12/06/2021
THE TRAITS OF A GOOD PET FOOD
Since it would be difficult to personally visit each and every manufacturing plant of dog food, here is a list of some specific traits that you should look for in a particular brand or product. Remember that these are just some basic guidelines and you can add other traits that you think are needed to feed your pet.
It should have a named meat source as its first ingredient – This is definitely one of the most important things to look for when buying dog food since dogs are mostly carnivorous, meaning, your dog requires a lot more meat than anything else. A pet food product that identifies the source of meat or meat meal as the leading ingredient means that it contains a high quality protein source for its product.
Brands that only state “meat, meat and bone meal, or meat meal” as its first ingredient can only mean that the quality of the meat can be questionable. This is due to the fact that even animals that are road kill or those that have died of diseases can actually be included as a meat source in pet food. This is definitely not one of those things that a pet owner should be looking for. Meat and bone meal as well is defined by the AAFCO as rendered products from mammals that include manure, blood, hooves, and horns.
But “beef” or “chicken” meat includes the higher quality muscle meats as well as various organ meats exclusive of entrails, heads, or feathers which denotes a higher and even safer source of protein.
It must contain a higher quality source of carbohydrates – There are some people who are opposed to providing carbohydrates in their pet’s diet but if you are going to look at wild dogs, you will see that they do eat grass, vegetables, and even the undigested plant food in the stomachs of their prey. Aside from that, plant food also supplies micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes to your pet’s body.
If a dog food product should contain carbohydrates though, it should come from high quality sources such as rice, barley, and potatoes. A lot of manufacturers opt for the cheaper sources such as corn, wheat, and soy in order to boost profits when dogs cannot actually assimilate these types of grains. A lot of the times, those which are used for dog food manufacturing are those which have been treated with GMO or had been rejected or refused for human consumption. Grains should also never be the first ingredient in the product.
It should contain just the right amount of fat for your dog – Now regarding this component, it can be quite difficult to determine just how much fat is suitable for your dog without the help of a veterinarian. More active dogs will require fat higher than the recommended 18% while sedentary one will need something lower.
Fat is necessary for the metabolism of fat-soluble vitamins as well as in your dog’s hydration. If you can see a named fat source in the ingredient’s list then that will be better as well with an indicated natural preservative for the fat such as Vitamin A or E.
As much as possible, the ingredients should come from local sources – This helps to ensure that they are fresh when they prepared although the processing of these ingredients can definitely affect nutrient content of the finished product. But what is good about it though, is that you get a higher quality dog food compared to that which has its ingredients come in frozen form or other preserved form.
Aside from that, it also helps to make sure that the standards of quality and safety inspections are quite well-known especially compared to those that are manufactured in other countries where the government does not have direct access to actual manufacturing standards.
Look for a company with good manufacturing principles – This trait means that the company or brand that you must select is one that really focuses on dog’s nutritional needs and not one that is profit-driven only.
There are a lot of dog food manufacturers whose founders have been dog lovers themselves or are veterinarians who aimed at providing high quality pet foods in the past but have somehow lost that goal after being purchased by a larger more “commercially” mind corporation.This is something that you should look out for. This step requires you to do some background research on the companies that you are contemplating to buy products from.
Find out about recalls of their products as well as the related issues that have been attached to them such as poor quality or inspection practices in the plant.
There are still a lot of traits that one can look for in a pet food company but these are some of the most important things to look out for. You can include the overall resources of the company such as funding for research, quality of plant equipment, as well as capacity to purchase high quality ingredients from the market.
Anna Smith wrote this in dogsaholic.com
Dog training articles and tutorials by dog behavior specialists and certified veterinarians. Puppy training, dog care, common diseases.
