Top Ten Rules for Choosing the Safest and Best Pet Foods
by Scared Poopless author Jan Rasmussen and Holistic Vet Dr. Jean Hofve
1. Read the label! Call the manufacturer’s toll-free number if you have any questions.
2. Canned foods are still better for your pet than dry kibble.
3. Expect the first ingredient to be one or more named meats (like lamb or chicken).
4. Accept no by-products (including meat-and-bone-meal and beef-and-bone-meal).
5. Accept no “animal” products, such as “animal digest.”
6. Reject all corn products and gluten meals.
7. Reject chemical preservatives (BHA, BHT, propyl gallate, ethoxyquin, propylene glycol).
8. Select “natural” or “human grade” foods. While these terms have no legal definition, they are generally seen on better-quality foods.
9. Avoid “light” or “senior” or “special needs” or “breed-specific” foods. These variations on regular pet food are mostly marketing gimmicks, with little or no real benefit to your pet.
10. Feed several brands and flavors with different protein sources your dog or cat tolerates well, and rotate frequently.
So if corn is bad for some dogs..which I think mine have problems with it..what ae the best brands to buy..and still be able to pay my bills, if you know what I mean.
Hi, Terri,
That’s a great question and lots of people ask it, if not on this blog, then in my real life.
If you are already a Science Diet or Iams person, there are many holistic, non-corn pet foods that are about the same price.
If you are buying pet food at Costco or Walmart or the Grocery store, then yes, it’s going to cost you a little bit more.
Think of the offset in the savings on the vet bills.
By the way, I just received a letter from someone about a dog with a possible allergy to corn or wheat… have to tell it to you here…
The “LA” in here is a reference to Life’s Abundance Health Food for Pets and the person who sent this to me is a rep… I am a rep, too, but since this is just a general holistic pet food advice site I don’t promote my own website, here. This gal’s website is:
http://www.holisticpetmenu.com
“I stopped by the feed store that was so eager on signing up with LA. I sold a small bag of dog food to the gal. Their Corgi has allergies, biting his feet, scratching, loosing hair. I told her it was more than likely a food allergy to wheat or corn. Sure enough it was. Alita said her husband’s Corgi is doing so well that the vet even wanted to know what they did for him… I have a letter, info and a video going out to Alita’s vet about the LA.”
Terri, on that website is a comparison tool with about 12 or more top brands on it. You might want to look at it to get a feel for ingredients and pricing on some of the traditional brands as well as the holistic brands.
Bless you!
Teresa
Wait a minute…I thought canned food wasn’t as good for animals as dry food??? It supposedly doesn’t have as much vitamins and nutrients as dry food. I’ve always been told by my vets, and have also read, that you should only use canned food as a “treat”, every once in a while, maybe 2 – 3 times per week with their regular dry food, and only a small amount at a time.
Hmmmm? Could you please explain why you believe the opposite and where you received your findings?
Thank you
Hello,
Im a veterinary technician, and ive taken nutrition courses at school and attended confrences etc. So i would have to say i have a pretty accurate knowledge of animal nutrition.
I would like to point out that some of your information is false. First of all these pet food labeled “senior” and others labeled for special needs actually designed to meet the specific needs of that particular case. Seniour animals definatly should be on seniour diets for many reasons, just like puppys should be on puppy food, and obese animals on weight control. Now i wouldnt say that every brand is trustworthy with this because some grocery store brands
just outright lie. But a high quality vet diet is garanteed to be tested and designed to meet specific needs. Also the breed specific diets sold in vet clinics are truly designed to take into account breed differences, preferences and needs. So if thats something that is important to you than its certainly not a waste of money.
Also the only benifit to canned foods it that it increases fluid consumption which is important for cats or animals prone to urinary crystals. Cans should have the same nutrient content but the label will tell you percentages on a dry matter basis. So you will have to consider that the nutrients will be diluted with the moisture. This will give you an actual percentage that is lower than the label states.
Also canned food is terrible for oral health.
And you also mentioned about switching foods frequently. This is not a good idea as it will cause extreme digestive upsets. If you are going to do this, you will need to do it very gradually. You can give a small amount of plain yogurt to give intestinal flora a boost. There are also pro biotic powders available for such cases.
I do agree with most of the other things on your list, but i think it is important to know that pet food lables will not tell you the whole truth about what is in the product, and they are required by law only to put the min percentages. Therefore a dog food could be labeled to contain a min of 23% protein, but the actual value is 45%. This can be very detrimental to animal health. Its always best to stay with high quality vet foods that you can trust!!!
Thank you for the 10 rules. Here it is not so easy to choose the a good food. Some pet stores only offer small amounts of different foods available. I had to look a lot for finding really good food for my dog. If you compare the prices on the different shops, you can also end up with a nice discount if you switch your favorite pet store.
Wow thanks for the ideas! I had no idea that there was so much available for holistic pet foods!