By
Zoe Forward, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (canine/Feline)
Picking
the right pet food can be stressful and overwhelming with the multitude of
options available. There are good foods on the shelf and, unfortunately, some
not so good foods. But what’s right for your pet?
1.
SPECIAL NEEDS OF YOUR PET – The most
important step is to identify any medical problems that might require a
specific type of ingredient in your pet’s food (such as those pets who have
a food allergy) or special formulation of the food (such as those pets with
liver or kidney disease, or chronic urinary problems). If your pet has a specific
medical problem, then you need to consult with your veterinarian. A
prescription diet may be the only option in many cases. In some cases there may
be over-the-counter option.
2.
THE
BRAND: We can get all caught up in ingredients and label claims but when it
comes down to quality it depends on who
made the food. That doesn’t mean you have to “recognize” the brand, but you do
need to read the label to find out if the bag is made by that specific brand or
if it’s someone else’s food repackaged. You want the bag to say “Manufactured
by X brand.” NOT “Manufactured for X brand.” The for
in there means they made the label and put someone else’s food in the bag. That
also means there’s little, probably no, oversight on quality control. They just
market the food.
3.
INGREDIENTS MATTER: There’s no hard
and fast rule for what’s the “best” in the ingredient list but the first five
ingredients should be recognizable to you as food (e.g., corn, beef, chicken,
meat, meat byproduct, etc). That means you don’t want corn syrup, salt, animal
fat or some chemical name to appear in the first few ingredients.
4.
UNDERSTAND THE LABEL and AVOID MARKETING
PLOYS:
By-products:
The reason byproducts have a bad reputation is the companies that don’t use
them market this fact. Does that make their food better? No. That means we, as
consumers, are trained to think something is wrong when in fact it’s not a
problem. This is a negative marketing ploy.
What is a meat by-product? Byproducts are
parts of the animal the human food market didn’t use. It is most often internal
organ meat. The U.S. Food & Drug
Administration as well as the Association of American Feed Control Officials
says the generic term “meat,” whether associated with byproduct or not, refers
to one of 4 meats: cattle, pigs, sheep or goats. It is NOT horse meat or
roadkill. According to pet nutrition expert Dr. Lisa Werenth1, “I
don’t worry about byproducts. For the generally healthy dog, byproducts are a
great source of protein and nutrients…The only time I worry about byproducts is
with an animal with liver disease who shouldn’t be consuming organ meats.” 3
Human
grade or organic: These nutrition trends are rampant in the human food
market and the pet food marketing machine has taken this on. The reality is
NOTHING goes into pet food that is human grade. Once food leaves the USDA
inspected facility it’s pet food.
Organic: The expectation is the food is
produced according to current USDA standards. However, monitoring pet food to
ensure it is organic is very low priority for the USDA and there are no
official rules governing organic pet food. That means, who knows if the food is
actually organic based on human food standards. Boutique foods like to boast
themselves as organic. And it’s fine to feed these foods but if you’re feeding
a lesser known food go back to #1 above. Who is making the food?
Pic sources:
Westie
and food: http://bit.ly/1V5Gykn
Cat
food: http://bit.ly/1Yvbgmc
Cat
in bag: http://bit.ly/1gGqsKY
*1. DVM360 Vol 46, No 9, pp.26-29
