We all know that it is important for us, humans, to consume sufficient vitamins daily for our bodies to function properly. We all chose to take our vitamins differently; they could be taken by the food we eat, or even by taking supplementary pills. Both ways work fine and equally if consumed properly. Without vitamins, our bodies would have difficulties performing our normal daily tasks; such as fighting infections, building our immune system, thinking, laughing, running, smiling, working, sleeping and the list goes on.

As vitamins help us humans to be healthier and stronger, it also works the same way for our pets. Since pets are not able to determine what’s best for them, they rely on us to choose their own health decisions and it is essential to do what’s best for them. It is a proven fact that nutritional supplements can lead to a better health and a stronger resistance to diseases. Lack of vitamins, for both our pets and ourselves, could lead to long term illnesses. Pet supplements (Petaminz for cats and dogs) guarantees that your companion will daily receive the sufficient nutritional package that he or she needs for a great vitality and a strong quality of life. If your pet is sick, Petaminz helps boost up the immune system, fight off the disease and heal faster. If your pet is healthy at the moment, with this pet supplement your cat or dog will remain healthy and stay strong for a longer period of time.

Consult your veterinarian about any suspected health problems. If your pet suffers from lack of energy, unpleasant digestive system or vulnerability to infections; it is possible that it could be due to shortage of vitamins in your pet’s diet.

Is your cat or dog showing signs of inactivity? Sometimes this is a sign of their joints not working properly. Joint pain, as is the case in humans, can be aided by the addition of glucosamine to the diet. The availability of Glucosamine and Chondrotin Sulfate can be supplemented to your pet’s diet so as to aid in the joint and overall physical health of your pet.

Glucosamine is key in the formation of pet’s cartilage as well as collagen production, the absence of which leads to health problems in your pet’s joints and skin. Joint health is essential to upkeep in order to keep your pet pain free. The cartilage between our bones acts as a shock absorber when we walk or run, and if it’s deteriorating or not properly lubricated pain can ensue due to arthritis. If your pet is in pain, they will not be able to exercise and will likely gain weight as a result, which in turn can lead to even more health problems.

There are no foods that contain Glucosamine, it’s a naturally occurring amino acid in the body. If your pet is diabetic, the provision of supplemental glucosamine must be given with care as a risk is posed. As is the case with all dietary supplementation, the guidance of a veterinarian must be sought in order to ensure that the proper type and amount of Glucosamine is being provided. Glucosamine should always be given to your pet along with a meal to ensure proper absorption as well as to reduce digestive problems including nausea or indigestion.

With the upsurge of pet care as a popular interest, treating our pets with the same care we extend to ourselves or our children is becoming standard. This is fantastic for most caregiving trends, except for some excessive grooming that may secretly be driving our dogs and cats batty. Another exception is the trial diets and pet supplements being provided to our pets. It is great to have our cats’ or dogs’ well being becoming of paramount interest, though it is of utmost importance that changes – especially in diet – are executed gingerly and with the care / guidance of a veterinary professional. Otherwise, our best efforts could prove more harmful than we ever would have intended for our loved pets.

The interest in shifting our dogs’ diets from grocery store-available kibble, wet or semi-moist (generally junk) food is a very positive trend for pet care in general. It is important that any dietary changes are given in a slow, transitional manner so as not to shock your pet’s system. The dietary choices being made include pet supplements to round out the availability of pet’s nutrition, and also encompass a switchover to different core diets themselves. This is where a debate between raw and cooked cat and dog food comes in.

Raw foods for pets seem like a logical move because our pets were once carnivorous, predatory animals. Raw pet food can be good in some cases in that it provides necessary enzymes, though on the other hand it can present salmonella or E. Coli bacteria that can make your pet ill. Cooked food for our pets, though we may think it to be a balanced meal having vegetables, rice and meat, may not be at all providing what your pet needs nutrition-wise. So where does this leave the pet-owner in choosing the best pet food for their cat or dog? First, have your pet examined by a veterinarian and then utilize the consultation session to ask questions about how to tailor the best diet to suit their specific health, breed, genetically predisposed or age-needs. Often times you will be recommended a pet supplement to fill in what isn’t being provided in the suggested core diet. Making certain that your pet is receiving the best diet available is an investment in their future. Keeping your pet healthy may seem costly, though the vet bills that could be incurred by neglecting their dietary needs early-on in life could require more of a sacrifice.

Is your dog tired? Is your dog showing signs of joint pain? Is your dog’s fur thinning, are they overweight, or is your dog’s health having any other slew of apparent health problems? Diet enhancement may be considered as a way to aid your dog’s failing health, and pet supplements are as key to rounding out their diet as is the case with human diet (as in how we take multi-vitamins, probiotics, etc.).

The term diet ‘enhancement’ is a misnomer as supplementation really should be considered as part of the core dog food diet. As a ‘human’ we know how difficult it is to meet all dietary needs as dictated by the nutrition pyramid without supplementation… the same principle applies to pet health and dog food needs as well! There are genetic predispositions, aging prevention measures and general health considerations that all can be addressed head-on with proper nutritional administration. Pet supplements play as key a role in replacing the missing nutrients – vitamins, minerals and enzymes – not found in your readily available dog kibble.

It’s best to provide your dog the diet necessary for health so as not to see these health issues come forth, though if you see your dog having skin or fur problems then fatty acids should be considered as a means to increase collagen production. If your dog is having pain getting up or veterinarian-diagnosed joint problems (i.e. arthritis or degenerative joint disease, etc.) the addition of glucosamine via dog diet supplementation may be necessary. Insofar as dog weight issues are concerned of course proper measurement of food is key. If your dog is tired this may be caused by many health problems, including joint pain (which as we just mentioned can be aided by the addition of glucosamine to the pet diet) though other causes may be at play. If you wonder ‘why is my dog tired’ there are many dog energy supplements available that will aid their general alertness and interest in life in general, however… unmet dietary needs are usually related to your dog’s lack of energy (just as we see in us humans). All dietary supplementation in dogs should be first reviewed with your veterinarian after first reviewing your pet’s health status and genetic history.

Given that the regularly available dog food available is simply dehydrated carbohydrate and protein meal sprayed with vitamins and minerals, the availability of enzymes is generally nullified. Enzymes, as well as probiotics, are essential for promoting proper digestion and absorption of vitamins and minerals in your dog. Here we will look at the importance of both enzymes and probiotics in promoting dog health and longevity.

Even if you are able to provide your dog with the best pet meal available, if ample required enzymes and probiotics aren’t also provided then the nutrients you are attempting to provide them with a superior diet cannot be absorbed thus rendering your higher-quality diet as useless as most mainstream kibble for benefiting your dog’s health. Raw dog diet’s generally do contain more enzymes than the dry or wet processed alternatives that have been stripped of necessary dietary requirements due to overprocessing. Enzymes in dog food are necessary to enable nutrient absorption, as we already mentioned, as well as maintaining energy levels, immune system strength, healthy weight and white blood cell production. Providing enough enzymes to aid your dog’s digestion also can prevent degenerative diseases as well as cancer. Reduced cholesterol and artery plaque, as well as increased ability to shed toxins from the body, are also seen with the addition of required enzymes to the dog’s diet. There are many other benefits seen with enzyme supplementation. Not having ample enzymes in your dog’s diet will require their body to draw on any stores they have in their body, putting further pressure on their health.

Probiotics on the other hand, or Microflora, are bacteria that live inside your dog’s intestines the presence of which is required for maintaining health. They kill bad bacteria and fungus and enable proper nutritional absorption as seen with the enzyme dog diet requirement. The term ‘Probiotic’ literally means ‘for life’, and is the case with all nutritional needs normally not met by regularly available diets they are popularly supplemented with the guidance of a veterinarian to ensure that your dog’s diet is properly rounded out so as to maximize their health.

As independent as they are by nature, the feline requires extra nutrient care in the form of mineral supplementation. Core meal cat diet most often does not contain all minerals necessary for optimal health and vital longevity. For this reason, we will take a look at just two minerals that the cat needs in this article, some which are present in normal cat food and others that need to be provided in the form of a supplement.

Calcium, with and without phosphorus, and phosphorus by itself are essential minerals for your cat’s health. The ratio/balance and quantified requirement varies with age and should best be administered with the advice of a veterinarian. Because those foods which are high in calcium are low in phosphorus and vice versa the providing of proper balance for your cat is very difficult and most often requires supplementation outside of the cat’s regular cat food diet. Not providing enough calcium in your cat’s diet, especially when they are developing, will effect the strength of their bones.

Phosphorus on the other hand is required to enable the absorption, or uptake, of calcium. Calcium sourced from Poultry, Lamb or Fish meal would need to be supplemented with Phosphorus as these meat meals do not provide Phosphorus and therefore the calcium content would not be absorbed as well otherwise. True meat, not meat meal, on the other hand can be used to source Phosphorus as well as Calcium. Another means of getting both Calcium and Phosphorus from a core-diet element is through bone meal.

There are many supplements available to provide Calcium and Phosphorus to the cat, for instance in chewable tablets. It is important that you check with your veterinarian to make sure that the proper ratio of these two minerals is being provided in whichever supplement that you choose to be best suited to your cat’s specific health needs (age, for instance).

As with all nutrient intake, ingesting too much or too little will result in imbalances in the body and health issues may thereby manifest. Having the intake of essential fatty acids balanced is equally important to stave off health problems. Here we will take a look at the role, and necessity of balance, of essential fatty acids Omega 6, Omega 3, and Omega 9 play in dog and cat health. We will first examine the notion of preventative healthcare vs. supplementation to simply assuage the health effects that often-times result from an unbalanced lifestyle/diet.

Modern diets have much evolving to do, especially when caring for pets who by nature are unable to articulate complaints of ailments and who therefore may have health problems that go unnoticed for longer without treatment. All in all, pet health is approached at this time in a way similar to the way human health longevity is attempted to be preserved – in a reactionary way. In other words, only when we see a health problem manifest is care taken to help resolve the issue. Preventative human healthcare is relatively new to the mainstream, which takes the approach of trying to balance lifestyle and dietary needs before rectification of discomfort becomes necessary via medication and/or dietary supplementation. This same issue of preventative vs. reactionary health care for pets is also present in our society, though pet supplements are becoming increasingly popular in the interest of pet owners desiring a longer, carefree life for their pets which are normally considered part of the human family.

With preventative care, dietary needs must be properly met in order to help ensure imbalances that lead to health problems do not occur. Nutritional supplementation, both in humans and pets, can be dangerous as often-times it’s a lifestyle-route that’s administered in excess. Worried that your pet may develop poor skin or fur due to the main diet you feed them being sub-par and you can’t afford raw, natural core, holistic diets for your pet? Many pet owners will consider an addition to their pet’s diet with fatty acids due to this fear, the supplementation of which is generally quite inexpensive (think flax seed oil, one bottle can last 6 months or so for a pet if not longer and this costs $10 on average… if you can’t afford a high-quality diet then this supplementation is logical). The problem is proper balance with current diet, as that care is taken that over-administration is yielded against.

Giving Omega fatty acid 6 and 3 in equal proportions to your dog, for instance, can result in health problems. Omega fatty acids must be added to your pet’s diet such that Omega 6 is given in a higher amount than Omega 3 in a ratio between 5:1 and 10:1 – and you see, this already is complicated enough that the advice of a veterinarian is needed to asses your pet’s specific breed, genetic predispositions, age and current health issues (if known) so that you can best regulate the fatty acid balance necessary. On the other hand, if not enough of these essential fatty acids are given to your pet you can see a slew of deficiency-related health problems arise, including but not limited to: fur loss, delayed would healing and susceptibility to infections, skin eruptions, male sterility, liver problems, miscarriages, any one of the spectrum of arthritis-related pet conditions, kidney failure, heart health deprecation, physical growth and learning retardation, gland issues and weakness. In short, it’s essential that fatty acid intake is guided and balanced as with all nutritional supplementation in your pet.

There are many cat breeds, and more health problems than breeds to be concerned about! Your cat’s diet is essential to making certain the their health is rounded out. Often times their core diet needs to be supplemented, depending on breed, age or genetic predisposition. Regardless of life stage however, it is important to make sure your cat’s food is entirely all natural.

There are many products on the market today that tout ‘all natural’ front-of-package labeling though reflect questionable ingredients on the back. A cat kibble bought at your local grocer likely is ‘all natural’ by technical standards, containing corn or other grain fillers sprayed after dehydration with some basic vitamins. As with human diet, absorption of vitamins without a holistic approach bars their benefit from ever being felt. For this reason, cat food must be truly natural and at best raw so that the vitamins touted on the labeling can in fact be absorbed.

Most cat owners do opt to supplement their cat’s diet just as we humans do with the addition of vitamins, minerals and/or enzyme supplements. Balancing their supplementation with other nutrients that specifically compliment the specific nutrient being supplemented will aid absorption. Other supplements can be combined though it is essential that you verify safety with your veterinarian.

Some popular cat supplements include Cat’s Claw, Glucosamine and Omega 6 essential fatty acid. Cat’s Claw is noted to enhance immune system activity and inflammation inhibition as well as having anti-viral, anti-microbal and anti-tumor properties. Cat’s claw’s anti-inflammatory properties are naturally beneficial in treating rheumatism, arthritis, gout and bursitis in the feline. Glucosamine is also helpful for cats experiencing rheumatism and arthritis. Omega 6 fatty acids aid in preventing and treating skin and fur problems.

In addition to exercise, proper diet and general nutritional dog supplements canine health can be rounded out in such a way that’s catered and tailored. For instance, there are some health issues that plague dogs later in life that can be helped with certain dietary dog supplements that cater to specific health needs. Here we will look at some of the most common dog health issues and the dog supplies that can be provided to help ease, or altogether avoid, these problems thus enriching your dog’s health late into life.

Arthritis in dogs is as common with old age as it is with humans, and with similar symptoms. And although the dog cannot speak, per se, to complain about this ailment, it will be evident that they are experiencing pain. Further confusing is that there are about twenty different types of arthritis that can plague your dog, each with their own symptom and having an affect on a different part of the dog’s body. Some types are general, affecting the entire body (Inflammatory Arthritis, Degenerative Joint Disease, Auto Immune Arthritis etc.) and others are joint-specific (Knee Arthritus, Hip Dysplasia, Shoulder Degeneration etc.). A supply that can supplement your dog’s diet is Glucosamine, which serves to ‘lubricate’ the joints thus easing the ailing affects of dog arthritis.

Digestion issues in dogs can be abated with the addition of yoghurt and Kefir, homeopathic dog supplements, to your dog’s diet. These supplies contain ‘good’ bacteria which aid in your dog’s digestive process. Kefir, for instance, has bacteria that will colonize in your dog’s digestive track thus reducing intestinal disorders by reducing gas and improving solid wastes (and also removal) making for an overall promotion of proactive dog health. This supply can also aid your dog’s coat and skin health, as well as assuage anxiety issues.

Skin and fur health in dogs can also be aided with the addition of fatty acids to their diet. There are nearly 70 fatty acids available, and all play an important role in the structure of cell generation and many chemical body reactions (such as hormones and overall dog energy). The dog’s liver and other tissues can produce many of the required fatty acids, though the one the dog cannot make on it’s own is Linoleic Acid (Omega 6 fatty acid). This one fatty acid that is missing from the dog’s inherit nature is called an essential fatty acid as it’s supplementation is necessary to ensure optimal dog health. Omega 6 can be supplemented by certain dog supplies found at reputable dog stores, or naturally in fish or Flax Seed oil, for instance.

Most dog food that you will find at your local grocery store will be dry, semi-moist or wet. Dry dog food is also termed ‘kibble’, and what you will find of this type without seeking out better-brands will be mostly based with corn or grain-based fillers. Dog kibble’s benefit is that it can help keep the dog’s teeth clean, though with all dog foods that are accessible (i.e. at your grocery store or local pet store) the nutritional density must be considered. Most dry dog food is simply sprayed with the vitamins and minerals listed on the label after the drying process is done to the grain-base. This delivery of vitamins is not as ideal for absorption as when the dog nutrition derived from natural sources. Please note that a dog food can be labeled as ‘all natural’ and still undergo this process. Wet food, which is most often sold in canned form, on the other hand provides more protein than the other types of dog food. Semi-wet dog diet is often served in single-packets. Regardless of moistness-level, a dog’s diet must be tailored to breed, size and age. There are ‘alternative’ dog diet’s available, including raw food that you would cook and serve just as you would serve yourself (and of comparable quality).

Aside from protein-levels and doggie-dental maintenance qualities, there is so much more to know about how dog food relates to your furry-friend’s health than is promised on the labels on said dog foods sold at mainstream grocery stores. Even if you suss out a good alternative source for your dog’s diet, are you sure that it’s providing all nutrition necessary to maintain your pet’s health and longevity? As is the case with the human diet, and our seemingly-impossible-to-satisfy Food Guide Pyramid, the dog diet is nearly as complex. Nutritional supplementation, or the addition of certain dietary needs directly rather than organically derived, is often necessary to keep up with the scheme that nutrition experts have proven relevant for extending health and vitality.

Awareness of your dog’s health, and aging, is key to determining a well-rounded diet for your pet’s health. A puppy in it’s earliest days requires collistrum to ensure that their immune systems are built strongly enough to sustain life-long health. Most dogs require certain dietary attention catered to specific health manifestations, such as coat-health, weight issues or temperament. Pedimenz is a pet supplement that we offer that can round our your dog’s diet. Taking care early-on to ensure that your dog’s dietary and emotional needs are met can mean the difference between disabling health conditions later in life and maintaining a happy-natured pet companion. The investment, both in time, veterinarian consultation, specialized core diets and nutritional supplementation is as likely to ensure the longevity of your pet’s health as is the same care-approach to our own, human health. Dog food and dog health are intrinsic to pet health and longevity.