One of the ways to go more environmentally friendly in your home that you may not have even thought about, is through your pet. If you have a dog or cat, chances are they have a carbon footprint, just as you do, from the products you purchase and use with them. Sometimes this can be doing more damage to the environment than you may think, which is exactly why, as with everything else in life, you should strive to be more green with your pet care. Not only will you be helping the environment, but you’ll have a healthier and happier pet as a result.
A great place to start, is when you get a new pet. If you’re thinking about adding to your family of animals at home, before you think about purchasing a new dog or cat, think about adopting one instead. There are already too many animals than we can possibly take care of, so consider saving the life of a cat or dog that could end up being put to sleep from too long a stay at an animal shelter. Plus not purchasing your pet ensures you don’t support a puppy mill, which is only adding to our animal overcrowding problem.
Another change you should make is in the sort of food that you buy for your pet. Buying the run of the mill dog or cat chow brands is not only unhealthy in the long run for your pet, but is also harmful for the environment to produce. Low end pet foods contain a plethora of pesticides and chemicals, both of which end up polluting the air and land when they are sprayed, and also pollute your pet every time they eat a bowl of food. The organic brands may be more expensive, but they also have more rigorous food standard tests from the USDA, so not only is your pet eating healthier food, but you’re also ensuring you don’t support a brand that mindlessly sprays pesticides into the environment.
If you have a cat the type of litter you use could be everything. In most store brands of either clay, or rocks, you’ll notice kick up a lot of dust when you are scooping or pouring the litter. This dust is harmful to your lungs and your pets, not to mention are just harmful in general to have floating about the air or sitting around a garbage dump. You want to stay away from those sorts of cat litter, and instead go for something organic like Feline Pine, which produces no harmful dust and is completely biodegradable.
Finally, for bating your pets, try to stick to organic brands. They work just as well, but don’t contain any chemicals that are harmful to put down your drain and pump into your local water source. They are easier on our environmental resources to produce, and healthier for you to use on your pet. So in actuality, everybody wins.
Tags: Animal Shelter, Animals At Home, Cat Chow, Chemicals, Choices, Helping The Environment, Kick Up, New Pet, Overcrowding, Pesticides, Pet Care, Pet Food, Pet Foods, Plethora, Puppy Mill, Purchasing, Rocks, Sleep, Store Brands, Usda
Choosing the right kind of food for your dog can be a DAUNTING task… with so many pictures of smiling puppies and fancy labels staring back at you, how do you make an informed choice?
Well it’s not that hard really, if you know what you’re looking for. Here are my 5 essential tips for choosing the right of food for your dog:
1. Forget about brand names.
A bigger name brand does NOT equal better quality. In fact, the reverse is probably more true, but we won’t get into that right now.
2. Put Your Emotions Aside!
What do I mean by this? Simply, ignore the cute little dogs licking their lips and the ones with big grins on their faces. Do not buy based on how NICE or CUTE the packaging is. I know it sounds stupid to buy dog food based on the cool packing, but it’s so easy to do. I’ve been guilty of this myself more than once.
3. Look at the ingredients
A dog’s diet typically consists of 40% meat, 30% fiber and 30% starch. Next time you’re in a store, pick up a tin of dog food (or look at one you’ve brought previously). Then take a look at the ingredient list.
The first ingredient on that list is the primary ingredient – so make sure it’s a form of meat protein such as chicken, beef, etc (NOT meat by-products) Make sure the rest of the ingredients include a good amount of fiber and starch.
Also, the fewer preservatives the better.
4. Choose Super Premium Brand dog food or Premium Brand.
Do NOT choose Economy Brand dog foods. These are the ones you’ll see in your general store. Go to pet stores and buy the quality stuff there. Buying a Premium or Super Premium dog food can literally add years to your dog’s life.
I was in a big supermarket yesterday, one of those monster chain types, and I ventured down the pet food isle. (I always buy my dog food at the pet store).
Follow these rules next time you’re shopping for dog food and I guarantee your dog will thank you for it!
Tags: Big Grins, Brand Names, Daunting Task, Dog Food, Dog Foods, Fancy Labels, Informed Choice, Lips, Little Dogs, Meat Protein, Monster, Packing, Pet Food, Pet Store, Pet Stores, Premium Brand, Preservatives, Puppies, Starch, Supermarket
