Like everyone, I was incredibly saddened to learn of the illness and untimely deaths of a number of dogs in Victoria earlier this year. These were beloved pets in otherwise good health, who consumed raw “beef” pet meat and quickly developed liver failure. While some survived, tragically at least 24 dogs were unable to be saved, with in excess of 40 more left severely ill and potentially requiring lifelong medical care. What was perhaps equally alarming for some people, was the revelation that there are major differences between the kind of meat we eat ourselves, and the kind of meat that is p ..read more

Do you know the nutritional composition of your pet’s food? Like, do you REALLY?  It’s completely fine if you don’t. I don’t know the precise nutritional composition of any food I eat, but rather I approach nourishing my body with a heavy dose of common sense and a wide variety of fresh, whole foods. Also mint slices and wine. Processed pet food companies and industry professionals who exist at the unfortunate intersection of the nutrition or veterinary industry and the pet food industry will tell you that this common sense approach for our pets makes people like me dangerous kooks. Simil ..read more

If you missed the memo, this is part two of a two-part article on choosing treats and meal toppers for your pooch. Part one focused on regulation and you can find it here. Part two focuses on nutritional considerations. NUTRITION So once you’ve determined if a company is deserving of your hard earned cash, you also need to think about the nutritional side of the treats you’re feeding. I totally appreciate that they’re treats, and us humans eat all sorts of crap under the guise of treats. But dogs are usually really small, and unfortunately many companies that make food for them notoriously do ..read more

I’ve been mulling over a post on treats and meal toppers lately, because there has been such an enormous influx of these products into the “whole foods for pets” industry of late. Nutrition is the obvious angle, but I keep getting stuck every time I sit down to write it, I think because ultimately treat nutrition has actually improved a lot in recent years. And I think that’s great.  But then last night an ad for yet another meal topper with no ingredient list popped up in my Instagram feed and this morning I woke up to a direct message from a current client of mine (hi Emma!) that ..read more

…is that it sucks. It’s garbage. You know the saying “I wouldn’t feed it to my dog”? Well there’s never been a more fitting scenario for that expression than this one right here*. I have generally shied away from discussing processed pet food because it’s not the business I am in. I talk about fresh foods because that’s what I believe we should feed our pets, and my feelings about processed pet food are implicit within that. I generally try to focus on the positive things happening in the animal world, and not get bogged down in the negatives. It’s all sunshine and rainbows over here. But lat ..read more

The spread of misinformation in the holistic pet world really irritates me. Misinformation in the wider pet industry is one of the few things in this world that we can depend on. You could set your watch to the constant churning out of bogus new claims and the latest “healthy,” must-have, exorbitantly expensive “food,” that is strangely, almost indistinguishably similar to the last one. We have come to expect it and old cynics like me barely even notice it anymore. What I do notice, and what I will always speak up about, is people spreading bad information about good nutrition. I don’t care w ..read more

Wow, what a wild time we are living through. Everyone doing OK out there? Or should I say, in there? Testament to the love we have for our pets, one of the first things I and many of my friends, colleagues and clients worried about was how we would continue to feed our pets a fresh diet. We are currently all facing limitations on movement, finances and supply, which affects our ability to feed our families, and that of course includes our pets. I spent a lot of time trying to work out how I could best provide my services in a way that helped people navigate this challenging time, and the firs ..read more

What do the Rolling Stones have to do with animal nutrition, you say? Absolutely not one thing. But I hate dry post titles and I want to talk some more about why I recommend feeding a rainbow of plant matter to your pets. I have already discussed why I think you should feed plants to your carnivore in this post, but there is a little more to it. It is true that dogs and cats in the wild consume very little plant matter and (probably) don’t eat the stomach content of their prey. But that doesn’t mean that we are perfectly replicating an ancestral diet by following a formula (80/10/10, BARF, PM ..read more

I have already written a post on the foods that you should definitely avoid feeding your dog, but there are also some common myths surrounding unsafe foods for dogs that I thought I would debunk. You definitely don’t have to feed these foods to your dog but, contrary to popular belief, if they tolerate them there is no reason why you can’t include them in a robust fresh diet for extra nutrients and variety. As with anything, it’s important to get to know your dog and understand what works for them, because it might be different to what works for other dogs. AVOCADO is so commonly misunderstoo ..read more

I’ve had a “vegan dog food” post saved in the drafts of this blog for…oh about 2 years now. And when I say a post, I mean it was literally just a title and a completely blank page. I’ve tried to write it, I have. What’s prompted me to actually do it is that I was contacted by VICE Magazine and interviewed for their post on vegan dog food, specifically addressing whether it is ethical to make your dog vegan. The VICE article was kinda funny. They included unedited and contextualised quotes that clearly explained my position, which is all I could possibly hope for. Ultimately they interviewed t ..read more