DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Perhaps the greatest danger in pet feeding is worry. Our materialistic world and reductionistic sciences lead us to believe that health is all about percentages, analyses, RDAs, and the like. All the minutia, the parts and pieces, create complication where it need not be.

So, we think that if we don't get all the right vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fatty acids to our pets (or ourselves) at every meal, that disease is going to set in.

Pet owners are even told by pet food manufacturers, veterinarians, and nutritionists that they should only feed "complete and balanced" foods and not supplement anything from the dinner table.

So people are left to worry that they may not be feeding their pet with the right precision. Not knowing all the details of nutrition, what are pet owners to do but seek out packages that claim to have the best pet food all "completely" figured out for them?

But there is a better - and smarter - way. Follow the lead of the greatest intellect in the universe, nature itself. Animals in the wild thrive without ever reading a package label or figuring out percentages. They go days without eating and never try to "balance" their meals. Prisoners in concentration camps have survived for extended times on little more that rice or crumbs of bread.

You see, the body has reserves and can compensate for temporary imbalances. Every nutrient does not have to be present at every meal.

By simply feeding whole natural foods and properly designed packaged foods in variety along with properly designed supplements, you will not have to worry about any of the small stuff, and, as a bonus, you will achieve the best pet food and the best health your pet can have.

Video: Iraq Veteran reunion with his dogs

A heartening reunion between an Iraq veteran and his dogs after a 14 month absence.

Thought for the day: "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." – Ann Landers

Word for the day: free radicals - noun: Health-robbing electron deprived/starved elements that scour the body looking for electrons to steal. When they rob them from other chemicals, those chemicals become free radicals as well, and so on for a chain reaction. Free radicals are like sparks spewing out of a bonfire. They damage what they come in contact with and can spread if not contained by antioxidants.