I’m eating. Leave a plate out? She licks it clean. Eating a bowl of oatmeal? She’ll stick her paw in it to claim it as hers.

It’s up to me to make sure she doesn’t eat what she’s not supposed to… and that she gets the healthiest food out there. Because she’s open to anything and because I’m committed to feeding her high-quality natural cat food, we thought we’d give Instinct® Raw a whirl!

It’s an all-natural, grain-free, raw cat food frozen into little bites. I always thought that feeding her raw would be gross or cumbersome, but you just stick the bags in your freezer and pull out the amount of bites you need per meal. It said that it would thaw in minutes. I think it took a bit longer than a few minutes, but it takes ages to measure out everyone’s pills and supplements, so for us anyway, filling her dish before I start that process would ensure they were thawed in time for her to NOT shove her brothers out of the way…

In truth, I think she would’ve eaten them raw. As soon as I opened the bag, she was trying that cat-paw-fishing maneuver, sticking her arm into the bag and attempting to snag a bite. Since they were all frozen together, she was unsuccessful. (I chalk that up as a win for me. I gotta take what I can get.)

That said, I probably wouldn’t feed this to her for every meal every day. I like to rotate things for the herd, so I’d probably alternate this with typical canned food for her breakfast and dinner, or switch things up and give her some of this in her puzzle toy rather than regular kibble. Actually, I switched back to her regular canned food for dinner tonight, and I got a distinct “disappointed” vibe from her!

If you’re interested in learning more, you can visit Instinct’s website or Facebook page, or if you’re ready to take the plunge and give it a try, you can sign up for a $3 off coupon for Instinct Raw and do a trial for $3.99.

Have you tried raw for your pets? Please tell me someone else has a cat like Newt? Or are yours super picky when it comes to food?

How we feed the cat in a house full of dogs!

02•07•15

I’ve gotten this question twice: “How the heck does Newt get to eat her food with all the dogs in the house?” I figured I’d share what works for our multi-species household, though this is just what works for us and these unique little snowflakes.

I suspect that this question comes, in part, because many people leave their cat’s food out and let them pick at it throughout the day. With the dogs, though, that’s impossible.

Now, I’ve only been a cat lady for a short while, but I’ve gotten the distinct impression that cats like routine (insert sarcastic eye roll here) and don’t appreciate changes. The routine we established has served us very well. Unless we don’t get up on time. Then we’re in big, BIG trouble, according to Miss Newt. Breakfast is at 7:00 sharp. If we’re not up, she starts chewing on our heads. She will literally grab mouthfuls of my hair and pull. It’s not a nice way to wake up.

Anyway, she gets half a can of wet food plus a couple vitamins in the morning while the boys eat their breakfast. She insists on being fed at the same time as them – at first we weren’t totally in sync, and she would dive into their bowls and gobble up dog food. She gets her bowl on the kitchen counter. She hops up and chows down while the boys eat their breakfast on their bowls on the kitchen rug. She gets the other half of the can, and we repeat the whole routine, at dinnertime. This works for us because our kitchen has this little side counter that we don’t use for cooking, so it’s become her dining room. She’s totally accustomed to getting her bowl in that spot. And that’s where she waits – and meows – starting around 4:15, even though we don’t feed them until 5.

The other thing we’ve been doing is filling one of the little PetSafe Egg-Cersizer toys with a bit of dry kibble for her and leaving it in the dining room. We have a gate up at that door because the whole room is windows and right on the sidewalk, so the gate keeps the boys from barking their faces off at passers-by all the livelong day.

We only put about 1/3 of a cup in the toy, but it takes her about two days to finish. It’s a wobbly food puzzle that you can set different levels of difficulty. Ours is set to about the medium level, which we can’t change because one of the dogs (EMMETT) got his head through the cat door and snagged the toy – teeth marks prevent the top from turning anymore. Sigh. Anyway, she chips away at it over a couple days – usually batting it around and eating only a few kibbles at a time. We know it’s empty when she starts dashing frantically between us and the gate and us and the gate and us and the gate… until we get up and refill it.

So, there you have it! That’s how we feed the cat in a house full of dogs!

I’d love to know what works for other multi-species households! Having dogs + cats certainly adds a layer of challenge, doesn’t it? You have to think one step ahead (though somehow they always outsmart me). How do you manage feeding a whole herd?