We spend many hours each week researching pet nutrition, taking class certifications, and helping people with their pets’ skin, coat, GI issues and more. We believe that choosing better nutrition will lengthen your pet’s life and reduce chronic health issues. Building a better bowl means adding more whole foods and moisture to increase the real meat protein in your pet’s diet.
Choose the Correct Size
Bags of food should only be kept open for 2–3 weeks before vitamins and minerals begin to oxidize. Kibble, even the highest quality, is cooked at high temperatures that cook most of the nutrition out of the food — artificial vitamins and minerals are then sprayed on after cooking.
Food Storage
Keep your food in a cool, dry place — the refrigerator is even better once it’s opened. When purchasing food, don’t leave it in a hot car for hours; plan your errands accordingly.
Containers
If you’re set on putting food in a plastic container, clean it frequently to avoid rancid oils contaminating your new food. We recommend keeping the bag itself inside a container, rolled down to remove most of the air, or using a small container that holds 2–3 days of food so the whole bag isn’t exposed to air at every meal.
Add Moisture
A bowl of plain dry food is the minimum amount of nutrition to keep a pet alive — we want pets to thrive. A dry-only diet can contribute to skin issues (especially in our dry Colorado climate), boredom, overweight pets, food sensitivities, and dehydration, even if your pet drinks plenty of water. If you do nothing else, add water to your pet’s bowl to activate and soak the food — it aids digestion, slows down gulping, reduces gas, and helps the food smell more appetizing to picky eaters.
Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.
Hippocrates
