Jealous but Patient

This is an excellent illustration of why the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is famous for having the best personality! How many dogs do you know that would sit patiently while a lowly cat eats their dog food?! A cavalier should never be aggressive, even in the face of such glaring insults! Perhaps Toby just recognizes that their roles are usually reversed: it is usually Toby sneaking bites of Gamera's cat food.

Speaking of pet food, our little menagerie happens to have a host of dietary restrictions. For example, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is notoriously prone to being overweight or obese, so to keep Toby's weight in check he needs a very high quality food. Gamera, being officially labeled "obese" by the vet and a victim of frequent urinary tract infections, needs a grain free food and lots of water. Sedgwick is sensitive to many kinds of food and will vomit if she is fed something that doesn't agree with her stomach. All three are fairly finicky eaters, too, so their food has to taste good. And of course we don't want to go broke feeding the animals.

With this whole list of requirements it has been quite an ordeal to find the perfect foods for each of them. Ideally, Gamera and Sedgwick should be able to eat the same kind of food, otherwise they steal each other's food and the whole point of their special diet is lost. Finally, after extensive searching and research, I have found a brand that they ALL like and that meets ALL their requirements: Taste of the Wild. Dogfoodanalysis.com rates Taste of the Wild dog food 6 stars - the highest possible rating. It is grain free, contains no meat byproducts, and has only fruits and vegetables that are appropriate and digestible (some of the healthy or tasty sounding ingredients in other foods actually don't serve any purpose because the animal can't digest them!). Most importantly, all the animals love it! Finally, it is cheaper than pretty much any premium dog or cat food I have found, especially ones advertised as grain free and containing premium meats.

The only downside is that Taste of the Wild is hard to find in stores unless you happen to live by a gourmet pet food boutique (which we do, but even that store doesn't carry Taste of the Wild). The solution I have found is to order from Amazon. It's actually a lot more convenient because the UPS guy carries the 50 pounds of food directly to my door, though I'm sure Toby would rather make a trip to a pet store and sample some gourmet dog treats. However, ordering this food online doesn't mean Toby has to go without treats. In fact, the first time I ordered Taste of the Wild online it arrived with a free sample of some star-shaped minty dog treat that was supposed to freshen Toby's bad dog breath. I'm not sure it worked at that (hey, let's not expect miracles!) but he enjoyed it. Since then there have always been free sample bags of cat treats included in our order, which Gamera and Sedgwick appreciate.

There are a few different flavors of dog food, but so far Toby has most enjoyed the Taste of the Wild High Prairie Canine Formula with Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison.

As for the cats, there is only one flavor available, but they both really like it: Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain Feline Formula with Roasted Venison and Smoked Salmon.

Give it a try if your pet has dietary restrictions or is just plain picky when it comes to food.