I'm not sure how many of you think about what you actually feed your dog or cat. 

Although I've always fed my dog scraps and a mixture of dog food and fresh food plus some dried food, it came home to me a while back when Barney wouldn't stop scratching.  I checked for fleas, but there wasn't any and it occurred to me that he had a little more dried food than he usually does.  Even though it was supposedly a quality one it's still got a lot of preservatives in it.  When I stopped the dried food and went onto raw and natural food the scratching stopped!  Havn't been back to it and he hasn't scratched. 

I was talking to a farmer from a cattle property who has a lot of kelpies, he was saying that a good dog used to last for 20 years, nowadays they go from 10 to 15 years because of the change in diet to tinned and dried food.  Interesting isn't it......I then had a talk to another acquaintance who trains dogs, has been with the army dogs and also trained police dogs, he said much the same as the farmer, also he felt that a lot of the cancers that dogs are now getting relate back to the prepared food that they are fed....keep the bulk of the food that you feed your dog fresh eg kangaroo, chicken necks etc.  Barney loves roo tails that I freeze (they have been chopped into sections) I give him one a couple of times a week, his teeth never get scale on them and since the dried food episode, no more scratching.  I must admit I also put some fresh garlic in with his food which is also good for their skin.  Good old kangaroo meat, raw, low in fat and the dogs love it.  Go to your butcher and check out what they've got, ask what's in it.  It's better a pay a bit more, your dog will require less and mix it with vegetables, rice, cereal whatever....it's not only better for your pet, but also much cheaper.