© 2010 Allie Phillips

We’ve all heard “You are what you eat”, right? So does that apply to our pet companions? For the past few years, I’ve noticed a movement within the pet food industry, as well as with some veterinarians, to move our pets (especially cats) away from dry food and free-feeding all day, and toward a more “natural” diet. As my cats’ veterinarian put it, “Imagine snacking on pretzels all day, would you then have an appetite for a good dinner? No.” It made sense to me. Although I have always fed my cats the healthy brands of cat food, a  year ago I took them off hard food (and that was like taking crack away from an addict!) and now only feed high-quality all-natural canned food (like Wellness, Weruva, AvoDerm, etc.) and some raw food. Not only did my 12- and 13-year-old cats start to have more energy, but their fur felt softer and their teeth/gums looked better. And when one of my cats suddenly lost 3 pounds, it was raw food and high quality canned food that put the weight back on and helped him regain his good health. We all want our pets to live long and healthy lives. But with the increasing rates of pet cancer and diabetes in cats (which is now being connected to a dry food diet), what can we do? This website is absolutely fantastic for increasing our awareness of how to naturally care for our pets. Natural diets are not necessarily appropriate for all pets, but I’ve seen it work miracles on many pets with health issues. Check it out and let me know what you think!