Dandruff can also be an adverse reaction to a poor quality diet or even indicate a dietary deficiency of essential fatty acids.

Choosing a high quality natural diet and an excellent fatty acid supplement can help moisturize your pet’s skin and minimize flakiness.

Check out this article on dry scaly skin and ask your veterinarian about other natural remedies to help your pet.

Answer: Thanks for writing in. The reason your cat may not want to use the litterbox to urinate may be one of a few reasons. Many cats that experience painful defecation or constipation will shy away from the box for urination as well because they recall it as a “bad” or painful place. The Halo dry food can be an excellent choice for pets with constipation as it contains fiber-rich vegetables, prebiotics and probiotics to support intestinal health. See my article about natural remedies for constipation in cats, Natural Remedies for Constipation.

The other very common urinary ailment of cats is a condition called interstitial cystitis. This is a sterile inflammation of the bladder that causes pain and avoidance of the litter box. Increasing water intake (try fountain waterers, etc) and enriching their home environment (see www.indoorcat.org) can help with the condition dramatically. You should see your veterinarian to make sure he doesn’t have issues like stones or other bladder problems.

Good luck.
Dr. Donna Spector

Answers provided to pet owners by Dr. Donna Spector should be considered information and not specific advice. Answers are to be used for general information purposes only and not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional advice from your veterinarian. Communications on this site are very limited and should never be used in possible cases of emergency. Halo, Purely for Pets will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any information or content contained in a blog or article post.

Even though we won for top dog treat – many of our reviews come from cat families, who know that felines can get ferociously addicted to Halo Liv-a-Littles!

As Bettina from Roy, Utah’s Buzzillions review states, “Five stars. Great for either cats or dogs. We purchased these treats for our two Pomeranian’s. It was very interesting to see our very aloof cat come running when we called “chicken” after he got a taste of the treat. It is always fun to see which one of our little ones will get to the kitchen first. ”

Susan D from Illinois explained, “We have three cats who absolutely love this product. It is the only treat our 13-year old diabetic boy can have since it doesn’t contain additives, preservatives or anything else that will raise his blood glucose. He doesn’t mind having his blood sugar tested, he knows his favorite treat will follow.”

That reflects my own experience at home, where our cat Sterling runs to the kitchen when our dog Bert gets his injections – so then they each enjoy a treat.

All Halo treats are made with the highest quality ingredients. Spot’s Stew Dry Dog Food is part of Halo’s Natural Dry Dog Food that is highly digestible, high in protein and quality ingredients, low in carbs and always created with your pet’s entire well-being in mind. Halo never uses chicken meal or other rendered meats.

“This recognition for our pet food is especially important to all of us at Halo because it comes straight from the consumer,” said Steve Marton, CEO of Halo. “Halo wins awards like this only because consumers are demanding great ingredients. Every Halo ingredient is a real, natural ingredient that consumers recognize and understand. Every meat we use can also be sent to make human food products. That’s what consumers are demanding, and that’s what Halo has delivered for over 20 years.”

Click over to our News page to see the Buzzillions reviews and our press release.

She begins her story by getting right to the heart of the matter, asking “Do you know what goes into your pet?”

Then they responding using the words from Halo’s own web site, saying:

“You are what you eat” is true for animals as well as for people. Read the ingredients. Can you identify them? Are there inferior by-products, “meals” or chemicals?

At Halo Pet Foods, they are purely focused on your pet’s well-being. Halo holistic natural dog food and natural cat food are made from real foods you can recognize. Safe, never recalled and NO chicken meal or other rendered meats. 100%Guaranteed.

Click over to our News page for the whole story.

Here’s a sneak peak.

“Halo products have the best ingredients for dogs and cats. Plain and simple, that’s what we strive to be known for,” explains Marton. “That’s why Ellen DeGeneres became a part owner of our company. That’s why she spreads the word.”

“As more consumers are reading ingredients labels –and understanding what the ingredients are—our sales improve. For example, consumers are just starting to understand ingredients like chicken meal, which is a rendered meat.”

Click over to our news page for the whole story.

We needed to help. Earlier this month, with the help of Freekibble.com, Halo donated almost 6,000 cans of Spot’s Stew to McKamey and two other shelters and rescues in Tennessee, which have been distributing the food to pet owners in need.

“We are absolutely thrilled to do it,” says Lisa Reeves of the Nashville Humane Association, which gives out their Halo Spot’s Stew every Sunday and Wednesday. “If we have (the food) and we can help someone, we will. We try not to turn anyone away.”

In addition to the food, all three organizations (the third is A New Leash on Life in Lebanon) received a variety of other Halo products, including Herbal Healing Salve and X-tra C, an instant vitamin C powder.

“It makes me feel great to know that this food is getting to people who really need help feeding their animals,” says Mimi Ausland, the 13-year-old founder of Freekibble.com. “I know that because of this, people will be able to keep their pets and feed them a really good food.”

The Nashville Humane Association first started distributing food in November, 2008, and since then have helped some 500 families keep their pets. “I think it’s hard for some of these people to come in,”
says Reeves. “You have families who never had to ask for help, and now they do.

“People have been in tears, they’ve said, ‘I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here,’” Reeves continues. “It’s sad, i think pride gets in the way of some people but they have to come in and do it.”

On November 5th, Freekibble.com had a Hi-5 promotion: for every trivia question someone answered about a dog or cat, 50 pieces of of kibble would be donated by Halo. That day, some 60,000 people played Freekibble.com, raising 5 million pieces of kibble, or the equivalent of 20,000 Meals of Halo. And the need to help these financially-strapped pet owners continues to grow.

At McKamey Animal Center, there has not been the usual post-holiday slowdown in animal surrenders, says Sebes, noting that the 26,000-square-foot shelter now has 288 dogs and puppies, 455 animals in all. McKamey has shared the donation with two local food banks to reach more pet parents in need. “They’re very grateful we have this a service to them,” says Sebes. “People come to us for help with their animals and it’s great we can provide for them.”

Answer: Sounds like you started the chicken near the end of December. I would recommend the chicken formula only for 3 weeks as some cats require a much longer transition period. Also make sure you are not feeding low quality treats or other things that may have synthetic additives, flavors and colorings. Treats filled with these ingredients can cause digestive disturbance and allergic-type reactions. You can try the Halo Liv-a-Littles or some of our other natural treats that cats love. If after three weeks, your cats are still having tummy troubles, ask your veterinarian about a high quality natural probiotic to get them on their way to feeling better.

Hope that helps.
Dr. Donna Spector

Answers provided to pet owners by Dr. Donna Spector should be considered information and not specific advice. Answers are to be used for general information purposes only and not as a substitute for in-person evaluation or specific professional advice from your veterinarian. Communications on this site are very limited and should never be used in possible cases of emergency. Halo, Purely for Pets will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any information or content contained in a blog or article post.

The majority of pet owners don’t even read the label and have no idea what they are giving their pets, according to the study, brought to our attention by Generation Natural Pet, a social media community launched by PETCO (Halo is a founding Council Member).

Frighteningly, most pet foods — unlike Halo, which uses only real meat, fish and eggs — have chicken meal. Sounds tasty, right?

Well, dear reader, chicken meal is legally unfit for human consumption and may contain waste products from restaurants, supermarkets, meat processing facilities and packinghouses. It is not the lean muscle that WE eat, but the stuff humans are forbidden by law to consume: the remaining bones, organs, beaks and other products that are rendered (obtained by melting down the animal’s remains) in a processing plant when made into meal.

“Chicken meal sounds like something wholesome that could be served in any household,” says Halo’s veterinarian, Dr. Donna Spector. “But don’t be fooled. Meat meals — such as chicken meal — are unfit for human consumption. In my mind, that means unfit for our beloved pets.”

Yet ignorance is bliss: despite confessing no knowledge of the ingredients on a bag or can of food, the majority of the 1,305 pet owners surveyed say they treat their animals as a member of the family, and wouldn’t want to feed their pets food containing allergens and prefer to feed their pets only natural pet food.

Halo never uses chicken meal or other rendered meats. Halo uses real chicken that can be sold to humans and meets FDA human safety standards. And while we don’t advocate opening up a can of Spot’s Stewto share with your pooch, many of us have.

Please remember, while these products are wonderful, they are not the same as what you can buy at the store. You’ll find earlier formulas, old labels, or short-dating. Short-dating means that the product will reach its “Best if Used By” date within 1-2 months of purchase.

Then, upon closer inspection, his eyes widened. “Why, Gordi, you do look fabulous! Between the Halo and the exercise routines you’ve transformed. You’re absolutely brilliant.”

I filled him in on the details of the meal and exercise plan I have been on the last several weeks…