This blog is for the true animal lovers out there - the one’s that will often go above and beyond every day in caring for your beloved companions, and treating them akin to their own children (or sometimes even better!).
(Guilty - Sorry Kids!)
We often hear people say “If it’s not good enough for me, then why would I feed it to my pet?”, and if you’re anything like me then you’ve got the sound and smell of an over-processed can of dog food slowly slopping into your dog's bowl seared into your memory - If you’re one of the few that finds that appetizing, then this might not be the right blog for you….
If you've included your four-legged, feathered or furry friends in your new year health goals like us - then this is for you!
If you’re new to cooking or preparing your pets food, check out this article by Registered Veterinary Technician, Saleema Lookman.
Making dog food that meets Fido’s nutrition needs isn't as simple as you might think, says pet nutritionist Cailin Heinze, VMD. “It can be done, it just takes a lot of dedication, a lot of work, and for some pets and some ingredients, quite a bit of expense,” Heinze says.
Cailin Heinze
“I think raw is the gold standard for a feline diet,” she says, explaining that she chose that path after seeing a friend’s gorgeous cats who ate a diet of raw meat.
Lynette Ackman
Let’s get this out of the way up front - NO, Hemp foods will NOT get you or your pet high!
Hemp Oil (Commonly known as full or broad-spectrum hemp oil which contains CBD and/or THC and is considered therapeutic - find out all about differences here in our blog here), depending on its formula has a chance eliciting the usual effects of CBD or THC products - find out more about using CBD for your pets in our blog here.
Hemp foods have a wide range of benefits for animals, similar to those enjoyed by their humans. For example, it can improve skin health in dogs and cats, leaving them with a healthy, shiny, smooth & overall irresistibly cuddly coat. Hemp seeds have the perfect composition of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) such as Omega 6 and Omega 3 in the “Golden Ratio” of 1:3. Omega fatty acids play an essential role in an animals’ overall skin and coat health.
An unbalanced ratio of Omega 6 & Omega 3 in an animals diet can cause upsets in its health. With additional Omega 6, your pet’s body would further reduce its Omega 3 levels. Conversely, an excess of Omega 3 in the body would unbalance Omega 6 volumes. This can cause instabilities in your pet’s body. As a result, other unbalanced sources of Omega fatty acids like fish oil can not be relied upon.
The fact that it is a perfectly balanced source of Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids further magnifies the importance of incorporating hemp seed oil in your pet’s diet.
Any oil perfectly balanced with Essential Fatty Acids would undoubtedly work well for skin allergies and diseases. A 2005 research noted that Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema) patients experienced reduced allergic symptoms with the dietary use of hemp seed oil.
…And that’s just getting started! There are many other notable benefits of hemp for pets, which you can read more about here.
This is especially important for those with larger dog breeds, and although hemp certainly has miraculous properties, it's far from a miracle cure. It should be viewed as one piece in the larger picture of overall health & wellbeing. To get a complete picture of joint health in dogs, check out this article by veterinarian Dan Richardson.
The Omega-3 fatty acids found in hemp seeds do a great job in promoting healthy joint lubrication and can help in reducing joint inflammation and pain for your pet.
Joint health is a must for ensuring the quality of life for our pooches, especially into their later year - It's never too early to start thinking about joint health!
One of the simplest ways to incorporate hemp foods into your pets' diet is to add hemp seed oil into their daily meals... After checking with your vet, just add a little bit to your pet's meal once a day (following the appropriate weight-based dosing instructions, of course) to help keep their skin, coat, hips and joints, heart and immune system healthy.
If you've followed our journey on social media, you'll know that we LOVE to meet your dog's at our store, almost as much as they love Georgie's famous hemp doggie treats!
Ingredients
Instructions
Do you cook your own pet's food?
Leave us a reply with your favourite recipes!
