SW Corner of Parker Rd & Cottonwood Dr
Pet Supplies, Aquatics & Reptiles
17930 Cottonwood Dr, Parker, CO 80134
Grooming, Self-Wash & Photography
SPA Entrance 3 doors South of retail store
SPA: Mon-Sat 9-6, Sun 10-5 303-805-5491
While everyone has a story of someone's dog or cat that lived to 15 or 20 eating the cheapest foods, every pet is an individual (but we don't need to tell you that!)
Some pets have sensitive digestive systems, allergies, health conditions, or special needs. What is perfect for my dog may not be for your dog. Helping you find a good quality food your pet will thrive (not just survive) on, that also fits your budget and lifestyle is our goal. Cats are obligate carnivores and have less tolerance for low quality commercial foods.
Sometimes an extra few dollars per month invested in better nutrition can save hundreds at the vet clinic, add precious time to your friend's life, as well as provide peace of mind that you are doing everything for them, as they would for you.
M.Facklam
Remember, you are what you eat, and your pets are what you feed them. Give them the best start to living a long and healthy life!
Our Pet Food Philosophy
Step one:
Every food in our store is 100% guaranteed, so you can try several brands and formulas risk free. The companies we represent stand by the quality of their food and believe in customer satisfaction.
Our six rules for dog & cat food:
No Corn
No Wheat
No Soy
No Preservatives
No "Mystery meat"
No By-Products
No corn - because of it's high gluten content and the risk of aflotoxin. It is also a very common allergen in dogs and cats (ferrets too!).
No wheat - also a high gluten grain, and a common allergen. We do have wheat and grain free biscuits and treats, along with more traditional baked goodies that contain wheat (since it shouldn't be their primary diet, this is fine for most dogs if they do not have a specific sensitivity)
No soy - another very common allergen for pets. Soy has high protien, but dogs lack the right mix of enzymes to use soy (or any grain or carbohydrate) protien efficiently. They have evolved as carnivores, but are wonderfully adaptive. Cats need even more genuine meat protien, and are less adapted to processing grains.
No preservatives - food should be protected with natural tocipherols (vit E and C). This makes for a shorter shelf life, but many chemical preservatives used in pet foods are harmful to their long term health.
No "mystery meat" - Any meat ingredient not specifically identified by species is NOT a quality or well-controlled ingredient. Example is "meat and bone meal" (very bad) vs. "lamb meal" (good).
No By-Products - Unspecified animal parts, such as "chicken byproduct digest", processed fractions like "glutens", "rice protien concentrate", "flours", "starches" etc. These types of ingredients are often bought 2nd or 3rd source, with little quality control information for their manufacture or safety (this was the source of the food recall a few years ago). Some of these types of ingredients are hard to avoid in commercial foods - so we like to see them farther down on the panel and really understand what they are and where they come from.
Your best tool as a pet owner is learning to read ingredient panels - if the first few ingredients are corn, corn gluten, soy...and the only meat reference is by-products, digest, or "meat & bone meal", that is the indication of a poor quality food (even if it comes a in a pretty bag and the company runs lots of TV commercials!). Companies can add as much fiber and vitamins as they like to poor quality food, but that will not improve it's basic content.
Step two:
Use what works. We will order and carry a few foods with some of the above, and a little wheat flour in dog biscuit is not a bad thing. What we strive to avoid is providing all or most of your pet's nutrition from cheap grains, remnant fillers, and uncontrolled "salvage" ingredients.
Many of our dog and cat foods do contain grain or other carbohydrates (it is a large cost factor in food), but true premium brands have FAR greater percentages of real meat content, and use whole grains/ingredients rather than fractions.
We talk with company representatives often, and if we don't feel there is a good and open relationship for information on the process, ingredients, and quality, we don't carry the food.
