At Shine Pet Food: In both our cat and dog recipes, we use natural, pasture-raised rabbit. For cats and dogs with food allergies, this is a great alternative meat and easy to digest.
The Benefits: Rabbit has a lot going for it. Rich in quality proteins (around 21g per 100g), it has a higher protein-to-fat ratio than any other meat; at the same time, it’s lower in calories and sodium than most. And with moderate overall fat, it has an excellent balance of fatty acids—richer in omega-3s than chicken or pork.
Rabbit is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. It’s high in vitamin B12, which plays a critical role in the function of the central nervous system and metabolism, as well as the formation of red blood cells. Rabbit meat also has a lot of vitamin B3 (niacin), a nutrient critical to healthy skin and good circulation. Selenium is abundant, too. That’s a mineral used to make antioxidants and has been found to reduce the chances of getting certain types of cancer in dogs.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine: Rabbit is considered an energetically cooling protein. For yin-deficient pets that tend to pant, pace, drink a lot, and sometimes appear a bit agitated, cooling foods bring down the yang (or heat) and increase the body’s fluids, helping the dog or cat get back to a balanced state.
