Feeding the pack

mr_ed:  I just posted some notes about nutrition on the online forum that MaxFund volunteers use. Minky, you guys don't have to read it twice.  :-)  Rather than staying up way late thinking of something else to write here....
Tucker:  Like where is puppy?
mr_ed:  (She went home.)  ... I'm going to cheat and just crosspost what I wrote there.
Tucker:  Cheaters can't be wieners.
mr_ed:  And wieners never cheat. I know. Brat.
Tucker:  Did you call me a name?
mr_ed:  No, no, I was just giving an example of a wiener.

Someone was trying to sort out everything she'd heard about cat nutrition from vets ... their recommendations to stick with large brands because of the research the companies do, and to avoid taking anything on the internet seriously. So I wrote:

I did a boat-load of reading about nutrition after the first phase of contamination this year, and I for sure changed what I feed the pack here. (Yes, they're dogs, but my impression is that these particular points are the same for cats - only slightly more so.) My conclusions are:

• No more grains;
• It's about ingredients, not brands;
• Corporate research is not scientific research;
• DVMs (and MDs) are practitioners, not scientists;
  • and don't have time to keep current with science;
  • unless they deliberately put effort into it;
  • and going to manufacturers' seminars doesn't count;
  • (so where does their "knowledge" about raw come from?)
• No more grains;
• Ingredients labels can be very misleading;
  • but can be decoded, pretty much;
  • the better the brand, the less decoding is needed;
• Kibble requires carbs to hold together;
• Carnivores don't, particularly;
• Rotate so they don't get the same add-ons all the time;
• Canned food can be great (sorry for the pun); and
• No more grains.

Having said that, half of the first meal of the day for my pack on Sunday was a food with grain. NOT corn, wheat, or rice - these are the most abused by manufacturers, in my opinion. This one has rye, barley, and oats. They don't get it often, and I have a handful of reasons (or rationalizations ;-) ) as to why I feed it, but I don't need to burden youse guys with that.

Tucker:  Can Jaeger go home too?
mr_ed:  We have to find him a new one. Until then, this is his home.
Tucker:  It's my home.
mr_ed:  Mine too, but we're big-hearted guys. We can share.
Tucker:  ::annoyed::  I'm going to bed now on my kitchen floor and nodoggy better try to get past me.
mr_ed:  Sweet dreams, Billy Goat Gruff.
Tucker:  Don't rub my tummy, gimme treaZZZzzzzz