For several years now, we’ve heard about how we need to eat organic food to achieve the best health possible. It makes sense since many of us eat food with a lot of chemical processing. We’ve learned that natural food is good and processed food is bad. So, doesn’t that transfer to how we feed our pets? Let’s take a look.
What does organic food look like for pets?
For humans, organic food is raw, unprocessed food with little to no chemical processing. For pets, organic food could be focused on something like a raw diet combined with human food that is unprocessed. It could be skipping the various wet foods in cans and the kibble bags that most pet parents are used to buying for their dog or cat.
Considering an organic diet for your dog or cat might mean doing away with the usual, common purpose-designed (off-the-shelf) food options and going with a DIY route. This is growing more popular among those who want to give their dogs their best life and excellent nutrition.
Should I feed my pet an organic diet?
So, this begs the question of whether or not a pet should be eating organic food as opposed to the off-the-shelf pet food options. In short, there is no general important reason for you to switch your pet to an organic diet, unless your vet advises this due to specific health issues. While an organic diet is certainly good for us humans, pet nutrition works differently.
Properly-balanced off-the-shelf dog and cat food are still healthier for your pet when compared directly with an organic diet. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with organic food as far as its nutrients, antioxidants, and minerals. These are all good things for your pets.
However, the issue becomes making sure that your pet still has wholesome nutrition and that they aren’t getting too much of those nutrients, antioxidants, and minerals. Pets are smaller than us, and also have different needs for all of those things, so it’s easy to accidentally overdose your pet on some of those things.
Pets are still much better off on their normal, high-quality diet that is interspersed with properly selected organic food to replace snacks. Organic food is good for pets, but it shouldn’t substitute for their main nutrition.
Do pets require organic food?
If you’re one of those learned pet parents that are familiar with just how many human foods can be dangerous for pets, you might be apprehensive about even feeding anything other than purpose-designed animal food to your pets. If this is the case, you’ll be happy to know that feeding your pet organic food isn’t required.
You can find organic food specifically for pets, and you can talk to your vet about what kind of organic food would be best for your pet. If this is the case, it may give you a lot of comfort in knowing that you’re keeping your pet’s safety a top priority.
However, pets have survived without organic food for many, many years before now, so don’t feel pressured to jump on the organic food wagon unless you have your own reasons for a keen interest to do so!
What can we do for our pet’s best nutrition?
This leads us, then, to understand just what we can do for our pet’s nutrition both in the short-term and long-term. If you want to know that you’re doing what’s best for your pet’s nutrition and health by extension, here are some tried-and-tested tips:
- Pick a healthy kibble as a daily staple: Your pet still benefits from a kibble-based diet. Not only are those kibbles carefully formulated to contain their needed nutrients, but they’re also able to help with dental health and hygiene.
- Add in vet-approved wet food where you want to: If your dog has dental concerns and can’t eat kibble or just really doesn’t like kibble on its own, you can supplement in some pet-safe wet food. A lot of times, pet parents mix this in with the kibble, and it can incentivize picky pets to eat their vet-approved food without so much hassle.
- Consider homemade pet treats: If you want to try organic food, including organic ingredients in pet food, you can opt for organic-based treats! You can easily make them yourself with organic ingredients, or you can buy them from the stores and focus on those that are organic. This can be a great way to add organic to your pet’s diet carefully!
- Focus on yearly check-ups for your pet: While it’s not actually food, your dog and cat depend on their yearly check-ups and nutrition advice from the vet. The vet will tell you whether they are malnourished, underweight, or overweight. It’s important to know how your pet does from year to year, and it’ll also help you to ask questions as needed to your vet so that you’re always doing what’s best for your furry family member.
While an organic diet can be a great suggestion for humans, and it can make a lot of sense to us, it also is important not to let it take over every other part of your pet’s health. Proper health still factors in with purpose-designed food, proper exercise, and a focus on your vet’s recommended check-ups.
A healthy pet starts with a healthy diet
So, as you can see, good nutrition is always an important factor in your pet’s health. However, an organic-only diet isn’t necessarily going to fulfill your dog’s best interests. You’ll be doing what’s best for your pet by feeding them a vet-recommended normal pet food diet. The goal is to ensure that you’re keeping that diet focused on your dog’s specific nutrition needs, after all.
Organic food is definitely one of the best things for a human diet to be at its best, but this isn’t necessarily so much the case with pets. Your vet’s recommendation still reigns supreme over everything else. Switching your pet to an organic-based diet in place of their normal pet food is not a great idea, unless recommended by your vet.
