Ask Your Questions

Hello! I’m Teresa Holladay, host of The Holistic Pet Food Blog. I’m so glad you stopped by

I wanted to make it easy for my readers to ask their pet nutrition questions. Feel free to scan this page for “Frequently Ask Questions” and to post your question using the Comments box.

I am not a veterinarian. I am an IT Project Manager who has done animal rescue for years and is holistic in my personal health and in the health of my pets. My cats have been on holistic pet foods for many years.

For the last two years, I have been an independent rep for HealthyPetNet, they are the makers of Life’s Abundance Health Food for Pets (dry cat and dog food) and Instinctive Choice Canned Cat Food. It’s a great food, but to be fair and impartial, on this blog I discuss all holistic foods. Also, I don’t promote my own HealthyPetNet links.

The coolest thing about HealthyPetNet is that you learn so much! I participate in weekly nutrition calls with our pet food formulator, Dr. Jane Bicks, DVM (and I listen to her past taped calls). She is a well-known holistic vet who set up the largest animal shelter in the United States (NYC) and has published books on holistic cat and dog care. [The happy kitties at right are my own kitties!] Her pet foods were well known on QVC. About ten years ago, HealthyPetNet wooed her over and she has been formulating their pet foods and supplements ever since.

So, using the comments section, ask your questions. I will give you a good answer with links to holistic resources that DOESN’T cross the boundaries into practicing medicine!

Frequently Asked Questions:

General

• How many cups are in a 20-lb bag of cat food? 80 cups.

• What is the definition of “holistic”? It’s a “whole” approach to health, focusing on prevention rather than after-the-fact cure. It covers diet, nutrition, water intake, exercise, environment, sleep, emotional well-being, etc. This topic is more fully covered in the post, What is the Definition of a Holistic Veterinarian?

• What is the number one best selling cat and dog food? According to the New York Times, the Top Selling Dog Food in the United States is Walmart’s Ol’ Roy! Pedigree is Number Two. Will have to check on the cat food.

• What do probiotics do for dogs? Probiotics for dogs, cats, and humans help colonize the intestines with helpful bacteria, thus aiding in digestion and elimination.

Fish Oil for Veterinary Use

• Can I feed my cat fish oil? Yes! Give it every day and take some, yourself. See both articles, Fish Oil for Veterinary Use, and for humans, Heart Health and Fish Oil and Fish Oil (for your brain). When you read how it was used to save the Sago Mine Survivor, Randall McCloy, you will never want to skip a day.

• Are fish capsules good for an older cat? Maybe not the capsules, human-sized capsules are way too big for a kitty to swallow. And they’re messing if you poke the capsules to squeeze out the oil. Go for the bottled liquid fish oil.

• Can you use fish oil for a cat with CRF (chronic renal failure)? Yes, most definitely. Check with your veterinarian but it is well-known that fish oil helps with the inflamed kidneys that you see in CRF. It’s not a cure. It will just help (a lot, if you use it soon enough).

• What is the dosage of fish oil for small dogs? Use human grade fish oil, such as the SeaLogix brand offered by Trilogy HealthyPetNet. You want human grade because veterinary supplements are often of low quality.

  Dosage is:

  Large dogs - One full human dose
  Medium dogs - One-half human dose
  Small dogs and cats - One-quarter human dose

• What is a good low phosphorus holistic cat food? Working on that one

Corn in Pet Foods

• Is corn safe for dogs? Is corn-based food bad for cats? Strictly speaking, no. In other words, unless it’s affected by a fungus, it doesn’t kill the animals outright. It’s probably the most common ingredient in pet foods today, being cheaper than meat. Note that almost all corn in pet foods is imported from Europe, Australia, and China, where standards on pesticides and fertilizers are NOT the same as in the United States.From a holistic perspective, it’s not good and we avoid it like the plague. Holistic vets feel that corn contributes to obesity, kidney failure, digestive upsets, and a host of other health problems. See the Cornophobia, Is Corn Bad in Pet Foods? article to learn more.

Protein

• What is the best high protein canned food?

• Is high protein dog food bad?

Specific Health Questions

• What is the best cat food for a megacolon? Oh, bless you! Someone relinquished an old cat to me who had both kidney cancer and a megacolon. He was ancient and sickly when he came to me and lived for another year, greatly improving in health based on what I’m about to tell you.

  There is some good information on Megacolon here.

  Most vets recommend a high protein, low residue diet which basically means that you should go to holistic, high protein canned cat foods. (Commercial canned cat foods are full of by-products, grains, and are generally low quality, stay away from them). You may wish to supplement with vitamins. They do NOT recommend laxatives (if the cat’s colon doesn’t constrict, what is the point of turning everything to liquid?) And they have some success with Propulsid, which helps to keep things moving.I fed this old guy exclusively the Instinctive Choice canned cat food and the Immune Support supplement, both by HealthyPetNet. His fur grew back and he thrived and we didn’t have to keep him on meds or clean him out once a month. That canned cat food is high protein, no grains at all, so very low residue. The vet’s comment was that it had to be much easier for him to go to the bathroom on that food because it digested so well inside him.