Some Thoughts on Feeding Your Pet

Being sick is definitely the number one reason why anybody would visit a doctor, but apart from that the basic objective to visit or consult a physician, or read a health column in the newspaper, is to maintain health in the most qualitative form. As we do this for ourselves, we do it for our pets too. We give them a hygienic bath regularly, take them for a walk every day, feed them with the best pet-food available [or sold on the television] and regularly vaccinate them at the vet to ensure a disease-free life ahead. But is that all? Here, we will discuss various tips that one should ponder on, if you want to provide adequate care to your pet. In this first installment, we will discuss some key points on the feeding.

The food they eat:

There is always a debate on what one should feed the pet with. A traditional or orthodox opinion is to feed with whatever we eat, or in other words, home-made food. The cheaper cost for the home food is another promoting factor for it. The premium-type food available, like the ones by pedigree, are usually seen as a costly counterparts of the same home food, is it so?

Home food varies in the nutritional content, and thus may not always provide the required amounts of proteins and other essential nutrients. While as, the premium-food has a customized nutrient composition thus ensures the adequacy of the nutrient quota for the day. It's been prepared with lots of research and thus is guaranteed to give the promoted worth. As regards the cost, eventually you will realize that the quantity that the dog will eat of the premium-food will be much less than the regular food, thus taking care of the cost-effective souls.

How much to feed:

Obesity is becoming one of the major concerns in pets, especially for those staying in higher socio-economic houses. Since we love our pets, we tend to overfeed them, almost to the levels of indiscriminate feeding practices in some houses. It is probably one of the worst things you can ever do to your pet. It not only disturbs their feeding habits but will also hamper the nutritional status of their body system, at time modifying their nutritional requirements. Most such pets experience frequent gastrointestinal upsets.

One needs to understand the exact feeding needs of the pet. Not all pets, even if of the same breed, will have similar food requirements. The individualized pattern needs to be maintained if you are aiming for a better nourishment.