The Best Foods For Your Pets

With more than 21 million pet dogs and cats in the UK the pet food industry is huge business. It’s important particularly for new owners to know what they can and can’t feed their pets particularly when trying to feed them with human food.

This portfolio feature provides an overview of a selection of our recent pet food blogs which are

• Choosing Your Pets Easter Egg
• Choosing To Give Your Pet A TV Diner?
• Choosing To Give Your Pet A Valentine’s Day Chocolate?
• Choosing Your Pet To Eat A Chinese Take-away?
• Choosing Your Pet To Eat A Traditional Christmas Lunch
• Choosing Your Pet To Eat A Vegan
• Are Halloween Pumpkins Pet-Friendly?
• Try Premium Pet Foods For Free
• How often should my cat eat?

The pet food industry produces 3 main types of pet foods, dry, wet and raw.

There’s no one solution as to what is best for your pet and whilst one type of pet food and brand may best suit a dog or cat another may absolutely loathe it! Just like humans menus need changing and offering new choices to your pet.

Dogs and cats with sensitive tummies, senior pets and puppies and cats do need special diets and it’s always a good idea to check with your vet if your pet seems not to be eating well.

There are specially priced pet food offers in supermarkets which is handy to pick up supplies whilst your shopping, but there are numerous online pet food retailers that provide the opportunity of trying small cartons and packs of their new and premium pet foods. This can be a great opportunity to try out new meals and see what your pet may prefer. Read our blog ‘Try Premium Pet Foods For Free’

26 Foods Not Suitable For Your Pets

Most human foods are unsuitable for pets. If you’re unsure then just don’t feed your pet with human food.

Pets love to sniff around and find challenges keeping themselves alert and stimulated. That includes sniffing out shopping bags left on the floor including freshly purchased foods, or leveraging a kitchen cupboard door left slightly open to eat whatever’s available. They’re naturally scavenge around the new smells regardless of whether they’ve just had their main meal of the day. So humans are really to blame to not put foods and drinks that may be poisonous out of their reach.

Young children often love sharing their sweeties with pets and it’s important to watch toddlers to stop them doing this, particularly chocolate.

We’ve listed below some of the worst offenders which can cause severe toxicity below.

A list of some of the worst foods and drinks to avoid giving your puppy, dog kitten and cat

• Bad Foods include
  • 1 Chocolate (dark being the worst kind)
  • 2 Avocado 
  • 3 Raisins
  • 4 Alcohol 
  • 5 Onions
  • 6 Milk
  • 7 Coffee (any caffeine-based drink)
  • 8 Cheese
  • 9 Bacon 
  • 10 Macedonia nuts
  • 11 Chewing Gum
  • 12 Grapes
  • 13 Garlic
  • 14 Apples
  • 15 Uncooked bread dough
  • 16 Ice Cream
  • 17 Sweets
  • 18 Bones 
  • 19 Peaches
  • 20 Marijuana
  • 21 Raw Eggs
  • 22 Raw Meat
  • 23 French Fries
  • 24 Mushrooms
  • 25 Human Medicine
  • 26 Spices especially nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper

There’s a very powerful youtube video worth watching to remind puppy, dog and cat pet owners about the problems of human foods not suited to your pet’s diet which can cause severe toxicity by Bernard Lewis – ’25 Harmful Foods Your Puppy Shouldn’t Eat.’

Chocolate

Vets report a rise in cases of pets eating chocolate which can be toxic, even causing death, during Easter and Christmas months when homes are laden with festival goodies.

Often dogs and cats eat foods left lying around only to start showing uncomfortable signs of poisoning needing an urgent vet call by their owners or trip to the local practice.

Very dark chocolate is worse. It can also include chocolate bars covered with sultanas, raisins and dried fruits, all highly toxic to pets.

Often it’s the owners fault leaving chocolate unattended and pets love to forage around including indoor rabbits. Read PetCheck blog ‘Why Does My Pet Like Eating The Wrong Foods?’

5 Useful Tips To Store Your Pet Food Safely

1. Organise an area around the home where dog foods can be stored carefully preferably in a locked space and out of reach of pets so they don’t snack-up on their own food without you knowing.

2. Make sure human food or cleaning chemicals are not accessible from floor to waist height in the kitchen. This is a must.

3. Don’t leave foods such as chocolate and wine glasses lying around in sitting rooms side tables to avoid nasty pet toxicity accidents when you’re not looking or get distracted.

4. Don’t leave food plates lying around in the dining room or lounge where your pet can sneak up and snatch any food left on your plates. Finish your meal and remove the plates to the kitchen area for washing up, stored at waist height and not accessible. Pets will use chairs to clamber onto tables!

5. Don’t leave drugs and medicines by the bedside table or low reach in the bathroom. Dogs and cats will try to eat pills if left lying around. Put them safely away in a secure medicine cupboard.

Pet Drinks

Water for Pets 

Dog and cats need fresh water to stay healthy and dehydrated.

It’s important to keep fresh cool clean water available 24/7 in a bowl, in a dedicated place in the house for your dog or cat and likewise small caged pets. 

Pets will like to return to drink water throughout the day and particularly after eating their main meal. If you have two or more pets, then a bowl for each pet is advisable. 

Other drinks for dogs

Milk is not advisable to give your dog to drink, as this can upset their digestive system. Some dogs react immediately, others taking a bit longer to show signs of pain and discomfort.

Tea and coffee are not advisable or any other caffeinated drink. These are poisonous to dogs.

Alcohol is also toxic to give to dogs, so definitely no alcoholic drinks. 

Specialist dog drinks are a growing market and whilst these are marketed as treats need to be served as only for special occasions and not for everyday consumption. 

Other drinks for cats

Cats just like dogs are lactose intolerant so giving them cow’s milk can actually cause health issues, with stomach upsets and other related problems.

There are specially formulated cat milk drink treats which can be bought from pet shops which should be given on special occasions and be counted into their everyday food allowance. 

Kittens 

Young kittens will drink their mother’s milk until they are weaned, this is normally about 4 weeks or so when they will start exploring more solid food and drink water. Their mother should have access to clean freshwater and kittens will start drinking this as well as their mother’s milk until that stops.

There are special pet food offers in supermarkets but also some websites that offer the opportunity of trying for free small cartons and packs of new and premium foods.

How Often Should Your Cat Eat?

Recently studies carried out in Canada concluded that indoor cats were better off having one meal a day than being fed several times. It’s a small study and we’ve detailed more about the report in our PetCheck blog ‘How often should my cat eat?’

Foods Suitable For Halloween Celebrations

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We waste millions of tons of foods in the UK each year and one of the worst event is the disposal of the pulp from approximately 50% of the 8 million or more pumpkins sold for the 31 October Halloween celebration. People do not realise that it’s not only safe to eat but their pets can enjoy pet-friendly recipes as a treat as well. You can read more in our PetCheck blog ‘Are Halloween Pumpkins Pet-Friendly?’

Christmas Foods

Vets report a huge surge of pet patients attending practices showing signs of Christmas related problems during December, with a high number of emergencies, and this is very often due to getting the home decorated and preparing for Christmas festivities and pets eating a whole range of rich Christmas foods giving them toxicity problems.

Again, many of us are to blame thinking that we can give our beloved pets titbits and treats when the foods we eat at Christmas are rich, seasoned, covered in sauces and often contain high levels of fat, all things that pets shouldn’t be eating.

Cats eat meat, skinless, boneless and fat trimmed, in small quantities and no vegetables, whilst dogs can eat selected vegetables and meats.

Rabbits

Rabbits really do like their diet of fresh quality feeding hay and shop bought rabbit pellets that provide them the balanced diet they need.

They do not enjoy Christmas traditional meals and shouldn’t be served them.

Can My Pet Eat A Chinese Take-Away?

The simple answer is ‘no’ despite Chinese food being cooked with lots of vegetables and rice. Unfortunately, it’s a very spicy and salty diet which is not good for our pets. You can read more ‘Choosing Your Pet To Eat A Chinese Take-away’ in our blog.

Many pets receive special Easter eggs from their owners which are specially made without cocoa which is harmful and can potentially kill your pet.

We haven’t found any Valentine chocolates made especially for pets but no doubt soon they’ll hit the pet markets!

Our Easter Egg ‘Choosing Your Pets Easter Egg’ and ‘Choosing To Give Your Pet A Valentine’s Day Chocolate? emphasizes the need to take care when offering special treats, that they be calculated into your pet’s everyday food intake.

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‘Choosing To Give Your Pet A TV Diner?’ provides an overview of our current trends to provide our pets with many treats particularly when were are all cosying up on settees together, watching films and during winter months, and in cases of emergency, what to do when your pet has eaten the wrong and harmful foods.