This Substack brought to you by the makers of Solutions(tm) pet foods.
I used to feed Answers at great expense (~$180/month) and at the absolute insistence of my (now fired) fauxlistic TCM vet. This was about the time of the shakeup in the company, where the current management of Solutions pet food left. The accusations of the women who left about what was going on behind the scenes at Answers made me realize you can't really know what's going into your pet's bowl unless you raise it and put it there. So the rest of us who know better do the best we can and make our own.
It's a cynical position, but cynicism comes about for a reason. Here are a couple of examples of how this happens:
I was buying "pasture raised" beef and poultry from a local "biodynamic" farm, only to realize that the pasture they were producing it on was directly adjacent to a major interstate. I can only imagine the toxin load those animals (and therefore me and my animals) were ingesting at $14/lb.
I once worked for an "organic" CSA. Shares were sparse one week because of a large order from a grocery chain, so they had us repackaging grocery store produce into the CSA boxes.
that is true, you never really know unless it comes from your own farm itself and the feed does as well. However, I think if everything seems to be authentic to the best of one's investigation--and pets are improving on a the particular brands or diets, I would take that as a good sign. Additionally, unless a company was going to great lengths to lie, misrepresent, and cover up--which is all possible because we see it with other industries--any "human-grade" pet food, even if not 100% perfect, I would bet is still better than the disease-ridden poison garbage of mainstream brand pet "food". but yes--we all do the best we can. I've made my pets homemade raw food since the mid 90s until my current cat. She won't eat it. After 11 years, I've finally gotten her to drink 1mL of half n half. If it's room temp. If it's from a syringe--not a saucer. So we do that several times daily. She's tiny and tends to lose weight easily. So I give her the best holistic kibble or freeze-dried she will eat (Tried them all --just donated $100 worth of uneaten food) So it's not ideal but it's the best my cat will let me do haha. PS I love your term fauxlistic--went to a vet last year, only once, in a new city i just moved to--paid an exorbitant amount for the "fauxlistic" visit--and I won't bore you with the details, but she was so much the opposite of holistic..that a year later I still occasionally think of it and get angry at the experience. My cat had never had to see a vet in the 10+ years I've had her, so was even more traumatic to have that as an initiation.
This Substack brought to you by the makers of Solutions(tm) pet foods.
I used to feed Answers at great expense (~$180/month) and at the absolute insistence of my (now fired) fauxlistic TCM vet. This was about the time of the shakeup in the company, where the current management of Solutions pet food left. The accusations of the women who left about what was going on behind the scenes at Answers made me realize you can't really know what's going into your pet's bowl unless you raise it and put it there. So the rest of us who know better do the best we can and make our own.
It's a cynical position, but cynicism comes about for a reason. Here are a couple of examples of how this happens:
I was buying "pasture raised" beef and poultry from a local "biodynamic" farm, only to realize that the pasture they were producing it on was directly adjacent to a major interstate. I can only imagine the toxin load those animals (and therefore me and my animals) were ingesting at $14/lb.
I once worked for an "organic" CSA. Shares were sparse one week because of a large order from a grocery chain, so they had us repackaging grocery store produce into the CSA boxes.
This is why I make my dogs food at home with the same food I eat- they thrive!
that is true, you never really know unless it comes from your own farm itself and the feed does as well. However, I think if everything seems to be authentic to the best of one's investigation--and pets are improving on a the particular brands or diets, I would take that as a good sign. Additionally, unless a company was going to great lengths to lie, misrepresent, and cover up--which is all possible because we see it with other industries--any "human-grade" pet food, even if not 100% perfect, I would bet is still better than the disease-ridden poison garbage of mainstream brand pet "food". but yes--we all do the best we can. I've made my pets homemade raw food since the mid 90s until my current cat. She won't eat it. After 11 years, I've finally gotten her to drink 1mL of half n half. If it's room temp. If it's from a syringe--not a saucer. So we do that several times daily. She's tiny and tends to lose weight easily. So I give her the best holistic kibble or freeze-dried she will eat (Tried them all --just donated $100 worth of uneaten food) So it's not ideal but it's the best my cat will let me do haha. PS I love your term fauxlistic--went to a vet last year, only once, in a new city i just moved to--paid an exorbitant amount for the "fauxlistic" visit--and I won't bore you with the details, but she was so much the opposite of holistic..that a year later I still occasionally think of it and get angry at the experience. My cat had never had to see a vet in the 10+ years I've had her, so was even more traumatic to have that as an initiation.