In the first three months of this year, there have already been half a dozen pet food recalls. A few years ago, 600 pets died and more than 3,000 were sickened in an ongoing, mysterious outbreak linked to jerky treats made in China. A few years before that, thousands of pets died from kidney failure after eating tainted pet food and several major companies had to recall more than 5,000 pet food products due to melamine contamination.
Examples like these understandably lead pet owners to worry about what they are feeding their pet. Each year, more than $50 billion worth of pet products and pet services are sold, and half of that goes to pet food. With all the choices that are available these days, from organic and all-natural commercial foods to home cooked or frozen foods, the decision about what kind of food to buy for your pet can be baffling. Food nutrition experts say pets can flourish on many diets, though they all require the same nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids. Generally speaking, if your pet eats a variety of healthy meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and grains, you will have a healthy pet.
Some pet owners go the extra mile and make their pet’s food. Many of the homemade pet foods include raw foods. This raw food diet is quite controversial. Proponents argue that raw food diets are healthiest for pets as this is what dogs and cats would eat in the wild. Opponents feel a raw diet is dangerous and can easily become contaminated. The FDA has stated that feeding raw meat to animals puts the public at risk since not only might your dog or cat get sick from Salmonella or E. coli in raw food, but you too could get sick while preparing their meal.