Are snacks and treats good for pets?
Walk into any retail pet store, pet department of any general store and grocery store and there are snacks and treats of every kind imaginable available for our pets. It’s easy to spend twenty to forty-five minutes browsing the pet supplies in just one aisle. Are snacks and treats good for pets?
Yes and no.
Yes…
- if the snack or treat is real pet food that is nutritionally good for them. Raw carrots are considered a good snack because they are low in calories.
No…
- if the snack is not a food item that pets eat, such as sugar, salt, peppers, chocolate, macadamia nuts and walnuts, grapes, raisins, mushrooms, avocado pits, fruit seeds, popcorn kernels, crushed bones, raw potatoes and corn the cob.
- if the snack is fortified with ingredients that your pet would not normally eat, such as seaweed, binding agents and thickeners that are used in some commercially prepared pet foods.
- if the snack is too small and your pet would tend to swallow it and choke.
- if you can’t pronounce the ingredients, there are too many chemicals in the product that could be harmful or cause your pet bad side effects like itching, diarrhea, and vomiting. The first time we bought dental gum for our dog, he had these reactions all at once. Our local vet said they have seen this reaction quite often with some of the dental chews that claim to help remove plaque. Obviously chemicals are not suitable for some of our pets.
- if there appears to be any half-truth or misleading information about what the product can do for your pet. Follow the old advice “when in doubt, do without”. An example of this would be regular or frozen foods that contain bacteria for healthy digestion. These bacteria are usually killed during processing when high temperatures are used or destroyed at freezing temperatures.
- too much fat is high in calories. These snacks will lead to weight gain. Being overweight leads to medical problems.
When you are training your dog and want to treat your dog or cat to a special food outside of their regular feeding time, that’s fine. However, do not overdo it with the daily calorie intake. Prepare their food for the day and remove that portion to use for snacks to keep your pet’s calorie intake under control.
Animals like to eat and we like to eat. Animals, for the most part, will eat as directed by their natural instincts. People eat with their eyes and the smell of the food. It’s very hard to say no to a beautiful piece of birthday cake or the smell of pizza.
In both situations we were not hungry. And that’s the problem with snacks. Breakfasts are considered an extra meal that usually has no nutritional value or have added calories that will add unwanted inches to our body.
Learn about good snacks and how to make them. Visit Tricia Deed’s Pet Section at http://www.Infotrish.vpweb.com/ Dog Food Secrets Review.
#snacks #treats #good #pets
