by Diane Burket                                                                                

Let’s face it—feeding your pet dry food is a convenience for humans—but it’s not nutritionally healthy & balanced for your pet—even the best brands.  If you want healthy pets, don’t succumb to the mass marketing strategies of the pet food industry.  They spend millions of dollars on marketing & advertising. Don’t buy their lies. 

Dry food is the #1 cause of obesity in pets.  
Pets tend to eat less wet food than dry food. The wet foods satisfy more, so they stop eating faster than when they eat dry foods.  Overweight pets live shorter lives and have more health problems than fit pets.  (Just like humans)


Contamination:  Regrettably, thousands of dogs and cats have been sickened or have died from contamination of mold toxins, bacteria and chemicals….primarily from dry foods…not from raw or canned foods.

Bloat:  Dry food is linked to bloat, a deadly problem—especially for large, broad-chested dogs.
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Preservatives: Dry food contains lots of preservatives in order to keep a long shelf-life. Dry food also has artificial coloring and flavorings.

High heat processing kills vitamins and damages the proteins in dry food.
This often causes food allergies and intestinal distress.

Kibble does not clean teeth!   More about that in another article.

Health Problems Due To Dry Food:
The top 5 cat health problems in the US are urinary tract infection (UTI), recurring gastritis/vomiting (a common sign of IBD), chronic renal failure, diarrhea and diabetes. These are not natural problems for cats.  They are problems that primarily occur because of eating dry foods.

Kibble is bad for pets because it is too high in carbohydrates and not high enough in real meat and water. Cats require a high water content diet. They do not have a high thirst drive and are accustomed to getting their water with their food. Dry food is unnatural for cats and contributes to many diseases in cats.   

Cancer:  Because most dry food is “feed grade” rather than “human grade”, it is loaded with carcinogenic chemicals and preservatives.  BHA, BHT & Ethoxyquin are 3 known carcinogens often added to pet food and treats.  Ethoxyquin is illegal to add to human food in the USA—but it’s legal to add it to pet foods. Yikes! 


Shedding:  Since taking our dogs and cats off dry food, we no longer have the chronic problem of shedding!

Note:  Keep in mind that when you stop giving dry food to your pets, they may not be very happy about it.  We’ve found that dry food is like “crack” for some animals.

Unfortunately, I have first hand knowledge of dry food causing urinary problems in cats.  
I almost lost a cat to this….spent over a thousand dollars on him….and will not ever give him dry food or dry treats again.  The Veterinarian said he got the recurring UTI because of dry food!
By the time most people notice their cat is having UTI problems, it’s too late.  They can die within hours.  Any cat that is repeatedly standing in a the litter box but not peeing is in need of IMMEDIATE medical attention!  

So what’s a loving, informed pet parent to do??

Give your pet raw food or human grade canned food!

• Canned food doesn’t require preservatives
• Your pet will eat less
• Your pet will get more vitamins and healthier meats
• He/she will be able to maintain the proper weight
• Your pet will have a better coat and be more healthy
• Wet foods are more palatable for older pets
• You pet will probably live longer and thrive more