Healthy Organic Food and Treats

[Michael Romanos]

La Rogue - almost all tinned and dry dog food sold in stores and vets in New Zealand is imported. Most of the dog rolls are produced here. Most commercially produced dog treats are imported.

[LaRogue]

I'm way out of my league of knowledge here, and the foregoing is the result of a couple quick searches to satisfy my curiosity.

Me too! But you answered my question. I checked some of the foods I was thinking of, when I made the post. One included sea salt, while the others had "salt sounding" ingredients that you were referring to.

La Rogue - almost all tinned and dry dog food sold in stores and vets in New Zealand is imported.

Thanks for the info!

[sofapup]

My dogs have all eaten Iam's foods until the recent problems with Chinese imports. When one the Science Diet foods showed up on the list of tainted foods, I just threw up my hands and ran out to my local pet food store (not a chain.) Most of the people there liked Candidae, so I went with that. When the crisis settled out, the little corgi, Lilliput, went back to Iam's, since she did so well on it before. But the old spaniel stayed with the new food. There are ingredients in the old dog food that make sense to me, like glucosamine and cranberry, and other "real" foods. So it came down to more than just natural or organic (though dog treats still meet those standards.) "Human grade" mattered, as well as country of origin, and the amount of processing in each ingredient. I assume that less processing means fewer chances to add melamine, or antifreeze.

Julia

[maisy]

Chris, I agree, Karma has too much grains. I guess there'd be no real market for organic and if meat heavy, it would be SUPER expensive.

I do buy as much organic groceries as I can afford. Primarily milk, eggs and produce. There is a big difference in the nutrition in organic (although not all organic brands are even remotely equal!) dairy and eggs. Some nutritional difference, but not as much in produce. With produce I buy organic to avoid the toxins mostly. I have cockatoos and I share my veggies and fruits with them and the dogs. I also often (2-3 times per week) feed organic scrambled eggs to both the dogs and birds, and the dogs get a large container of full fat organic yogurt every week which they get mixed in with their Innova daily.

With a super premium dog food, I expect there is mostly human grade ingredients, so less exposure to toxins for the dogs. And using organic for their add-ons helps their toxin load even more.

BTW, I also am very, very careful with any household cleaning products I use. Air fresheners, fabric softeners, harsh shampoos and detergents are gone from my home. I hope all these things help my entire family to be healthier. After hours and hours and hours of research the past few years, I'm willing to bet it makes a big difference. Hopefully to the planet as well. :-)

A bonus for USDA organic dairy is that there are much stricter guidelines for the treatment of the animals. That's another point that's important to me.

[MyPemCharlie]

I just yesterday picked up a gallon of Grade A Raw milk. It wasn't easy to get either...I had to join a local "milk club". But the cows are grass-fed, not grain fed, no growth hormones, anitbiotics or other drugs. Just natural raw milk from a natural "raw" cow. LOL I got interested in raw milk after acquiring kefir grains last Saturday to make my own probiotics. The woman who was running the milk pickup has chickens and said she sometimes has so many eggs that she "forces" people to take fresh eggs home with their milk. I'm in!

As far as cleaners, I discovered that vinegar/water with a little bit of Listerine does a great job cleaning mirrors, shower tiles, and other hard surfaces. I was originally just using it to deordorize the ceramic tile around the cat box which my senior-citizen cat "misses" on occassion. Anything that kills cat urine odor is one powerful cleaner!

[maisy]

WOW, another raw milk lover! Congrats on finding it in your area. I was going to mention that I buy, drink and give my dogs raw milk, but the last time I mentioned that on a forum it caused a huge to-do so I kept quiet.

I first heard about raw milk about 3 years ago and even over-nighted some from California - wonderful but heavens what I paid for shipping!

I'm in Washington state and although technically legal here, no one sold any. There were a few farms with cow-shares but none close to me. I started requesting it from a food co-op in Olympia and a short time later they carried it. Then a few months ago a nearby feed store went organic. I stopped in and asked if they carried raw milk, he looked at me like I was nuts and hadn't even heard of it. But a few weeks later they had a sign out front advertising raw cow and goat milk. They carried the most amazing milk I'd ever drank, both the goat and the cow. It was a from a local woman and grass fed. She also didn't mix her milk prior to bottling, so what you got was from one cow. Unfortunately she wasn't able to continue to provide it to the feed store but another dairy is, although it doesn't taste as good - it is nice. So, after three years and craving raw milk, I now have it available just down the road.

So glad to find another milk lover. BTW, if you suffer from allergies you may find that your bothered less. That's the one big difference I've noticed. When I run out for any length of time I find I wake up each morning very stuffy.

[MyPemCharlie]

You're lucky to be able to go to a store and buy raw milk. In Texas, raw dairies cannot ship or deliver raw milk, so the purchase has to take place on the dairy farm. There is one farm 100 miles north of me and one farm 100 miles south of me. This "milk club" is a group of people who take turns driving out to the farm every other Tuesday to purchase and pick up orders for the whole group. Then everyone goes to one person's house to pick up their order during a one-hour time window. Not very convenient, but I just got my first gallon yesterday and it really does have a "healthier" fresher taste.

I have read that a lot of people with allergies to milk, may not have milk allergies or lactose intolerance at all. Something with the high-temperatures in the pasteurization process may break down the molecular structure of what milk "is supposed to be". I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if my mild air-born allergies (mostly molds and pollens) clear up.

If I can find a raw goat's milk club in addition to cow's milk, I'd like to make goat kefir for the dogs and cats. The kefir bacteria eats most of the lactic acid in cow or goat's milk (like yogurt), so it seems easy for the dogs to digest. They love it too! I made premeasured kefir ice cubes for them to make it easy to serve.

[maisy]

Hard to tell how long we'll be "allowed" to buy raw. I'm afraid that if there is just one scare the laws will be changed. One important thing that's just been studied is that it seems only grain-fed cows end up with e-coli. Both for milk and meat. Feeding grain changes their digestion and acid balance and cows won't eat it unless it's all they get (feed lots) or sweetened (dairys).

I'd heard about people with lactose intollerance being able to drink raw. I have a friend who I've been trying to convince to try it, but it's been so many years that he's avoided milk he's finding it hard.

I had heard that dogs do well on any raw milk, goat or cow, and that most dogs are intolerant due to the same thing that causes it in some people. I often buy my dogs their own quart of raw goat milk and give them some cow as well. I haven't noticed any digestive issues. But then again, I've been surprised that the organic pasturized milk I sometimes buy seems to agree with them okay as well.

[MyPemCharlie]

Six months ago if someone told me that I'd be buying raw milk, sticking a little "cauliflower-looking" thing in it (kefir culture), leaving it out unrefrigerated for 24-48 hours, then drinking it, I'd have told them they were nuts. I can understand why your lactose-intolerant friend is balking.

Because of the much stricter guidelines on dairies producing raw milk, it is healthier than it ever has been in American history, IMO, and much better that the "boiled" stuff from drugged, grain-fed cows that is readily available in supermarkets.

In the whole state of Texas, there are only 9 farms certified as "Grade A Raw for Retail" for cow's milk. Yes, the FDA is just chomping at the bit to find one "incident" of illness. The farm I'm buying from gets inspected every other day by the state health department.

Charlie gets 1 tablespoon of kefir and my Cairn Terrier gets 1/2 tablespoon of kefir a day. While I'd prefer to have a quart a month of raw goat's milk for their kefir, I think the small amount they get is just fine with cow's milk. The cat's will absolutely not touch any milk or kefir so far. LOL