Anna's Blog

As the renowned playwright, George Bernard Shaw, famously once said: “There is no love sincerer than the love of food”! Across the globe food represents caregiving for others, and that includes our dogs! We have a duty of care as ‘pet parents’ to keep our dogs in optimum health. 

If ‘medicine is your food’, then diet contributes hugely to the health and longevity of our pets, but what about the treats?

Treating our dogs is of course an act of love whether that’s simply for being a ‘good boy’ or as part of a positive reinforcement training and as enriching your dog’s daily routine.  

Naturaw is a registered B Corp and is proud to offer the same award-winning quality in their treats as they do in their nutrient dense recipes.

When not all raw dog food is created equal! Food companies like Naturaw are founded  on deep nutritional knowledge, ethical sourcing and total transparency. Others can rely on white-label manufacturing, anonymous meat supply chains and clever marketing. For pet parents, it’s becoming harder to tell the difference. Naturaw understands that the quality and provenance of the main ingredient – meat - really matters! By supporting British farmers, Naturaw sources their meat only with the highest welfare standards.  Allowing total transparency with its quality and strong local supply chains. Making everything at their Yorkshire based HQ, allows full control over their chef standard recipes, hygiene, handling and nutritional integrity. Unlike other brands, Naturaw doesn’t rely heavily on ‘cheap’ cuts like tripe or heart in its recipes and does not use any lung at all!

Despite the best intentions, around 80% of us abandon our New Year’s resolutions by the second Friday in January—infamously dubbed Quitters’ Day.

Eat better! Lose weight! Be mindful. Be kind! Walk the dog more!
Humans are brilliant at setting goals and even better at giving them up.

Dogs, on the other paw, don’t do New Year’s resolutions at all.

They rely on us to make decisions for them. From what they eat, whether they wear a collar or harness, when they walk, and where they sleep. Yet somehow, they seem to get so many things right.

So, what if, this year, we turned the tables? And we let our dogs inspire our New Year’s resolutions?

Winter is to my mind is the most challenging season for dogs and their owners.  The combination of less daylight hours, seasonally cold, damp weather, gritted pavements, mud all limit outdoor walking, especially for our seniors.

It’s a sobering reality that studies suggest that 80% of dogs eight years and older suffer from Osteoarthritis, or simply put inflammation of the joints, but as dogs are masters at disguising pain, sometimes it’s hard to notice that your older dog is struggling.

Supporting your senior dog through winter means making small, but thoughtful lifestyle adjustments. If movement is medicine, adapt your walks and focus on gentle, but regular exercise.

I recommend adding Omega-3 essential fatty acids, which help to regulate metabolic function, promotes alert cognition through the gut / brain axis, and helps to put a spring in your older dog’s step. 

My chosen source of Omega-3 is Green Lipped Mussel, which I’ve been giving to my fur-family for over 15 years.

I first learned about the incredible nutritional benefits of Green Lipped Mussel at the College of Integrated Veterinary Therapies. This unique shellfish from New Zealand provides a powerhouse of broad-spectrum Omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for health.

In a world where wellness has become a lifestyle, it’s time we extend that same philosophy to our dogs. We talk about balance, gut health, fresh ingredients, and real food for ourselves, so why would we feed our four-legged companions on anything less? 

I choose the brand for my dogs and the brand I feed my cat. They’re selected as being in my opinion the best I can offer my fur-family. Independence technically means freedom from pet food company funding, commission-driven endorsements, and formulaic advice.

Independence also means the ability to discuss processing techniques and the nutrients present or not as the case maybe, putting integrity and your dog’s health, at the heart of every recommendation.

Pumpkins are an ancient symbol of Halloween! But this vibrant orange squash is also nutritional powerhouse, it’s a seasonal superfood that can help support your dog’s digestion, boost immunity, whilst keeping their skin and coats healthy and hydrated. Packed with almost every mineral and vitamin, pumpkins are packed with fibre, which helps feed trillions of bacteria in the microbiome. Available in de-hydrated options so you can feed your dog the natural health benefits  of pumpkin all year round. 

There’s a special kind of magic in autumn walks. The trees blaze in shades of copper, amber and crimson, and the ground becomes a crunchy carpet of leaves. 

Dogs, especially Prudence my 10 -year -old mini bull terrier, delight in charging through drifts of gold, scattering them with every leap. For me, these walks are as much about soaking up the season as they are about watching her pure joy.

As beautiful as Autumn can be there's an increased risk of Alabama Rot, cut paws from sharp stones, glass, hidden amongst piles of fallen leaves. Mushrooms and funghi sprout , whilst many mushrooms can be highly toxic if ingested, there  are many considered as functional and used in  preventative natural healthcare . Why not teach your dog to scent out British Truffles?  Its a funghi residing beneath the soil that a dog's nose can easily sniff out! 

When we think about keeping our pets healthy and full of life, diet is usually the first thing that comes to mind. ‘You are what you eat and so is your pet’, but ever wondered if the energy from Red light could work like a nutrient? Just as food fuels your pet’s body from the inside out, there’s a growing body of evidence showing that light, particularly red and near-infrared light, can also act as a form of cellular nourishment. This is the principle behind red light therapy, or Photobiomodulation (as defined by MeSH in 2015). It’s recognised as a safe, non-invasive way to support all animals’ energy, recovery, and overall wellbeing. Just like humans, every pet from dogs, cats, small furries, birds and even reptiles can make the most of their ATP in tiny cell structures called mitochondria, which are the “powerhouses” of every cell. The mitachondria takes nutrients from foods: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and converts them into ATP or cellular energy. However, the better the mitochondria work, the more energy and vitality your pet will have.

When I discuss the Body Burden , what it is and how overtime it can affect health  and longevity. Discussing how an integrative approach to health care ,using medications strategically ,combining natural resources, testing before you treat, and using diet as a medicine : you are what you eat and so is your dog! 

As temperatures soar, it’s essential to be mindful of how the heat affects dogs. Every dog is an individual, so be mindful, especially dogs with double coats, brachycephalic breeds (like Bulldogs or Pugs), and elderly or overweight dogs, who are particularly vulnerable. Dogs’ body temperature is two degrees hotter than a human’s naturally, and they cannot take off their fur coats! This makes them super susceptible to heat stroke.

Every Summer many dogs find themselves at the vets down to a grass seed.  But the cases seem to have risen since the introduction of the annual No Mow May campaign.

Of course, “No Mow May’, has the best intentions of supporting our insects, birds and small wildlife, but grass seeds are a hazard to dogs and in some cases inhaling or swallowing seeds can be fatal.

However, this thoughtful environmental campaign can come at a price for dog owners!

Having to fork out for expensive vet bills to remove grass seeds that have insidiously penetrated their dogs’ paws, noses, ear canals, eyes, even into their private parts!

Cats are just brilliant because they’re cats! Science confirms that they’re approximately ten thousand years less domesticated than dogs. This accounts for their independent personalities and sometimes uncanny psychic perception. 

Nothing beats building trust and respect with your cat than by tapping into their wild side through proactive play and enrichment, it helps build a relationship at an instinctual level. 

Natural born hunters, with four retractable claws by engaging their in-built prey drive builds wellness.  As does feeding them on a diet that will help them thrive.

Descended from their wild desert cat cousins, domesticated cats are predisposed to absorb water from their food, which is why I recommend a fresh wholefood diet comprising a lot of moisture packed meats.

In fact, the ancestral diet comprising 80 per cent muscle meat, 10 per cent offal and 10 per cent bone, known as the 80:10:10 formula mirrors a cat’s biological and physiological needs as an obligate carnivore.