THE MYSTERY INSIDE YOUR PET

Since health is in large part fueled by food, learning about pet nutrition is of critical importance. But I am not going to bore you with the tired old nutritional pabulum you probably learned in grade school about how calcium builds bones, protein builds muscle, and carbohydrates give energy... nor are you going to be told about a specific food formula, demon or savior ingredients, and special percentages.

You're not going to be told such things because they do not achieve the best pet food, and because nobody talking about such things, when it comes right down to it regardless of their credentials, has any idea what they are talking about.

Although modern science would give us the impression that they know what is deep down inside cellular machinery, and that the body is just a mechanism made of parts that can be probed, repaired, and replaced, that is simply not true.

Now then, if scientists were routinely building living creatures in a laboratory, that would be one thing. We could expect that they knew as much about the life that they built as engineers do about every intricate detail of automobiles and computers. But, since humans have never been able to create life in the laboratory, we should not trust their pronouncements about what living creatures are or what they need.

No one really even knows what life is. Think about it. When a body or a cell dies, all the material parts are still there. If a living thing is just the summation of those parts, why isn't it still alive?

Nobody knows.

There are millions of events going on second by second inside just one of your dog's or cat's 100 trillion body cells. We can speculate about some of these things, but we do not understand them or how and why the millions of biochemicals come together as they do at lightning speed to make it all possible.

The point of this little philosophical diversion is to point out that although we understand some about the workings of living creatures, far more remains unknown than known. So don't expect to be able to go to any doctor or scientist and be able to get precise answers about health and the fuel (nutrients) required for it.

This understanding, this admission of ignorance and humility, is the beginning of health wisdom and the only way to achieve the best pet food.

Video: Intracellular Animation

Enjoy this journey into the Inner Life of the Cell, an eight-minute animation created for Harvard biology students and XVIVO, a scientific animation company near Hartford, CT.

The animation illustrates some of the trillions of unseen molecular mechanisms and how white blood cells sense and respond to their surroundings and external stimuli. Nobody has explained, nor can they explain with specificity how such complexity comes to be, why it all continues to work, or precisely what nutrients are necessary and in what form, percentage, and ratios so life is possible. But all is not lost. The rules of nutrition and health are simple, as you will learn in the coming Truths.

Thought for the day: "The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too." – Samuel Butler

Word for the day: probiotic - noun: 1. a preparation (as dietary supplement) containing live bacteria (such as lactobacilli) that is taken orally to restore beneficial bacteria to the body. 2. a bacterium of such a preparation / A daily regimen of a probiotic supplement can boost beneficial bacteria levels to help restore intestinal balance. / Probiotic bacteria help us digest our food, kill harmful microorganisms and keep our bodies functioning properly in a number of ways.