Just like our health, we want to prioritise our dogs as well.
In recent years pet owners have become more aware of a lot of the unhealthy ingredients that is put into our pet’s food to make it cheaper and last longer for the companies that produce them.
These chemicals and preservatives can cause harm to our dog/s after consuming the food for a length of time.
This can be seen through the skin, joints, behaviour, deficiencies and more.
A lot of the food added you will see on the labels that they are derivatives of certain meat and/or vegetables. Now, you can think great it has that meat in, but usually these are parts that are not usually consumed by us and/or lots of parts of that animal like bones, feet etc so it has a percentage of that animal/vegetable in, so it legally has a percentage of meat in. it could also say meat derivative which can be different parts of different animals. So if your dog has a sensitive stomach to certain meats, I would consider another brand that is clearer with their ingredients.
A lot of the times these do not add quality nutrients that the pet needs to fulfil their nutritional needs and so over time this can cause deficiencies.
Also the food is cooked at very high temperatures and rendered so that bacteria can be killed. However, this can also cause nutrients to be taken out during the process due to the temperature. Some will be added when the food is at a cooler temp, but usually this still doesn’t give the best quality or nutritional value needed for their skin, bones, joints etc.
A lot of foods that are quality made are not the colourful and vibrant colours you can see in some pet food companies that you might find in supermarkets. This is due to natural colouring that also provide nutrients. These natural foods can be beets for instance and are better quality for your pet.
So what can we look out for to give our dogs the highest quality food?
Well first you could always consider making your own homemade food. You could use organic meat, wholefoods such as brown rice or oatmeal and vegetables such as beets, peas, carrots etc. Make sure you change up the ingredients often so that your pet gets a wide range of goodness and nutrients from the food. There are a lot of vet approved recipes you can find online.
You can also read labels. Now first off if you are reading through a label and find a lot of words that you can barely pronounce, you can pretty much guarantee that these are full of preservatives and chemicals you’re trying to avoid. Again, if it says derivatives of a certain ingredient this again means it’s not the highest quality you could find.
If you see fresh written on the label then you’re on your way to a winner. This goes for meat and vegetables.
Now with better quality foods, it usually comes with a higher price tag. We all are aware of the ongoing price rises and so it’s understandable that we can’t always afford the higher priced food.
So, what can we do to help that?
