Which meat to feed my pet Part 1

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This is a question I am asked frequently by concerned pet owners, when they have made the choice to swap their animals a natural, fresh meat-based diet.

There are so many choices – too many to squeeze into just one newsletter – so I’ll be taking a look at the range of options over the next three weeks…

Part 1 today will cover Kangaroo, Beef and Chicken.

In Part 2 next week, I will look at turkey, goat, venison, lamb and mutton options.

In Part 3 I will cover pork, fish, rabbit, tripe and offal.


Kangaroo
This is my preferred choice of meats. Nutritionally, kangaroo meat is superior to all the farmed meats. It is low in fat (3-4%), high in protein, and high in vitamins and minerals. Kangaroos graze a very wide variety of pastures, wild grasses, shrubs and trees, and as a result of this variety, they enjoy excellent health, and their meat has a wide array of macro and micro nutrients. Kangaroo is ideal for treating pets with food allergies.

Beef
Beef is one of the most widely available and most commonly used meat sources for pet food. Beef and beef by-products (parts of the body like offal, bone, feet and horns) are the major red meat sources for pet food. It has good amounts of protein, and can have quite high fat content (14%+), and this level can be much higher in grain fed beef.

Chicken
Chicken meat and by products are the most common source of pet meat used in commercial pet foods. This is primarily driven by price. Chickens are the most cheaply and intensively farmed of all the domesticated animal species. Nutritionally, chicken mince is highly questionable. It can be very high in fat (18%+), and even higher if the mix contains skin and fat. There is no doubt that wild chickens would be an ideal prey for both cats and dogs. A wild (organic) chicken would also provide excellent nutrition, as do their eggs.