Pet Food For The Discerning Pet Owner

You care about your pet, but how do you choose what kind of pet food to buy? Unfortunately, it is not always easy to discern. The most popular or recognizable brand may be the one most widely advertised but not comprised of superior ingredients. This is because companies spend millions annually to sell their product. One of the best indicators of quality is price. The cheaper brand is the surest sign of inferior quality.

The best adult dog food is comprised of 22-25% protein and 15-19% fat, with the protein coming from a high quality source. Large breed dogs and dogs who are active will need different protein and fat requirements, as will puppies. Be sure to consult with your vet to ensure that you are feeding your dog properly.

In order to make the best choice, you need to know what the most desirable ingredients are. On a pet food label, you are looking for these types of ingredients: Human Grade Ingredients, chicken, turkey or fish meal, lamb meal, rice, potatoes, sunflower oil, and vegetables. In quality dog food, the first four ingredients should never be grains. Meat and proteins are the desirable first ingredients. These are the main ingredients in pedigree dog food and Flint River Ranch dog food.

You also want to make sure it says chicken meal and not chicken as the primary ingredient. If it says chicken only, this means that the manufacturers are counting the entire chicken toward protein value. This includes beaks, feathers, and feet. With chicken meal, they are only counting the cooked down version of the protein. This will ensure that your dog is getting the appropriate kind of protein and not byproducts. Vitamins and fatty acids are also good ingredients in dog foods.

There are ingredients that you should make sure are not present in your dog food. Wheat, corn, soy, gluten as well as chicken by-products are all types of inferior proteins. They are difficult for your pet to digest properly and they can cause long term health problems if they are used for a long period of time. You should also stay away from sugar if it is present in the food.

While it is imperative that you always adhere to your veterinarian's food suggestions, you should know that the fact is most veterinary schools do not teach veterinarians about nutrition. It is understandable that you would expect your vet to know your dog's nutritional needs, but you should nonetheless be prepared to discuss this with your vet in some detail, as the majority of information vets get about nutrition comes from the commercial pet food manufacturers themselves. Now it is true that diets which are occasionally prescribed specifically for dogs with certain health-related issues or of a certain age can be quite costly and these prescriptions may (or may not) be properly formulated nutritionally for the needs of such dogs, so pet owners will often change to a commercial food, whether to suit the dog's palate or their own wallets. However, this can cause the pet's health to suffer. Therefore, what is best for your particular dog should be left up to your veterinarian and their staff.