What NOT to feed your dog

My experience with animals has not always been positive. I have never really had my own pet.  I always wanted a dog when I was growing up, but was never allowed to have one of my very own, which I was solely responsible for.  My mother allowed us to have a kitten once, for a short time.  It was a newborn kitten that we rescued from the neighborhood.  We were allowed to feed it and nurse it to health for a couple of weeks.  Then we had to give it away to a good home.

There were also stray cats that I was allowed to feed, but from which I eventually acquired scabies from doing so. 

On one occasion (I must’ve been between 5 or 6 years old), I was given a puppy.  I do not remember what kind of dog it was, and honestly, I didn’t even care.  I was so happy that I could not wait to get home to see it every day.  But the happiness didn’t last long.  It whimpered a lot.  Plus, it was not house-trained.  So, my “dream” lasted less than a week before it was given away as well.

When I was in middle school, a cousin gave our family a full-bred chow.  He was a beautiful dog.  My brother and I were really happy to have him.  But it wasn’t long before he had to be tied to a tree to spend the rest of his days because he was too hyper and mischievous to be let loose in the yard.  We never really got to play with him.

And I guess that type of thing was okay back then.  Not that I’m really, really old, but that was about 20 years ago! 

We were never taught that dogs needed exercise or socialization.  And not much concern was given to the type of food we gave them. 

I was raised to believe that dogs were just dogs.  They were not deserving of special care or too much time or expense.  I don’t know if it was a cultural belief or just a commonly held notion by too many people.  But it is what I was taught, and it was what I bought into… until Kitty came along, and I developed a whole new perspective.

Within the short time that Kitty has graced my life, I have learned so much.  But as the saying goes, “With great knowledge comes great responsibility…”

The last few days I have delved into more and more research regarding healthy eating for dogs, and I cannot help but want to kick myself for not having done this sooner.  How could I have overlooked so much?

Kitty has had stomach problems from the time she was a puppy.  She has had manyl episodes of severe vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy, and I have had many nights of sleeplessness and worry trying to figure out how to care for her and just help her feel better.  I continually thought that her illness must be due to something she probably should not have consumed.  But never in a million years would I have guessed that it would be the dog food I was giving her for her sensitive stomach!

True, it took me a while to discover that dog food should not be purchased at the supermarket.  But I didn’t fully understand the concept of what really goes into dog foods.  Nor did I bother to check online to see if there was any information regarding any foods I had tried. I was more concerned with figuring out how much and how many times I should feed Kitty, more so that WHAT I should be feeding her.

As it turns out, the food that she ate for most of last year (NATURAL CHOICE/NUTRO brand dog food) is under investigation by the FDA for causing pet illnesses and deaths.

It all makes sense now.  Kitty was sick all of last year.  She ate Natural Choice all last year.  The doctor finally told me to switch her to Prescription Diet dog food, and wouldn’t you know that she has only been sick twice since the switch.  And both little episodes were nowhere near the extremity of what she used to go through. 

I cannot believe that I never knew any of this, or that I never looked it up before.  I took for granted that the title—NATURAL CHOICE—meant that it contained natural ingredients.  I believed the writing on the bag that said “For sensitive skin and stomachs”. 

I will not do that any more.  After all the information I have read in the past few days, I am seriously contemplating no longer buying any type of dog food at all!

If you have pets please do not give them NATURAL CHOICE/NUTRO dog food.  Give them table scraps instead.  At least you know what’s in those!  (Seriously, though, just be more aware than I was about what it is you are feeding your dog…)