SearchExclusive.com

Dog Food & Flea

When it comes to feeding your dog, don’t you wish sometimes Fido would bark up or point a paw at the bagged or canned, chicken or beef pet food of his choice in the grocery aisle? Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to find a food your dog likes and that’s also good for him or her. If you’ve never owned another pet, it can be difficult to venture outside what the vet or breeder recommends. We love our pets, and want to feed them the highest quality, healthful food, but how can you choose between canned or dry food?

Here’s the scoop on your pooch’s nutritional needs when it comes to choosing between a wet and dry dog food:

1. Convenient feeding and storage

If you’re after a dog food that’s easy to feed your dog, dry dog kibble is the less messy option. Even if Fido is a messy eater, you can sweep away strewn kibbles without much upkeep. However, wet food may produce stains and mess on your kitchen floor. Dry dog food is also easier to measure out meal rations compared to wet canned foods. Dry dog food also dominates when it comes to less food spoilage. Whereas wet canned food can be prone to spoilage in the heat or over long durations.

2. Price-friendly

If you’re after an affordable food option, dry dog food almost always beats wet canned food on price per amount of food you go home with. Dry dog food typically means less waste as well. For instance, you can leave a bowl of dry dog kibble out all day. Whereas wet food will become unpalatable after a few hours left out in the bowl. If you have a small dog, you may not be fazed by cost, however, if your dog is a large breed, the price to ratio cost may be steep to keep Fido in canned vittles.

3. Dental perks

When it comes to Fido’s pearly whites, dry food offers benefits as far as natural plaque cleaning as he or she chews away. Wet food, on the other hand, has been linked to increased plaque buildup in dogs due to the gooey residue left behind. However, if you have a senior dog with tooth sensitivities or missing teeth, wet food may provide a more comfortable dining experience.

4. Food palatability

There’s a reason why Fido comes running when he hears the pop, click of a can of wet dog food opening. Generally, wet canned dog foods are tastier than dry dog kibble because they contain more raw protein, tasty fats (i.e., gravy and added meat flavor), and pleasing texture. If your pooch is a picky eater, you may want to feed them wet food, or top their dry dog food with gravy or meat-based broth to make it more appealing.

5. Nutritionally balanced

When it comes to choosing the most nutritionally-packed option for your pet, wet foods often contain the most water. So if your dog doesn’t drink as much water as he or she should, canned wet food may provide a sly source of hydration for Fido (at 75% water). To compare, dry food only offers about 10% of water. Dry foods tend to contribute to pet weight gain compared to wet foods because they pack more grains (i.e., corn, soy, rice, and wheat) to create that dry food texture. Keep in mind this may lower the overall cost, but can also help your pooch pack on the pounds or develop food allergies/sensitivities (i.e., skin rash or dryness) to grain-based dry foods. To choose the healthiest wet or dry food for you pooch, make sure the ingredients contain zero artificial colors or flavors (i.e., high fructose corn syrup), list a meaty protein source (i.e., chicken, beef, or lamb) among the top 3 ingredients. And finally, seek out dog foods that contain low gains or at least quality whole grains (i.e. sweet potato, barley, brown rice, or corn) and not empty grain by-products (soybean meal or corn gluten meal).

Fleas are almost an inevitable part of being a pet owner. Particularly in warmer months and especially if your cat or dog ventures outside, flea infestations can be prevalent and annoying to your pet and your family if they take over your home. Plus, keeping your pets free of fleas benefits both their comfort (flea bites are itchy as heck) and overall health (bites can spread infection and disease).

Fleas are not difficult to see on your pet’s skin if you perform regular spot checks. Adult fleas are flat, dark colored insects, about 1.5 to 3.2 millimeters in length, and often seen jumping on animal skin. If your dog or cat has fleas, you’ll first notice them biting, licking, chewing, and scratching at an isolated body part. To perform a flea check on your pet first, spread hair to inspect the skin and hair roots for signs of ‘flea dirt’ (or flea faeces). If it’s flea dirt, dab a little water on a paper towel to wipe it away. If the substance changes from dark brown to reddish brown (due to traces of blood within the excreatment), it’s flea sign

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.