cat food, dog Food

– To Them Is It Just Food?

Have you ever wondered what your pets think about their dog food, cat food or pet food supplement? They can’t read the label so they do not know if their pet food is from one of those pet food companies that always advertise tasty morsels on the television.  dogs don’t know if that is the “premium dog food” that is suppose to make their coats so shiny. cats cannot figure out whether you got the “good stuff” or just the cheapest thing available. Or do they??

As I wrote that last line, my dog Casper turned down one of his favorite chew sticks in hopes that I was going to share the strawberry milk shake that I was drinking. He sure seems to know a lot about food. Casper is a terrier/beagle mix who we got from the animal Rescue League. As a puppy he was a little white ball thus he was named after the “friendly ghost” from the cartoons.

Of course, animals have a sense of smell that put our noses to shame.If you have cats and dogs for any length of time, you know that they usually have certain pet foods that they prefer. If an animal has been given a certain brand of pet food for a long time, it may be difficult for you to change brands. We have had dogs that flatly refused to even try a new dog food that we had gotten on sale. Who won that battle? Please don’t ask.

Cats  can be as opinionated with their cat food as dogs are with their food if not more so. Once with got some free sample cans of wet cat food. Our four cats at the time had always eaten dry cat food. They took turns going to the food bowl, snipping the new wet food, turning up their noses and walking away swishing their tails at us to let us know we had screwed up. We quickly went back to dry cat food before they took out their anger on the couch.

One of our cats, Blackie (I bet you can guess his color), was the most gentle cats that you could ever imagine. He would let our children or anyone else pick him up and carry him around and never make an effort to claw them or get away. Blackie had one obsession — shrimp. As soon as we brought shrimp into the house, Blackie would immediately be underfoot. He would jump up on the kitchen counter (which he never did otherwise) and meow in hopes of getting some of the seafood treat. None of the other cats cared for shrimp, only Blackie.

Since our pets become like family members, most of us really care what they are thinking even if we hate to admit it. We share our lives and the love for our four legged friends is real. I know I loved my dog more than my daughters at ages 13 and 14!. The food that we give our pets to eat should be in line with their importance in our lives.

P.S. We always gave Blackie some shrimp and I gave Casper some ham so he would stop eyeing my milkshake.