Monthly Archives: May 2010
Has your cat stopped eating?
When your cat stops eating and you have ruled out any medical problems, such as kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid problems, or diabetes you may want to check out your cat food label. Now cats will stop eating do to a difficult hair ball. Most cats will pass these by vomiting them up or through their stool. Giving a laxative a few times a day can ease their discomfort and help them pass that stubborn hairball. Feeding an all natural cat food will assist in this matter as well. I can’t remember the last time I cleaned up a hairball.
Have you read your cat food label lately? Most of us would say no. Cats can be finicky at times, but sometimes they just get sick of eating junk. So when your cat stops eating and you start doing the cat food juggle, why not stop to read some labels and find out whats really in your cat food.
Try searching for all natural cat foods and stay away from grocery store brands. Your grocery store foods are cheap for a reason. You get what you pay for. When reading your labels you want to make sure your protein source is the number one ingredient and even your number two or three ingredient. Stay away from anything that has Corn , Wheat, Soy, By-Products, or Artificial preservatives in it. These thing can cause digestive issues, premature aging, bad skin and coat, and allergies.
Many years ago when I began my hunt for the best pet food out there, I learned so many things about pet food. Much of it was disturbing. I knew I only wanted to feed the bet and all natural ingredients. I have found many great foods out there. And unlike grocery store pet foods I can alternate my cats food to offer balance and variety among these great foods.
I usually stay with grain-free cat food because I believe cats a carnivores and need a balanced high protein diet to meet there nutritional needs. The grains, veggies, and grasses they would eat in the wild would be from the guts of the animals they killed. If you look at a carcass from a dog or cat kill, you will notice they leave the beak, feathers, feet, fur, and lower intestines, containing feces. These would be called by-products in your grocery store foods. You will not find these in your all natural cat foods.
Some of my favorite brands are Orijen Cat Food, Lotus Cat Food, Nature’s Variety Cat Food and Felidae Cat and Kitten Food Gran Free.
I shop at www.thepetmasters.com because they carry all the top brands at affordable prices.
Tiffany Hillis
A New Era in Pet Foods
Before TJ and I bought Pet Masters in 2003 I dug deep into pet foods. One of the food companies was Natura Pet, a company committed to independent retailers. This ideology suited me well, and so I added them to the line up. Pet Masters was the first pet store in Titusville to offer Natura Pet Foods: California Natural, Innova, Healthwise, and EVO.
When I first bought Pet Masters in 2003, the previous owner carried Ims and Eukinuba. So very soon after taking control of the store I tossed the food that were made by the big conglomerates.  No big conglomerate food, here thank you very much. My actions did not play well with some customers and the store lost them as food customers. Fortunately a good many stuck with Pet Masters and made a switch. Pet Masters has stayed the course with great new foods and established itself as Titusville source for healthy, all natural pet foods.
Flash forward 7 years and Natura Pet is being purchased by Proctor and Gamble. Again the store is faced with a difficult decision. Maybe I’m jaded now, maybe I’m more business minded but I don’t feel the need to react as I did when I first opened. Our nation is so full of corporate ownership. Tom’s All Natural toothpaste is a subsidiary of Colgate Palmolive, and Kashi cereal is a subsidiary of Kellogg’s. How can we get away from corporations? The fact is Natura Pet makes up 50% of Pet Master’s food sales I cannot just kick that out the door. However this corporate dog has bitten me before.
For customers who wish to switch, our friendly staff is ready to offer great alternatives (there are many). If you wish to stay with Natura as long as they uphold their current integrity, then Pet Master’s is supportive of that too. In the end it’s all about your wonderful, healthy dogs and cats. As long as they thrive on quality foods like Innova they should have the opportunity to eat it.
Your comments are welcome.
Jim Hillis
Owner – Pet Masters
You are what you eat
Ever heard the espression “Tou are what you eart? It’s really quit interestion whon you think about it Our bodies use foodas an energy source. If we don’t have energy our bodies can’t properly heal themslves,  fight off infections and provide us with fue for our brain to think.
If we provide our bodies with poor nutrition we are providing  poor source of energy. we feel weak, sluggish, run down, and even sick. So, the expression should be “you feel what you eatâ€.  We should make it our rule to provide our bodies with good, healthy, food  and you will be healthier, feel great & look good.
When it comes down to our four legged friends, the same rule applies. If your feeding your pet cheap, foods that contain corn, wheat , soy, artificial flavoring and color, etc.,  Then thier bodies can not preform at thier best possible level. We need to be feeding a All Natural Dog Food or Cat Food for the well being of our pets.
Grocery Store foods contain inconsistant ingredients, You nay buy a bag one week and it has 10% fish by-products, Containing heads, bones& eyeballs, then the next week it has 10% fish tails. Remember when you buy cheap, grocery store foods yo get what you pay for. All Natural Dog Foods will not contain  by-products or corn, wheat and soy. All Natural Dog Foods will not be preserved with BHT and BHA’s, which is probably the leading cause in cancer in dogs.
What is so bade about corn, wheat and soy? Well, I could go on forever and will one day about the heath concerns of those three ingredients. For now I will say this, Have you ever watched ath discovery channel and seen wolves, cats chew on corn or chew on some wheat, soy beans? That just seems ridiculous . The reason they don’t eat these products in the wild is because Dogs and cats are carnivores, meat lovers. In fact, Many dogs are actually allergic to corn, Wheat and soy. When these ingredients compromised immune systems, resulting in ear infections, loss of hear, itchy dry skin, flaky skin, dry skin , and gassy tummies. These ingredients are cheap fillers and a used to make cheap pet food. You should look for a All Natural Dog Food that does not have any of these products.
When reading pet food labels, your protein source should be your nuber 1 ingredient. Its should not have any by-products or bone meal
Are you confused about what the right food for your pet should be? Give us a call or e-mail us and we would love to help you.
Tj
My Nupro Testimonial
It all started with my big  boy Demetrious. He was a 95lb, black and tan German Shepherd. Oh, what a beautiful dog! He was my handsome protector. I remember the day I took him home. He came from a litter of 13 pups. He was 1 of 3 that were left. I bonded with him right away. took him home to be my furry companion for the next 10 years of his life.
Now at this time in my life, I worked as a Veterinarian Technician and I was able to take my new baby to work with me every day.   I was also able to keep track of about 6 of Demetri’s litter mates. The others I was able to keep track of throught their breeder that also worked with me.
Recently I was scouring the Net, looking for some information on the healthiest types of food I could feed my dog, when I came across 