About

Hi, welcome to IsYourPetFoodSafe.com and the Holistic Pet Food Blog!  My name is Teresa Holladay. People think of me as something of a pet food expert.  I love animals and rescue sick and injured cats through a friend’s veterinary clinic.   So during the Great Pet Food Recall of 2007, people would call me from the grocery store aisles to ask what pet food was “safe”. 

I put this blog together to help educate you.  I happen to have a favorite pet food (HealthyPetNet) but I’m objective, I’ll give you a variety of good foods to choose from and teach you some basic principles, and you can choose for yourself.

You can browse through my articles via the Index of Recent Articles at the right, or click on the Archives.

Corn and wheat based foods

Corn and wheat based foods are LIFESAVERS for animals who need prescription diets.  So if you’re on a prescription food, don’t try to go holistic… although if you can find ORGANIC, that would be great. 

Virtually all of the corn and wheat used in pet foods comes from outside the United States (China, Australia, Europe), and many times those growers do not follow our pesticide, fertilizer, and quality standards.  Hello, hence the fiascos out of China.  But guess what… European fertilizers are suspected in the huge “antifreeze” contaminations that hit South African pet foods right before we had our 2007 pet food recalls.  So just be careful if you have to use corn and wheat based foods.

Here is what I will ALWAYS tell you.  Your dog or cat HAS to eat.  If they have sensitive stomaches or are on prescription diets, don’t force them to switch.  Don’t let them run you around, either, though.  “Sensitive stomaches” and vomiting often go away when you get them off of the two top allergens, corn and wheat.  So just be careful with your pets, consult a vet, and switch if and when the time is right.

Medical conditions where your pet MUST be on a prescription diet and where you should follow your vet’s recommendation:  Kidney disease, pancreatitis, liver disease… diabetes to some extent (you can go holistic depending on how advanced is the disease)

By the way, we see way too much diabetes in cats.  Vets believe it’s due to the high carbs in a corn or wheat based diet. 

You get what you pay for

The dollar store and grocery store brands are less expensive for a reason — low quality, mass volume ingredients.  I’m not dissing anyone, your pet can live what we have come to believe is a good, long life on those foods.  10-15 years for dogs and 15-20 years for cats.  Did you know that your dogs and cats can live up to 10 years longer than that?!!  The natural lifespan of a cat is 27 years.  Holistic vets believe that the reason their lives are getting shorter and shorter is because we are feeding them the wrong diets.

If you’re looking for the reason why you should “upgrade” to holistic, meat-based foods with very little grain, it’s to help your pet live it’s full, healthy, natural lifespan.

If it helps, pets tend to eat much less of a meat-based food because it satisfies their nutritional needs… so, you won’t need to buy it as often.  AND, it’s likely that your veterinary bills will be less.

So here’s my pick of the Top Ten Pet Foods:

Life’s Abundance by HealthyPetnet - They also make an outstanding canned cat food, Instinctive Choice, and will soon be releasing a canned dog food

Felidae/Canidae - Most often found in natural grocers like Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage

Blue Buffalo - PetSmart

HaloPets - Found in natural grocers

Newman’s Own Organics Premium Pet Food

PetGuard

Solid Gold

Wellness

 You’re right, it’s not 10.  I’m only listing the ones I’ve tried and found to work well.  They are all pricey.  Many can be purchased at PetFoodDirect.com. 

HealthyPetNet is only available via mail order, generally arrives within a week of ordering, and you can get it for 20% off if you set up an autoship.  I’ve used it for 2 and a half years and it’s probably the finest food out there.

P.S.  I don’t promote my own HealthyPetNet site on this blog… the links go to my sister and my friends… but I’m always glad to answer your questions.

About me

 I am an IT Project Manager, the organist for my church, and an organic gardener. This is my beautiful home in Colorado.

I am also a brand new runner!   I’m training for the Denver Marathon with a wonderful group known as Team in Training.  You get professional coaches and an incredible training program and in exchange, you raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  We are so close to a cure for all blood cancers!  Keep up with my training and fund-raising stories at:

http://SheCanRun.com