FIBRE AND BABY FOOD–that’ll be the topic for today, folks!

For whole-prey feeders (nobody in Singapore, I daresay, unless you buy live chicks at the pet stores and feed them to your pets, risking social castigating and other general unhappy stares from people whom you actually dare to share your evil deeds with. You brave, brave soul!) fibre isn’t much of an issue, but for other raw feeders, it is.

I know we’ve been talking about how cats and dogs don’t need the fibre found in kibble, but that’s not to say that they don’t need any fibre at all. It’s just that the fibre found in kibble is 1.) excessive 2.) from grains 3.) from…um, carboard. Cellulose.

In the wild, the bit of fibre that they do get would be from grass munchies and the stomach contents of their prey’s last meal. Sounds gross, I know, but necessary, especially for cats who do not thrive on direct process of plant material. Period.

Dogs can and do need more fibre though. Go ahead and feed that carrot as long as Fido isn’t just eating carrots. Just be careful of broccoli (and any veg from the Brassica family) that may interfere with iodine levels…the thyroid is very sensitive and you don’t want to play around with it.

So what do you do if Kitty or Fido has constipation? You go to the supermarket…and…look…for…THIS SECTION!

*DRUMROLL*

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TAAAADAAAAAA !!! The baby food section!

This is the largest baby food section I’ve seen so far, and I’ve combed a number of ’em, including Cold Storage and Fairprice Extra and Finest. This happens to be J8 Fairprice Finest. Oh happy me!

What we really want is…Pumpkin. Why pumpkin? Because Pumpkin can help to prevent hairballs, indigestion (smelly farts!), constipation and diarrhea while giving your pet vitamin C and beta-carotene. While I’ve tried applesauce and pureed carrot, I find that pumpkin is the best because simply, it has the most benefits in one 😉

So let’s go look at some labels. My favourite is Gerber’s baby food. You have to be careful, though, read the ingredients!

Heinz’s organic Pumpkin and Sweet potato. Okay, but I prefer one-ingredient baby foods.

Heinz’ beef and vegetable casserole. Generally speaking, anything with ‘casserole’ and ‘stew’ is dubious, including canned foods.

When Faith was ill and dropped to 2 kg from a rather rotund 5kg , I searched high and low for a nice baby food that might contain only beef or turkey to 1.) tempt her to eat 2.) syringe feed. Alas, none!!! I could find none! *weeps*  I had to make my own beef broth!

As you can see, beef ranks towards the end, and there is cornflour and herb. I could still…overlook the cornflour and brown rice if I were desperate, but I can’t overlook the herb because it’s unnamed! It could be anything–and it could be harmful. So, nope! Sorry Heinz Beef Casserole!

Here’s a Turkey Dinner. I like that it’s organic.

However, it contains rice, so I won’t be using it now. But if one of my kitties were sick and refusing to eat, I may try this. Better it eats something than not at all!

I’ve read a lot about how champion show cat owners feed their cats baby foods to keep them going healthy. Why don’t we have beef/turkey/chicken only baby foods here? 😦

My to-go flavours if I run out of pumpkin and my normal pumpkin brand isn’t in.

‘Mixed’ is also another word that you might want to be careful around.

Hm, rapeseed (canola), parsley, cornstarch…nope. Not good!

Interesting–it comes in a pouch rather than a can! This is okay, because sweet potatoes are good for pets as well, in moderate amounts. (Please, moderate everything! ;P) Sweet potatoes are also high in fibre, so a bit will do.

David McCluggage, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, USA (he was awarded Holistic Veterinarian of the Year in 200o by the American Holistic Veterinarian Association) also recommends carrots and peas for your dog and cat, besides sweet potatoes. Just a little bit.

BUT NO CORN.

He also recommends raw diets, but he cautions those who are just starting out to try cooked meats first. 😉

This is the other beef product that I’ve found.

Ooh, corn! And herb! Nope…

It is hard to find a product with no corn. Honestly, Whiskas (the pouch type) would be a fab cheapo brand if they didn’t have soy or corn oil.

Couscous! A type of rice.

But what I really want to say is…THAT. ONION!

Flee for your lives!

Onions contain an ingredient called thiosulphate which is toxic to cats and dogs. The ingestion of onions causes a condition called hemolytic anemia, which is characterized by damage to the red blood cells. Onion toxicity can cause the red blood cells circulating through your pet’s body to burst.

(Quoted from VIP Pet Insurance)

I wanted to show you guys the word ‘BURST’. Eeeks! That description should send you scurrying away from anything oniony!

Usually, foods made for 1st stage baby intake contain only 1 ingredient, so you might want to take note.

And this is what I’ve been using !

From Cold Storage Novena

It’s yummy 🙂 I always sneak myself a spoonful when I first open a bottle hehe. I like the applesauce best *admits* it tastes wonderful. No, none of my kitties would touch it on its own.

Here’s another episode of Raw Diets! You might want to turn down the vol a little at the beginning of the video because Max was tugging at my skirt and I dropped the jar lid and it hit the wok cover with a bang!

[Edit] 

Please do note that different animals need different amounts of fibre and it’s up to you to monitor–that means you must observe your pet, including poop! In my little family, Muffin needs the most fibre because of hairballs and a propensity to impacted anal glands. But definitely, the fibre found in kibble is far, far too much for any pet cat and dog.

AND PLEASE, NO VEGETARIAN DIET. Will blog about this soon!

Categories: The Raw Explorer