What many pet owners do not realize is that all dog foods are not created equal. In fact, many of those products you see featuring pretty pictures of fresh ingredients and happy dogs and cats are not something you want to be feeding your pet. Below you will find some tips for reading pet food labels to gauge the quality of a product before you buy - you will also find recommendations for high-quality brand that are still affordable.
Tips for Reading Pet Food Labels
Reading a pet food label is very similar to reading a label for human food - the most important thing you want to look at is the ingredients list. Pet food ingredients lists are ordered in descending order by volume. This simply means that the ingredients present in the highest quantities are listed first. This being the case, you want to see high-quality ingredients at the top of the list. Dogs and cats both need protein-rich, meat-based diets so you want to find a product that lists meat, poultry, or seafood as the first ingredient.
Do not be scared away if you see the word "meal" following a meat like chicken or salmon. Fresh meats contain up to 80% moisture by volume so, when the final product is cooked, the actual volume of protein they provide could be much less. Meat meals, on the other hand, are already cooked to remove moisture so they contain up to 300% more protein by volume.
After making sure that a high-quality animal protein is listed first, you want to check for digestible carbohydrates and animal-based fats. Whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal are generally considered digestible for pets, but many pet parents prefer grain-free options like sweet potatoes, green peas, or tapioca. Pets can suffer from food allergies just like humans, so feeding your pet a grain-free diet might help to prevent those allergies.
Good fats to look for include things like chicken fat or salmon oil - animal-based fats are more biologically valuable than plant-based fats. After making sure that these three nutrients are covered, you should make sure that the pet food does NOT contain certain things like corn, wheat, and soy ingredients as well as artificial additives and non-nutritive fillers.
High-Quality But Affordable Pet Food Brands
It takes time and practice to learn how to read and interpret pet food labels. If you want to make sure that your pet receives a high-quality pet food product but you don't want to spend a small fortune with each trip to the pet store, consider some of these quality but affordable brands:
Tips for Reading Pet Food Labels
Reading a pet food label is very similar to reading a label for human food - the most important thing you want to look at is the ingredients list. Pet food ingredients lists are ordered in descending order by volume. This simply means that the ingredients present in the highest quantities are listed first. This being the case, you want to see high-quality ingredients at the top of the list. Dogs and cats both need protein-rich, meat-based diets so you want to find a product that lists meat, poultry, or seafood as the first ingredient.
Do not be scared away if you see the word "meal" following a meat like chicken or salmon. Fresh meats contain up to 80% moisture by volume so, when the final product is cooked, the actual volume of protein they provide could be much less. Meat meals, on the other hand, are already cooked to remove moisture so they contain up to 300% more protein by volume.
After making sure that a high-quality animal protein is listed first, you want to check for digestible carbohydrates and animal-based fats. Whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal are generally considered digestible for pets, but many pet parents prefer grain-free options like sweet potatoes, green peas, or tapioca. Pets can suffer from food allergies just like humans, so feeding your pet a grain-free diet might help to prevent those allergies.
Good fats to look for include things like chicken fat or salmon oil - animal-based fats are more biologically valuable than plant-based fats. After making sure that these three nutrients are covered, you should make sure that the pet food does NOT contain certain things like corn, wheat, and soy ingredients as well as artificial additives and non-nutritive fillers.
High-Quality But Affordable Pet Food Brands
It takes time and practice to learn how to read and interpret pet food labels. If you want to make sure that your pet receives a high-quality pet food product but you don't want to spend a small fortune with each trip to the pet store, consider some of these quality but affordable brands:
- Diamond Naturals Grain-Free - The Diamond Pet Foods company is one of the largest pet food manufacturers in the United States which allows them to keep their prices low. While some of Diamond's pet food products are low-quality, the Naturals line of grain-free products utilizes quality ingredients and is still very affordable.
- Purina Beyond - Similar to Diamond Naturals, many of Purina's products are made with low-quality ingredients in order to keep the price down. The Purina Beyond line of pet foods, however, is a natural pet food brand that uses real meat as the first ingredient and doesn't use any corn, wheat, soy, or artificial additives.
- Nutro - The Nutro brand of dog food is produced and manufactured by Mars, Inc., another major manufacturing company. This brand offers a variety of different product lines, all at different price points, so you can choose the one that best fits your budget.