Is people food ever OK to feed your pet? The answer is yes, but a very careful yes.  Some foods such as cantaloupe, crunchy raw or lightly steamed vegetables, and meat with fat and gristle trimmed off can offer healthy diet additions. Also, baby carrots, apples and popcorn are excellent low-calorie dog treats. As long as high quality ingredients are used along with a recipes that meets a pet's nutritional needs, human food can be a perfectly fine diet.  But be careful!  Many owners don't realize that a pet's diet must be balanced in nutrients.  They need different nutrients than humans and therefore need some careful researching before switching to a human food diet.  Most owners feed too much and create an unbalanced or incomplete diet.  Table scraps are a big NO NO which can create unwanted and annoying begging behavior.  If you're thinking about giving your pet a human food diet, do some research and find some tasty recipes for pets online or in bookstores. Be very careful with certain people foods that can be toxic to pets.  Some of these toxic foods include, chocolate, onions, grapes, and raisins. Another option are holistic and organic dog food, cat food, cat treats and dog treats.  Many are already prepared with human grade ingredients and saves you all the work.

~Your Friends at PetKaboodle.com

Oral hygiene is very important to not only humans, but their pets too!  Besides the obvious stinky dog breath and cat breath, your pet's teeth need to remain healthy.  Just like human teeth, pet's teeth can decay and rot causing much pain, discomfort and eventually result in high vet bills for tooth extraction.  Tooth decay can also cause serious illness if not treated properly.  Certain breeds are more prone to poor oral hygiene than others.  Shelties and Yorkies for example tend to have a high rate of tooth decay among other dogs.  It is very important to keep up with your pet's teeth.  Daily brushing coupled with the right food and dog treats or cat treats can come a long way for a healthy smile!  Some owners may  not have the time to brush their pets teeth every day but there are other methods to keeping your pet's teeth healthy.  Dry food in your pets diet cleans teeth as they chew and helps rid teeth of plaque and buildup.  The same goes for "crunchy" dog treats and cat treats.  There is also a myriad of dog toys that aid in the health of your pets oral hygene too!  Your dog can play and clean their teeth at the same time!  Any hard rubber toys with nubs or rope tugs are great for cleaning teeth.  As for cats, feline greenies along with other crunchy treats and food can help keep teeth strong and healthy.  An all wet food diet can be detrimental to pet's teeth so be sure to always include a bit of "crunch" to their mealtime.  But what about when the breath of your cat or dog smells?  Try some oral breath sprays, daily brushing, or minty rope bones and dental treats.  With frequent use of these essential pet supplies you can keep your pets teeth healthy and pain free! Time for some happy, healthy smiles! =D

~Your Friends at PetKaboodle.com