Aside from what they can steal off the table and any wild animals they might happen to catch and consume, your pet’s nutrition is your total responsibility. You determine both the quality and the quantity of what they are fed.
Depending on who you ask, dogs are either carnivores or omnivores. Ultimately this just means that dogs have a bit more flexibility in their diet in that they’ll eat non-meat food. That being said, most dogs do best on a meat-based diet.
The #1 Thing you can do for your Pet’s Health: Learn To Read a Pet Food Label
The Trouble with Kibble
What do we mean by “kibble”? It’s those hard, dry pellets that come in bags and boxes that people purchase to feed their pets. It’s so common that when many people think of “pet food,” kibble is what immediately comes to mind. But this wasn’t always the case…
Only 100 or so years ago most dogs were being fed table scraps. House and barn cats caught mice, birds, and other small animals and were given saucers of milk to drink. As more people moved from the country to the city, however, the demand for convenient pet foods increased. People were eating canned foods themselves and thus the natural evolution was canned foods for pets.
But during WWII this became a problem when metal was being rationed and cans were no longer available for pet food. This was the advent of dry food for pets. Then in the 1950s, the Ralston Purina company (now Purina) innovated a new process for creating dry pet food called “extrusion.” Extrusion is when ingredients are mixed together to create a soft, dough-like substance that is heated and extruded (pushed) through a small hole. The dough expands and cools and becomes a uniform piece of pet food known as kibble. The same basic process for creating kibble pioneered by Purina is still used today.
Along with the rise of pet food manufacturing, an organization called the Pet Food Institute was formed in the 1960s. The Institute started a campaign warning pet owners that feeding table scraps was dangerous. Instead, pet owners should only feed “complete” foods. In other words, they should only feed processed pet foods that they purchased.
Learn To Read a PET FOOD Label
While attractive packaging and seals of approval on the front of a bag or can of pet food are what attract most people, the real information you need is found on the back… on the nutrition label. As a savvy pet parent, you also need to be aware of what’s NOT listed on the label. But let’s start with the label itself. If you pick up any bag or can of pet food, you should see two key things:
An ingredient list is required to display all ingredients in decreasing amounts (by weight) used in the product. The biggest contributors are first on the list and the smallest are last. While you’re reading the ingredients list, pay most attention to the first 10 ingredients. These are the major ingredients that make up the bulk of the food. The very first ingredient you want to see is a specific named source of meat (beef, lamb, chicken, etc.).
Ø Do you see mostly real food names that you recognize? (i.e. pork, pumpkin, rice, barley).
Ø Are corn, wheat, soy, white potato, powdered cellulose, or their byproducts listed in the first few ingredients? These are common allergens. Grains such as oats, barley, quinoa, and millet are much better options.
Ø Does the food contain fresh sources of fruits and vegetables? Bonus points if they’re organic.
Ø Are there a lot of chemical names listed? BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, Glycerol Monostearate, and Propylene Glycol are chemical preservatives that are toxic to pets, but are often added to pet foods.
Ø Be aware of vegetables and grains being used as a source of protein. The majority of the protein in the food should come from real meat sources, not peas, soy, corn, gluten, or grains.
Ø Avoid foods that use byproducts such as “chicken byproduct meal,” or “beef byproduct meal.”
Ø If you can, it’s best to stay away from protein “meals” in general. If you’re purchasing a product that contains “meal,” it’s better for it to specify the animal (i.e. “lamb meal”) than for the more generic “meat meal” or “poultry meal.”
Ø Stay away from foods with MSG, artificial colors, and added sugars such as high fructose corn syrup. These ingredients aren’t healthy for your precious pet… or you.
For the most part, dogs do not need to eat carbohydrates…excessive dietary carbohydrates can lead to obesity, a variety of inflammatory conditions and a shortened life span. – Dr. Gary Richter, DVM
The guaranteed analysis section of the label lists by percentage the breakdown of the food. You’ll almost always see a percentage for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture. Other things will also often be listed such as ash and different nutrients. What you usually won’t find in the guaranteed analysis is the percentage of carbohydrates.
This is a critical number that you can roughly gauge by subtracting the percentages of protein, fat, moisture, crude fiber (an indigestible part of carbohydrates), and ash listed on the label from 100. The number you have left over will be a rough estimate of the percentage of carbs the food contains.
Why does knowing the percentage of carbs in your cat or dog’s food matter? Because in the wild, dogs and cats naturally consume very few carbohydrates. Feeding them high-carb foods is a surefire recipe for chronic health problems to develop.