You’ve heard me talk about feeding quality dog food before. I always tell people to get the best dog food they can afford. So, what do I mean by that? I did some research on pet foods a while back and learned a lot about what’s in your pet’s food. It’s not what you think it is and it’s not what the pictures on the bag suggest it is either.

I did this searching because Munchkin has a sensitive stomach. She would get sick to her stomach several times a week even though she was healthy and didn’t have any health problems. At the time I was feeding her a cheap food because I thought that was what I could afford. This was before I got Mac. I started getting her a better food and she seemed to like it. Then I got Mac and he seemed to like it too. But I noticed their coats were getting dull and dry. That’s when I really started checking out the different foods.

So, how do you know what is in your pet’s food? That’s simple. Read the ingredients. Bet you never did that before. Most people go by the name brand and the pictures on the bag. The pictures and the name make you think it’s really good food when it may be anything but good food. Of all the different kinds of food, the ingredients are pretty much the same for most of them. We’re just going to learn about dry food today.

Now, let’s start with the first few ingredients. This is what makes up most of the food and should be where the protein source is listed. What are the first few ingredients in your bag of food? Most of the cheaper made foods start with ground yellow corn or corn meal. It’s basically filler and isn’t digested well. It makes you have to clean up a lot more, sometimes from both ends. It also causes dull dry coats.  If your pet food lists more than one grain or starts with a grain like ground corn or soy meal or gluten, it has cheap vegetable protein in it. Not good for dogs and cats considering they eat meat. Contaminated wheat gluten was also the ingredient that caused the huge pet food recall last year.

A good quality food should start with a meat protein. Lamb meal, chicken meal, and beef meal are all good sources of protein. It is meat with the water removed, dried and ground up. If it says “meat meal”, watch out. It may not be the kind of meat you think. The ingredients should list a specific kind of meat. The same goes for “by-products.” Meat by-products are not the same as chicken or lamb by-products.

You should find some vegetables and fat in the food too. An animal fat is okay for pets because it has fatty acids that are readily used by the body. It should also list vitamins and minerals. The food may have preservative but there shouldn’t be very many in there. The fewer, the better.

Some foods have dyes so the bits are different colors. I think the manufacturers do that for the people, not the animals. It may make the food look better but, I don’t think it is needed and may be harmful.

There’s another list on the bag too. It is the crude protein and crude fat list. You need a crude protein of at least 21%. I’m not sure how much fat you need though.

Watch out for flavored foods too. You know the ones that say beef flavor or chicken flavor. They may not have beef or chicken in them. Also lookout for the foods that say “and beef” or “and chicken.” There may be a lot of things in there before you get to the beef or chicken.

Now, is this going to cost more money? That depends. If you’re feeding the cheapest cheap food you can get, then yes, it’s going to cost more. If you’re feeding a brand name food, it may not cost more. You see, with better quality food, you feed less so the food lasts longer. The food I was using said to feed Mac 6 1/2 to 7 cups of food each day. That’s a lot of food. The food I buy now says to feed him 3 ½ to 4 cups of food a day. So, it costs more per bag but lasts a whole month instead of 2 ½ weeks. Buying 2 bags of cheaper food cost me as much as 1 bag of quality food. And I have less to clean up too.

Don’t be fooled by the pictures on the bag or the images in the commercials. Don’t be fooled by the name either. These companies really want your money and they are using your pet to get it. The companies that make really expensive foods want your money too. Reading the ingredients will tell you if their food is worth the extra money. It will also help you choose the best food you can afford. Not the most expensive or prettiest food, but a good food that fits your budget and is good for your best friend.

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