Keeping the Animal Free: Pets

How badly some people treat their pets. Some are actually ignorant and arrogant enough to feed dogs a vegetarian diet. I've seen it. It often makes them fat, immobile, flatulent snorting machines. Then they die young, often of heart failure.

Here's our two beasts during a hike behind our cabin in Arnold, CA. American Rat Terriers. Nanuka ("Nuke") in the foreground is a 3-yr-old champion female. Rotor, in the background, a 9-yr-old male in pristine health.

There's three things we do that keeps them as fit as they are.

1. Lots of play.
2. Lots of walks, including off-leash; not so much so they can run as that they can sprint, all out.
3. Ultra-high protein, ultra low carb. No grains or HFCS: EVER!

Now, if you have the time, money and attention, then maybe BARF is for you. But while I'm interested to try it out on the munchkins, I just don't see how it could improve things. Anyway, for better than a year, now, they've been fed exclusively EVO. For snacks, they get the dried chicken and duck meat...ingredients: chicken; duck. The end.

It's pretty easy to obtain, but go to all the stores in your area that carry it. Some have better stock than others. The dry comes in red meat and chicken / turkey. Canned comes in (all 95%) venison, rabbit, duck, beef, and chicken / turkey. I rotate off on the dry, and then get the three more exotic canned meats. Needless to say: they love 'em, especially in the morning when they each get a teaspoon of lard mixed in. 

Curiously, they will often spontaneously fast and let their bowls sit there untouched until the evening. I never worry about it. I've thought of fasting them every now and then in order to simulate natural pressures. But I don't think I could take those perplexed, sad eyes glaring at me. And, since they seem to fast on their own intermittently, it relieves me of the chore.