Pet Food - What's in That Stuff Anyway?

Because we love our pets we are always trying to do what is the best for them much like we would do for our own children or ourselves. Let's face our pets are our family members.

But when it comes to choosing the best food for our pets the choices can get pretty confusing. There is premium pet food, natural pet food, holistic pet food and raw diet pet foods. Then of course we have all the namebrand commercial pet foods, all lying for our attention and screaming that their product is the best you can buy for your animal.

The quality of the food an animal consumes is extremely important. A truly healthy diet will help fend off many chronic diseases in animals acquire through their lifetime. But finding the right food for your pet's diet can be a daunting task.

First of all we have to learn to decipher the labels.

When it comes to our own diets were often told to constantly read the labels to avoid saturated fats, foods that are high in cholesterol and high in sodium. And most of us do read labels in an effort to eat healthier.

Unfortunately the way the labeling is used in the pet food industry can be more than a little misleading.

For your pet one of the main ingredients that you always want to check is the amount of protein in the food. Now this sounds simple enough just look at the amount of protein listed on the label and decide if that amount is good for your pet or not right?

Unfortunately no, there are two other factors that must be considered one is the biological value of that protein and a digestible value of the protein. But manufacturers are only required to list the amount of " crude protein "and not in its digestive and biological percentages.

Then there is the old standby, "meat byproducts."

What the heck are meat byproducts anyway? Unfortunately this term can refer to anything from bird feathers to other animals that have been ground up and added to the feed.

Some companies be clever and use the term "meal" instead of meat byproducts. I am sure you have seen labels that list lamb meal, chicken meal or some other type of meal, essentially this all means the same junk filler.

Some of the most expensive commercial pet feeds contain products or byproducts that were deemed unfit for human consumption. Things like moldy or rancid grains, discarded brewers yeast and rice and animal fats which have been deemed unsafe for humans.

So when considering food for your pet ask yourself a simple question, what I eat it? If the answer to that question is no then it's likely that your pet should not be consuming it either.

The ideal diet for any pet is much the same as it is for any human, natural foods along with a quality vitamin and mineral supplements.

Je Dunn has been in the newspaper business for 25 years and has been an online writer since 2001. Some of je's latest projects include Pet Life Preservers and Dog Life Vest thinking safety for your pets.