Reading The Label - What They Really Tell You

I think it is apparent that we all want to feed our pets the best food and many of the large pet food manufacturers have done a great job making us feel they care about our pets. They have even created "premium" brands of food that are incredibly expensive so we as pet owners assume they must be good.

Wrong!

After all of the pet food recalls in the last few years most consumers have learned that it is difficult to find a healthy dog food for their dog. We want to help you become label-conscious and make the right choices for your pet.

Things you don't want to see in your pet food:

• Meat/Poultry by-products, by-product meal
• Wheat/corn gluten
• Grain by-products
• Processed grains like wheat flour
• Fillers like beet pulp
• Artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners

Ingredients listed on the label start with the main ingredient and work their way down. You want the first ingredient to be the meat – not meat by-product or meat meal. By-product is the leftover from the slaughterhouse like lungs, beaks and intestines. A healthy dog food will not have by-products; instead look for human grade ingredients.

Like meat you need to be wary of grains, if you see multiple grain ingredients listed when you add them up they actually make up the majority of the food and you want your pet food to have the main ingredient as meat.

Fats are great for your pet so if you see flax seed or sesame/sunflower seed these are good things.

If you choose an organic dog food understand that many are not completely organic so you need to read the labels carefully. And again don’t let price be the judge. Small companies who do not spend a tremendous amount of money on expensive advertising make many healthy dog foods. These relatively unknown brands can be extremely affordable and are a great option for the savvy pet owner.

Reading your pet food label can be healthy for your dog and save you money.