Nutrition, Noah's Natural Pet Market

Noah's Natural Pet Market • 4431 Cass St. • Pacific Beach, CA 92109 • 858-270-8161




Choosing the best diet for your pet is the most important thing you can do for your furry family member, yet it is the area most often overlooked by both pet care professionals and pet guardians. What your pet eats plays a major role in determining how his or her body copes with disease as well as the effects of aging. The food you choose to feed your pet can either strengthen its body by providing the essential nutrients for building a healthy, disease-resistant body or injure him or her by introducing toxic substances that start your pet on a downhill slide into disease. Health starts from the inside out and that means good nutrition. The benefits of a natural diet are: A pet that thrives rather than just survives. Eyes that glow, healthy skin, coat, ears, teeth, immune system and digestion not to mention good smelling breath. Energy abounds. Better resistance to pests such as fleas. Parasites tend to avoid healthy pets. Sickly ones are easier targets. Minimize genetic health risks. Longer and healthier lives. Best of all . . . . .a lot less in vet bills (sorry Doc!) Do you REALLY know what’s in the food you’re feeding your pet? The pet food industry is a multi- billion dollar industry and most major pet food manufacturers are in the business for one reason: PROFIT! Why do you think the most well known, (and most heavily advertised), brands of dog and cat food are owned by major corporations? Just remember, marketing is a powerful tool of persuasion and can mislead consumers. Our fur kids don’t have a choice about what they eat, it’s up to us as their guardians to educate ourselves and choose the best for them. Dogs and their ancestors evolved on raw food, including raw meat, and not on the highly processed/cooked commercial diet eaten by modern day pets. (Ever see a wolf or dog, left to their own devices, out barbecuing their dinner?) Commercial pet diets came into our lives in the 1950’s. Before that, humans fed their pets table scraps and raw bones. Commercial pet foods were invented as a matter of convenience and a supposed lack of a "balanced diet" theory. A diet of fresh foods including raw meats and vegetables is the very best diet we can provide for our animals. However, many people simply don’t have time, their budget may be limited, not to mention concerns that their pet will get sick from raw meat. Consider the fact that dogs would not be here today if their ancestors had not been able to survive a raw food diet. Their bodies are designed by mother nature to destroy bacteria. Their stomachs contain very strong and highly acidic digestive juices. Canine intestines are much shorter than humans, 11 feet compared to 21 feet. This translates into much less time for bacteria to grow and cause problems. The next best diet to a natural species appropriate RAW FOOD DIET is a natural dry and/or canned food. They are much healthier and far less toxic than most regular commercial dog and cat foods for the following reasons: Human grade ingredients are used, (including meats), rather than products deemed unfit for human consumption Use of fresh whole ingredients rather than millings or by-products (i.e., factory waste) Fewer toxic ingredients (including chemical and artificial preservatives) go to www.api4animals.org/79.htm for more info on this subject No rancid or highly preserved animal fats Natural preservatives only, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, (mixed tocopherols) Regardless of which type or brand of diet you choose it needs to meet 5 basic requirements: Proper amount and balance of essential nutrients. High nutritional quality so that the animal’s body can actually utilize the nutrients Palatability Minimal or no fillers and by-products No artificial colors, flavors, chemicals preservatives or additives As previously mentioned, the pet food industry is a *MEGA* business, but without the government quality and health regulations from which humans benefit. Because of this lack of regulation, commercial pet food may likely be the most highly processed food on the planet. It’s no wonder our beloved pets now have more health problems than ever before. These poor creatures are suffering from the likes of cancer, allergies, diabetes, ear, skin and coat problems, irritable bowel syndrome, pancreatitis, auto immune disorders, arthritis, obesity, kidney disease . . . . . the list goes on and on. Noah’s Ark is a neighborhood pet store rather than a national chain. Our knowledgeable staff can provide you with current information on natural alternative diets and help you select what’s best for you and your pet. Noah’s Ark carries a wide assortment of pet food. Our freezers are stocked with Bravo!, Halshanand Primal brands of RAW food diets. The shelves are brimming with a variety of nutritious all-natural dry foods. And finally the newest and most innovative type of pet food on the market, The Honest Kitchen's brand of dehydrated dog food in four varieties: Verve, Force, Embark and Preference Prowl is a new feline favorite, so come on in for a free sample. We feed most all of the products listed above to our own dogs and we're very picky about what our fur kids eat! We also carry the supplements necessary to provide optimum nutrition or help with an existing condition.