1. Make sure the ingredient list is free of corn, food dye, wheat, soy and by-product. Pets cannot digest these fillers. By-product is anything that is not safe for human consumption including: feet, beaks, feathers, feces, unborn fetus' ect… Lazy Paws only carries foods free of these ingredients.
2. Foods free of Melamine. Typically used to make fertilizers, plastic, cleaning products and even yellow #150, melamine has recently been found in a number of commercial pet foods. By feeding this chemical to livestock and other animals it artificially raises the nitrogen levels giving the appearance of higher protein content. We guarantee all of our foods to be free of melamine.
3. Check out the current recall lists. Is your current food on it? Lazy Paws is proud to say that none of its foods have ever been recalled.
Current Recall List
4. Your pets age. Seniors, Large breed puppies and large breed adults can all require special diets. By focusing on protein levels, calcium intake, hip/joint support, Prebiotics, Probiotics, digestive enzymes along with other things, you can actually decrease your pets chances of developing common problems such as: Degenerative Joint Disease and Bloat to name a couple. Ask us we carry several foods for your puppy, senior, and middle aged companion.
5. Your pet’s activity level. Is your companion a less active house pet or a high energy always on the run machine? It’s important to pay attention to the amount of protein in your pets food. The more active your pet is the more protein it needs. Just make sure it comes from the right source. Lazy Paws caries different diets for your pet’s activity level.
6. Allergies. Dry flaky coats and constant scratching are good signs that your pet may be allergic to something in his or her food. Also, licking paws and rubbing ears are good signs your pet might be allergic. The best thing to do is make sure you eliminate the things we said in number one. If you’ve already eliminated the empty fillers, you may want to look for protein sources that are more hypoallergenic like lamb or fish. Lazy Paws has several foods with Lamb and Fish as the single protein source.
7. Do the ingredients in your pet’s food come from the U.S.? Many people don’t realize that the most recent pet food recalls stemmed from rat poison found in Wheat Gluten that came from China. All of the ingredients in the food Lazy Paws carries comes from the U.S. except for the venison, which comes from New Zealand because it’s free of Chronic wasting disease. Chronic wasting disease effects the brain of deer similar to mad cow disease.
Chronic wasting disease Link
8. Taurine in your cat’s food. Taurine is an amino acid that can be readily produced by the human body, however, cats need a dietary source of taurine for good health. In a 1974 study, it was found that a diet deficient in taurine contributed toward retinal degeneration in cats. Taurine deficiency can also cause a heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy. Lazy Paws has made sure there is a sufficient source of taurine in all of its cat foods.
9. Synthetic preservatives. Preservatives, such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin, in particular, has been a suspected link to liver damage and other health problems in dogs. Lazy Paws dedicates itself to only carrying foods that are preserved naturally. Our foods, once opened only carry a maximum shelf life of six weeks.
10. Is the food manufacture willing to let you ask questions? If you have a question about your pet’s food you should be able to contact the manufacture. If they truly back their product they will have no problem answering questions and listening to your concerns. You’d be surprised but some commercial pet food companies will answer questions at there attorneys request. In fact, a Lazy Paws request to tour the factory of a well known “natural pet food company” was actually turned down because they did not want us to see the “special ingredient” used in their food. For obvious reasons we decided not to carry this food.
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