Ask Barbara Henderson

Pets

Pets page

          I have to admit it.  I am a pet lover.  However, keeping a pet has become more and more expensive over the years.

          You have to feed your pet a nutritious diet.

          You have to do what it takes to keep your pet as healthy as possible.

          You have to pay vet bills.

          I want my dog and cat to be healthy, well fed, and happy.  BUT – I still want my family to be able to eat as well.

          Here a few of the things I do to make life easier and more affordable for both my family and my pets.

          First, I DO feed ‘table scraps’ to the dog.  They aren’t exactly table scraps.  I just cook a little extra at meals and give Walker a portion of what we eat.  He gets around 50% meat and 50% grains and vegetables.  He doesn’t get sweets.  With dogs in the past I have fed them about 50/50 dry dog food and people food.   That means every dog food from the most expensive one I could find on down to plain old Purina Puppy Chow gave him diarrhea.

Fortunately I found Blue Buffalo Wilderness dog food.  Walker  is able to eat Blue Buffalo Wilderness formula for a meal now and then without any stomach upset.   My cat Sofie also eats Blue Buffalo Wilderness canine formula.  I don’t feed it to her on purpose – she just eats it when she can get it. 

In addition to Blue Buffalo Wilderness, and ‘people food’, Walker gets additional vitamin, mineral, and probiotic supplements. 

My cat Sofie is another story entirely.  Sofie only eats one particular brand of canned cat food and raw meat.  I add some supplements to her food as well. 

Sofie is a Siberian Cat, which is a type of forest cat like the Norwegian Forest Cat or Main Coon.  Sofie has a triple coat of fur.  Siberians are overall healthy cats, but some extra supplements like Grizzly Salmon oil  for her coat are helpful. 

The products that I use to supplement the diet for both my dog Walker and my cat Sofie are:

Missing Link Feline   

Missing Link Canine  

SolidGold Seameal

Grizzly Salmon Oil  

SolidGod Bone Meal 

Sofie’s favorite canned cat food

Avoderm   

Dog food recommendations;

Blue Buffalo

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