Holiday Survival Tactics for Anxious Pets

Posted on December 5, 2019 - 4:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

‘Tis the season when your typically calm household is transformed into a carnival of twinkling lights, choruses of “O Tannenbaum” and scents of baking gingersnaps, not to mention the onslaught of relatives from near and far. That includes Uncle George, who will undoubtedly slip your pet barbecued wienies under the table again this year.

While some people thrive on all the hubbub, it can be overwhelming for others — including your pet. Here’s what you can do to make the holidays less stressful for your dog or cat.

Recognize the signs of pet anxiety

It’s not always easy to tell if your pet isn’t feeling the holiday spirit, because the signs of anxiety can be subtle. Many pets may cower or withdraw, tunneling under the bed or burrowing into the laundry basket in the basement. They may leave their food mounded in their bowls, untouched.

Dogs that are anxious may pant and pace around the room, lick their lips or — surprisingly — yawn. Cats may flick their tails, groom excessively, slink across the room with their heads and tails down or simply crouch quietly with dilated eyes. Some cats may decide to eschew the litter box and use your slipper instead.

There is a number of simple things you can do to help your pet feel at ease during the holidays:

Provide a quiet place to get away — Create a safe room where your pet can get away from the noise and chaos. Place their favorite bed inside and consider playing calming music. There are also pheromone sprays, collars and diffusers containing dog or cat pheromones that can have a soothing effect. Help distract your pet from the commotion in other parts of the house with a food puzzle that encourages them to focus on working for their meal.

Help relieve stress with exercise — A brisk, midday walk or a trip to the dog park can help your pooch work off stress or simply tire them out so they fall into the dog beds exhausted in the early evening. For your cat, devote 10 minutes periodically throughout the day to play with a feather toy, laser pointer or stuffed mouse.

Try to stick to a normal routine — Most pets are creatures of habit, so making sure they are fed and walked according to a regular schedule can help reduce stress levels.

Avoid dietary changes — You don’t feel great when you binge on holiday foods, and your pet won’t either. Try to limit your well-meaning relatives from sneaking treats under the table because sudden changes in food can cause tummy upset. And many holiday foods contain ingredients such as chocolate, which can be toxic.

All quiet on the litterbox front — To help prevent house-soiling accidents, make sure your cat’s litterbox is in a quiet, low-traffic area of the house. If necessary, place extra litter boxes in quiet spots where your cat can access them without walking through a crowd.

Consider medications — If your pet has severe holiday anxiety, talk to your veterinarian about supplements or medications that might help.

With a little preparation, you can make sure your pet feels that all is calm during the holiday season.

Behind the Bags: A Chat With Kevin Ritchie

Posted on November 21, 2019 - 4:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

One of our favorite things about introducing a new Taste of the Wild recipe, whether it’s a new entry into the original lineup or a whole new line like Taste of the Wild PREY® or our brand new Taste of the Wild® with Ancient Grains recipes, is that we get to see new packaging.

Offering your pets healthy new recipes that they’ll enjoy will always get our tails a-wagging. But there’s something special about strolling into the pet food aisles to see new Taste of the Wild bags. We’re obviously biased, but we feel like we have some of the most beautiful bags on the market. With the recent launch of Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains, we have four new bags on the shelves. And while we’re proud of what’s in those bags, we’re also pretty proud of what’s on them!

We have Kansas City artist Kevin Ritchie to thank for our pride. It’s his brush that generates those bison, trout and bighorn sheep scenes that make Taste of the Wild bags worth framing (and we do frame them). Working in oils on 36” by 24” canvas, Kevin draws from a number of expected and unexpected inspirations.

“It might shock you to discover that I don’t do a lot of wildlife painting,” Kevin tells us. “I loved Audubon Society books as a kid, though, and it’s obviously stuck with me.” While Kevin might not exclusively paint grand landscapes featuring gray wolves on the hunt, he has painted a number of scenes for the fine art world that examine the theme of man vs. nature.

“I’m always interested in the idea that man will try to change nature to fit his whims instead of changing their whims to fit into nature,” he says. “So a lot of my work shows the juxtaposition between people and animals. Not necessarily in conflict, though. Sometimes it’s soft and lovely.”

Outside the animal kingdom, Kevin is inspired by abstract expressionism and postmodern realism; the influence of artists like Lucien Freud, Caravaggio, Velazquez and Delacroix might not be noticeable in every single piece, but they are an important part of his style and philosophy as an artist.

Kevin didn’t discover his love of painting until he enrolled into Southwest Missouri State University in the early 1990s. “I’ve been drawing since I was a baby,” he remembers. “My mother took college courses when I was young, and I’d sit in the back of her classrooms with a sketchpad.” He’d planned to turn that love of drawing into a career, but college had other plans. “It turns out, they force you to take classes outside of your interests,” he jokes. “And that’s how I discovered watercolors and then oil painting.”

He never left his love of illustration behind, and that love and talent plays a vital part of the process when creating art for Taste of the Wild. “They come to me with a loose idea of what they want for the piece, including specific animals, and that idea is usually accompanied by a sort of mood board,” he says. “The look and feel gets me going, and I take the idea and provide my own inspirational material that will inform the piece. Then I’ll start doing sketches in pen and ink. After a few rounds of notes, some revisions and maybe a meeting or two, I start painting. And there’s no notes during painting!”

It can take weeks for a painting to evolve from those loose ideas to a finished piece. “The challenge with oils is that there are so many hours in a day, and you need drying time,” Kevin says. “Deadlines are a new and novel thing for me, because I can only paint so fast. All I can do is put more hours in. Painting in this style, it’s hard to be a perfectionist; by its nature it’s not perfect. But I do want a perfect composition, so I put in the work.”

With four new pieces of honest-to-golly art making your local pet store’s food aisle look like they’re smack-dab in the middle of an ancient prairie, stream, mountain or wetland, we’re confident in saying that the work pays off.

Now we have to come up with some new recipes so we can see some new Kevin Ritchie compositions. Any suggestions?

National Pet Diabetes Month Is a Good Time to Consider Why Your Tabby Is Tubby

Posted on November 7, 2019 - 4:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

If your cat is a bit rounder than they used to be, that’s not so unusual. A new study, which collected weight data on 19 million North American cats, found that once cats outgrow the kitten stage, they often keep growing, packing on pounds until about eight years of age.

The researchers, based at the Ontario Veterinary College, also found male cats tended to top out at higher weights than females. And cats that underwent spay or neuter surgeries were generally heftier than intact cats.

Maybe that’s why, 60 percent of the cats in the U.S. in 2018 were considered overweight or obese, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.

At risk for diabetes and more

Overweight cats can be at greater risk for diseases such as diabetes. Signs of diabetes include increased thirst and urination and weight loss despite increased hunger. If left untreated, diabetes can be fatal. Because November is National Pet Diabetes Month, talk to your veterinarian if you think your cat may be at risk.

Other conditions that plague overweight cats include high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, kidney disease, respiratory difficulties and even some types of cancer. Chubby cats can also have more trouble jumping, playing and climbing.

Are we feeding cats the wrong way?

Is it possible that we could be at fault for this trend towards the pudgy? Consider this: For centuries, cats were hunters, and that instinct stays with them to this day. That’s why cats prefer to eat several small meals throughout the day, according to specialists in feline medicine. And if cats could hunt for their food, all the better.

Instead, cats are often fed in one location once or twice a day. In many cases, the food is mounded in the bowl all day long. The trouble is, this kind of feeding can lead to overeating and inactivity. For bored cats, eating becomes a form of entertainment. And if there are multiple cats eating from the same bowl, and one cat is a bully that guards the bowl, other cats may feel stressed and gobble up food when they finally get an opportunity to eat.

How much food should your cat eat each day?

When it comes to pet weight, it’s always best to start with your veterinarian. He or she can show you how to accurately evaluate your cat’s weight. At the same time, the doctor can calculate how much food your cat should eat on a daily basis. Then you can divide the total amount of daily food into several small meals that can be fed throughout the day. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to refer to the feeding guidelines offered by the manufacturer.

Make your cat work for its food

You can try to mimic your cat’s natural eating behaviors by using food puzzles, which release small amounts of kibble when your cat manipulates them in the right way. Start with simple puzzles to help your cat get the idea, then increase the puzzle complexity over time. You can also leave kibble in different places around the house so your cat has to “hunt” for food. Both of these techniques provide your cat with physical and mental stimulation, which makes for a happier and more active cat.

Another option is to use an automated feeder, which releases small amounts of food throughout the day. While this does portion food out throughout the day, it doesn’t satisfy your cat’s hunting needs, so a little laser pointer chase game may be in order. For multiple-cat households, consider programmable feed bowls, which use microchips to only allow certain cats access to the food.

Finally, it’s a good idea to monitor your cat’s weight from month to month, using a scale at home, if possible. Unexpected changes in your cat’s weight can indicate a potential health problem, so be sure to contact your veterinarian if the scale reading changes.

Evolution Makes Puppy Dog Eyes So Irresistible

Posted on October 31, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

Every dog owner knows the look: wide brown eyes rimmed with a bit of white, eyebrows slightly raised. It’s the look that says, “Can you share that little morsel of cheese with me?” Or “Can I please come snuggle on the couch with you?”

And no matter how many times you’ve vowed not to let the dog eat from your plate or lounge on the furniture, you simply can’t resist those eyes. So down goes the plate and up jumps your dog.

But it’s not that your dog has mastered the art of manipulation — it’s that dog evolution has actually changed the muscles around the eyes to give your dog more power to tug at your heartstrings.

What dogs have that wolves don’t

Dogs are thought to have evolved from wolves about 33,000 years ago. Now, new research shows that as dogs became domesticated, they developed a new eye muscle to help them better communicate with people. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to compare the anatomy and behavior of wolves with that of dogs.

In addition to four wild gray wolves, the scientists examined the anatomy of a Labrador retriever, a mixed-breed dog, a bloodhound, a Siberian husky, a chihuahua, and a German shepherd. All the dogs had a well-developed levator anguli oculi medialis muscle, while the wolves did not. A second muscle, the retractor anguli oculi lateralis, which helps expose more of the whites of the eye, was almost non-existent in the husky and the wolves.

Raised eyebrows

The levator anguli oculi medialis muscle enables dogs to raise their inner eyebrow. Researchers surmise the raised eyebrow makes the eyes look more helpless or sad, like an infant, sparking an urge in humans to care for the dog.

The researchers also looked at wolf and dog behavior when exposed to humans for two minutes. Not surprisingly, dogs raised their eyebrows much more than wolves did.

Previous research has shown that dogs raise their eyebrows more when humans are looking at them than when they’re not. And a 2015 study that examined how people respond to animal behavior found that people are more likely to adopt shelter dogs when the dogs raised their eyebrows upward and inward.

Which just goes to show that evolution may have had a role in helping dogs become domesticated to become part of the family, as they are now.

Dogs at Work: A Day in the Life of Veterinary Technicians

Posted on October 10, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

Whether you bring your pet to the veterinary clinic for blood tests, surgery or a dental cleaning, chances are, a veterinary technician will care for your dog or cat while they’re there. To help celebrate National Veterinary Technicians Week, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the dedicated people who love up your pets at the veterinary clinic or hospital.

What, exactly, does a vet tech do?

In many ways, a technician is the veterinary equivalent of a human nurse. So much so that it has been proposed that changing the title to “veterinary nurse” might be more appropriate to promote greater understanding and respect for the important work technicians do.

In addition to nursing care, vet techs draw blood, place intravenous catheters, run lab tests (such as blood work and urinalyses), manage anesthesia and assist during surgeries, take X-rays, perform dental cleanings, trim toenails, care for hospitalized pets and help with pet owner education. Have a question about insulin injections or fleas and ticks? A vet tech can help.

In fact, technicians do just about everything around the clinic except those tasks reserved exclusively for veterinarians: making a diagnosis, prescribing medications and performing surgery.

Challenging education and clinical training programs

To become a technician, it’s not enough to love working with animals. Vet techs need specific training to learn the proper skills for the veterinary clinic. That includes studying clinical techniques by working with live animals and laboratory skills by training on diagnostic equipment, not to mention spending hours peering into a microscope.

While veterinary technicians have generally earned an associate’s degree (two years) from a school accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), veterinary technologists typically earn a bachelor’s degree (four years) from an AVMA-accredited school.

Even after all that, candidates still need to pass a national board exam before they can be considered licensed, certified or registered veterinary technicians (LVT, CVT or RVT, depending on state regulations).

Then what does a veterinary assistant do?

With so many people at the clinic in scrubs, it’s easy to get them mixed up. Veterinary assistants may have some high school or certificate education in veterinary science, but generally, they’re trained by the veterinarian or vet tech to assist around the clinic, such as cleaning the surgery room or kennels, as opposed to being part of more advanced clinical tasks and procedures that vet techs take on.

Like veterinarians, vet techs can specialize, too

Veterinarians can become specialists in areas such as surgery, ophthalmology and behavior by taking advanced training in these areas. The same goes for vet techs. There are several specialty areas available, including emergency and critical care, dentistry, internal medicine, anesthesia and analgesia (pain management), dermatology, laboratory animal care, behavior, clinical practice, pathology, equine medicine, and physical rehabilitation.

To specialize, the vet tech must complete all the training outlined above, plus devote about 75 percent of their time working in that area and pass a certification exam. The next time you’re at your veterinary clinic, make sure to thank the vet techs for all they do to help your pet.

How to Clip Dog Nails: Expert Tips for Nail Trimming

Posted on September 26, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
A close-up of a dog’s two front paws with a pair of nail clippers lying on the floor between them.

Some dogs just get off on the wrong paw when it comes to nail trimming. If their first nail trimming experiences were painful or scary, they’ll do their best to squirm out of it in the future. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you have a puppy, you can make sure they have a positive experience from the start. But even if your dog is older and hides behind the couch whenever the clippers come out, it is possible to retrain them to at least tolerate the nail clippers.

How Often Should You Trim Your Dog’s Nails?

If your dog walks on pavement regularly, the surface acts as kind of an emery board, gradually wearing down the nails naturally. So they may need less frequent nail trims than a dog who doesn’t walk on pavement much and mostly plays on grass. A good rule of thumb is to cut dog nails when they get long enough to touch the ground, or when you hear the “clickety-clack” of your dog’s nails against the flooring.

Long nails can cause paw-pad issues and can affect your dog’s foot and leg structure and how they walk. So it’s important to stick to a regular nail trimming schedule. If you notice unhealthy dog nails while you’re trimming, like brittle, cracked or discolored nails, contact your veterinarian.

Dog Nail Trimming Supplies and Equipment

Perhaps the most important supplies you’ll need for trimming nails are treats, treats and more dog treats. The more delectable the better. Your goal is to make everything a positive experience when you trim your dog’s nails. If possible, cut or break up your dog’s favorite treats into small pieces the size of peas. That way, you have ample supply during the nail trimming session. You’ll want to maintain a relaxed and positive attitude so your dog stays relaxed, too.

Next, you’ll need a nail clipper. There are generally two types: those shaped like scissors and guillotine-style clippers that feature a hole the nail fits through. You can also try a grinder, but some dogs don’t like the vibrations and noise, and the task may take longer.

You’ll also want styptic powder. This will help quickly stop bleeding if you accidentally cut the nail too short. It’s available at most pet stores, but if you’re in a pinch, cornstarch also does the trick.

How to Cut Puppy or Dog Nails

Getting your pup used to nail trimming is all about keeping the session positive. Take each step slowly; it may take several days or weeks to make your pup feel comfortable.

When you first get started, it’s best if you can have someone distract your dog while you’re busy with their nails. So ask someone to help dish out the treats and help keep your dog comfortable and calm. Once your dog is used to nail trimming, you might be able to make it a one-person job.

First, help your dog become accustomed to having their paws handled. Touch and hold your dog’s paws. Lavish them with praise and treats so they know that good things happen when you touch their paws.

Next, introduce the nail clippers. Place the clippers on the floor and encourage your pup to approach the tool by creating a trail of treats up and on to the clippers. Let your dog sniff them and become comfortable being around them.

How to Use Dog Nail Clippers

To trim your dog’s nails safely, it’s important to restrain your dog from moving their paw — but go easy on the restraint. When an animal is held down against its will, it can become stressed and possibly aggressive. To avoid this, ask your helper to gently hold your dog in their lap and give your dog treats every time you handle their paws. Ask your helper to only give your dog treats when you’re touching your dog’s paws so they regard paw-holding as a good thing.

Tap your dog’s nails with the clippers. Again, ask your helper to dish out treats every time you tap the nails. Ideally, your dog will be distracted by the treat and won’t even notice what you’re doing. Then place the clippers over the nail, but don’t cut. Again, praise and treat your dog while it becomes comfortable with the touch of the clippers around the nail.

How Long Should Dog Nails Be?

Cutting a nail too short isn’t fun for anyone, which is why you want to avoid cutting down to the quick of the nail. This is the pinkish area in the middle of the nail that contains a nerve and blood vessel. If you accidentally cut the quick, it can be painful for your dog and the nail can start to bleed. Dogs with dark nails can be more challenging because the quick may not be visible.

If your dog has light nails, and you can see the quick, cut the tip of the nail below the start of the quick. If your dog has dark nails, clip about 1/16th of an inch at a time. As you get closer to the quick, you will begin to see a darker dot at the center of the nail. That’s your cue to stop.

Work your way up gradually. It’s not necessary to clip all the nails at once. Start with one nail and if your dog starts getting uncomfortable, stop the session and try again another time.

Keep Nail Trimming Pawsitive for Your Dog

Helping your dog become accustomed to having their nails trimmed takes lots of patience, praise and good technique. The last thing you want to do is cause stress or discomfort for your dog. So if nail trimming at home isn’t going well, ask your veterinary team if they can do it for you or consult a professional groomer. For more grooming tips, check out our complete guide to pet grooming.

Off the Deep End: The Competitive Sport of Dock Diving

Posted on September 19, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

A hush falls over the crowd as the leader paces at the edge of the swimming pool or lake. Seconds later, the competitor is airborne, the crowd erupts in applause and the whirl of freeze-frame cameras attest that every move is documented.

Is it an Olympic diving event? No. But it is one of the fastest growing canine sports in the United States: dock diving.

What is dock diving?

For many dogs, dock diving combines two favorite pastimes: swimming and chasing toys. To participate, each dog races down a dock, launches into the air in pursuit of a high-value toy or toy “bumper,” then splashes into a pool or other body of water.

It doesn’t matter if the dog actually catches the toy. What matters is the distance it leaps, measured from the end of the dock to where the base of the dog’s tail (where the tail attaches to the body) enters the water, according to North America Diving Dogs (NADD), one of several dock diving organizations in the United States.

Currently, a Whippet named Slingshot holds the top NADD ranking for going the distance — an average of 34 feet per jump.

Another national dock diving organization by the name of Dock Dogs takes the competition a step further. In addition to “Big Air,” a competition similar to the long jump exercise described above, they also promote “Extreme Vertical,” an event that measures how high a dog can leap off the dock to capture a toy dangling above the water.

“Speed Retrieve,” a third event, emphasizes hustle over distance, encouraging dogs to race against the clock to retrieve a bumper toy from the end of the pool. Finally, the Iron Dog Challenge rolls all three disciplines into a single event for those overachiever dogs.

What breeds make good dock divers?

Although most dock diving competitions are open to any breed, size or age of dog, certain water-loving retrieving breeds, such as Labrador or Chesapeake Bay retrievers, are naturals. Other breeds, such as Belgian Malinois, have earned top titles as well.

As long as your dog has strong swimming and obedience skills and is generally athletic, he or she will likely be the first in the pool in no time at all.

That said, it’s always best to check with your veterinarian to make sure your dog doesn’t have any physical conditions that might prevent it from joining in the fun. For example, brachycephalic, or flat-nosed, breeds such as pugs and bulldogs can be swimming-challenged and may be better as poolside cheerleaders.

How to get started

Whether you want to explore dock diving simply as a fun activity for you and your pooch or you’re interested in serious competition, chances are, you can find a training facility near you. There, experienced trainers can coach you and your dog from the basics to more advanced skills.

As an alternative, if you live near a lake or own a pool, you can start getting your dog comfortable with jumping into the water. The “launching” surface should be non-slip to provide safe footing and traction and be no more than three feet above the water surface. The water should be at least 4 feet deep, and make sure there aren’t any hidden hazards or strong currents your dog may not be able to overcome. If your dog isn’t a strong swimmer yet, consider a life vest.

Start by tossing the toy in into the water from the edge of the dock, then gradually move back and throw the toy farther. Reward your dog with plenty of praise each time he or she successfully leaps into the water.

What are you waiting for? It’s the perfect time of the year to go jump in a lake.

Introducing Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains

Posted on September 4, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
Four different bags of Taste of the Wild's Ancient Grains recipes.

Pet parents who prefer to feed their dogs a grain-inclusive diet have a new option, Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains. The new line of dry dog foods combines the same flavorful meats found in the original Taste of the Wild recipes with a special blend of four ancient grains: grain sorghum, millet, quinoa and chia seed.

The four Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains recipes are:

  • Ancient Stream Canine Recipe with Smoke-Flavored Salmon
  • Ancient Prairie Canine Recipe with Roasted Bison & Roasted Venison
  • Ancient Wetlands Canine Recipe with Roasted Fowl
  • Ancient Mountain Canine Recipe with Roasted Lamb

Like Taste of the Wild and Taste of the Wild PREY recipes, Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains Canine Recipes provide your dog with the complete and balanced nutrition you’ve come to expect — all while reflecting your pet’s ancestral diet.

The #1 ingredient is still real meat, fish or fowl. That’s because dietary protein is so important to your dog’s health. Meats are concentrated sources of amino acids, including those that dogs must get from food. Each Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains Canine Recipe is formulated with combinations of salmon, duck, buffalo, pork and lamb from trusted suppliers.

But Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains doesn’t stop there.

Ancient grains are packed with protein, fiber, essential fatty acids and other key nutrients. Quinoa, chia seed, grain sorghum and millet were specifically chosen for their superfood reputations and nutritional contents, which include quality protein.

  • Quinoa is higher in protein, fat and fiber than conventional grains (e.g., corn and wheat). In fact, it has substantially more fiber than other grains. This super-seed provides iron and has relatively high levels of the essential amino acids lysine and arginine; magnesium, a key mineral for normal nerve and muscle function and strong bones; and riboflavin (vitamin B2), which helps the body convert nutrients to energy. More than 50 percent of the fatty acids in quinoa are linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid that’s important for skin health.
  • Chia seed is rich in protein, dietary fiber and fat, much of which is the essential omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Most of the dietary fiber that chia provides is insoluble fiber, which is important for healthy digestion and waste removal.
  • Millet provides a balance of soluble and insoluble fiber and digestible protein that’s rich in methionine, an essential amino acid that dogs use to make taurine. In addition, millet is high in B vitamins, iron and vitamin E, an antioxidant that helps protect your dog’s body from damage caused by free radicals.
  • Grain sorghum is rich in antioxidants, dietary fiber, several B vitamins, iron and zinc. In addition, the starch in sorghum is digested more slowly and has a lower glycemic index compared to conventional grains.

Collectively, these quality ingredients provide the amino acids and fatty acids your dog needs for strong muscles, normal organ and immune system function, healthy skin and shiny coat.

Probiotics provide digestive and immune system support. Healthy digestive and immune systems are vital to your dog’s overall health. That’s why every Taste of the Wild dry dog food recipe is enhanced with our proprietary K9 Strain Probiotics, a species-specific blend of beneficial bacteria developed for use in our dog foods. Each pound of Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains is guaranteed to provide 80 million live, active cultures to support healthy digestion and immune system activities.

Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains provides nutrition for all life stages. From puppy to adult to senior, these new canine recipes are formulated to meet the nutritional needs of dogs at any age and life stage, including large breed dogs (70 pounds or more as adults).

To learn more about each of the Taste of the Wild with Ancient Grains Canine Recipes, visit the formula finder.

RELATED POST: A Pet Nutrition Primer: 7 Things You Should Know

A Fitting Solution for “Unadoptable” Shelter Pets

Posted on August 22, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
A group of rescue dogs standing next to their handlers.

Most people visit the rescue shelter in search of their perfect canine or feline counterparts. A dog who shares your love of popcorn while you binge-watch the latest Netflix release. Or a cat who will rev its motor and purr you to sleep.

But others search the shelters for the pets that are typically passed over. The rambunctious dogs who pace back and forth in their kennels all day long. Or the high-energy pups that don’t have an “off” switch when it comes to playing fetch.

In an average household, these dogs can get frustrated. Without an owner willing to devote time to working off the excess energy and challenging their minds with training, the dogs can resort to destructive behaviors: freeing all the feathers from your couch pillows, chewing on woodwork or even leaping out windows in pursuit of a taunting squirrel. Through no fault of their own, they are often returned to the shelter.

But what makes these dogs less than ideal for the average home makes them perfect candidates for full-time jobs. With the right training, these dogs can put that energy to good use detecting explosives, contraband, wildlife scat and more.

Case in Point: Rescues 2the Rescue

A program created by Working Dogs for Conservation and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Rescues 2the Rescue partners with shelters to identify those obsessive, packed-with-energy dogs that might make perfect conservation dogs. This program matches dogs with trainers so they can eventually work at protecting the environment, from locating rare animals to stopping ivory poachers in Africa or tracking down invasive species.

That’s just one example of the organizations that rescue high-energy shelter dogs for jobs doing nose work. Other dogs may be trained to work as search dogs after disasters, bomb-detection dogs at airports and even avalanche dogs. It’s a win-win situation: Dogs get to work off their drive and energy for praise and rewards, and the world benefits from the work they do.

Shelter Cats Are Rescued, Too

Some cats may have a hard time finding a home, especially if they don’t use the litter box regularly or don’t appreciate being handled by people. But the Animal Humane Society has developed a program to help them find jobs controlling rats and mice.

The organization adopts out healthy cats (who seem to work better in groups of two or three) for work in barns, construction companies, police stations and other businesses that need rodent control. Those who adopt the cats must provide shelter from the elements, food and fresh water and veterinary care.

These programs give “unadoptable” pets a second chance at life, and remind us there’s a suitable environment for them all.

How Much Do You Really Know About Pet Food Protein?

Posted on August 15, 2019 - 3:00 pm by
Taste of the Wild Pet Food

“Real (beef, chicken, lamb or salmon) as the #1 ingredient.”

“High-quality protein for lean muscles.”

“Nutrient-dense, whole-animal ratios of fresh meat.”

You know your pets need protein in their diet — we talked about that here — but the meat- and protein-related claims made by different dog foods can be confusing. And, in reality, few ingredients used in pet food provide only one type of nutrient. Because pet food protein content is of interest to many pet parents, we’ll review what you need to know about this important nutrient and its various sources in pet food.

Why dietary protein is important

Dietary protein is necessary for many reasons. The primary function of protein is to provide essential and nonessential amino acids for muscle development and repair, enzymes, key hormones (like insulin) and antibodies. They’re the primary structural parts of muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, skin and hair. Proteins from food also are the body’s primary source of nitrogen, which is critical for making nonessential amino acids, nucleic acids of DNA and RNA, and certain neurotransmitters. Finally, amino acids from protein can be converted into glucose and other energy forms for the body to use to maintain itself and during growth, gestation and lactation.

Proteins in dog food also provide a source of flavor. When proteins are cooked along with fats and carbohydrates, different flavors can be created. Nutritionists agree that as the protein content of food increases, the food generally becomes more palatable and acceptable to dogs.

Dietary protein is really all about amino acids

Many animal and veterinary nutritionists will tell you that dogs don’t really have a protein requirement. But they do require amino acids in the proper levels and ratios. Food proteins are digested, starting in the stomach and continuing in the small intestine, and absorbed as individual amino acids and small chains of two or three amino acids (aka dipeptides and tripeptides). Once absorbed, amino acids are reassembled into “new” proteins by the liver and other tissues.

Here’s something to keep in mind: Once a food or ingredient is digested and its nutrients are absorbed through the lining of the small intestine, the original source of the nutrients no longer matters. In the case of amino acids, your dog’s or cat’s body doesn’t care where the amino acids come from for its use — whether they’re made by the body or supplied in the diet as single amino acids or as intact proteins.

Where proteins in dog food come from

Pet food manufacturers can use many different ingredients to supply protein and amino acids found in dog foods. Essentially, protein ingredients can be grouped into one of three categories:

  • Animal-based ingredients
  • Plant-based ingredients
  • Amino acid supplements

Several protein sources are often combined in pet foods to improve the overall quality and amino acid profile of the finished diet. This practice is known as protein complementation, and it’s used because different protein ingredients contain different amounts of essential and nonessential amino acids. And few, if any, single protein ingredients can provide all of the essential amino acids that dogs require at the proper levels and ratios without imbalances. By combining protein ingredients based on their relative amino acid excesses and deficiencies, the weaknesses of each source are counterbalanced by the strengths of other sources. That’s why it’s common to see dog foods with an animal protein, a plant protein and one or more amino acid supplements.

Typical pet food ingredients with high-protein concentrations are meat, meat meals and meat byproducts obtained from chickens, turkeys, beef and dairy cattle, pigs, sheep, fish, and eggs. Some of the ingredients used in pet foods, such as lamb meal and salmon meal, are made from parts of livestock and fish that most people in the United States don’t eat. However, those parts are excellent protein sources when used in pet food.

Animal-based ingredients aren’t the only good sources of protein for pet foods. Plant-based ingredients — such as ancient grains (like quinoa and chia seed) and legumes (like peas, lentils, soybeans and various common beans) — are being recognized for their protein and amino acid content. When added to pet foods, these ingredients not only bring variety but typically have more protein than cereal grains (like rice, corn and wheat) and contribute phytonutrients which are considered beneficial to overall health.

Finally, amino acid fortification is commonly used to improve the protein quality and amino acid profile of pet foods. The three essential amino acids in dietary proteins that are most often in short supply are methionine, lysine and tryptophan. In other words, when there isn’t enough of an essential amino acid in the diet, the body’s ability to make proteins is limited to the rate at which the essential amino acid is available. The other amino acid commonly fortified in pet food, especially cat foods, is taurine. Although most dogs can make sufficient amounts of taurine to meet their body’s requirements, some pet food manufacturers, including Taste of the Wild, choose to fortify their recipes with taurine.

If you have questions about your dog’s food, including the protein sources used in it, talk with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian can assess your dog’s nutritional needs based on age, body condition, activity level and medical issues (if present). He or she can also recommend an appropriate food, including how much you should be feeding for proper health.

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