How Much Do You Know About PET Nutrition?

In the wild, dogs and cats would hunt and eat the meat, bone and organs of their prey. Therefore their diet would primarily consist of meat. Dogs and cats would eat the stomach of their prey and that is where they would consume vitamins from fruit, vegetables and plants that were pre-digested.

The ingredients are listed in order of weight before being processed into kibble. From the heaviest items in descending order. As a rough guide, you can say that kibble is primarily made up of the first 5 ingredients on the list. So what you want to see then, at least as the first ingredient, is meat. Even better if meat is the first 3 ingredients. It will likely be followed by a starch or fibre source like potato, tapioca, or peas. Then you will see a fat source, grains, fish oil, vegetables and fruits. And lastly you will usually see the vitamins and minerals.

Due to their constant growth, dog and cat nutritional needs change a little in different stages. Puppies benefit from a higher fat/protein content until they have finished growing (at ~1 to 1.5 years). At this point they have reached their adult body and these levels are slightly reduced to maintain a healthy body weight. Once your dog has become a senior (between age 7-9) the levels are reduced again due to their inability to be as active in their old age, and their higher risk of becoming overweight. Other beneficial ingredients can also be added to help promote healthy growth and maintainance at different stages such as DHA/EPA for puppies and glucosamine for seniors.

Our pets are individuals just like us, and often you will find that there isn't just one type of food that is suitable for all dogs/cats. Some pets have allergies to grains and therefore do better on a grain free diet. Whereas, other pets may require some healthy, digestible grains (such as oatmeal and barley) to help slow down the digestive process.

By product is what’s left of a slaughtered animal after the edible parts have been removed. They include the waste of meat processing not intended for human consumption. For example…
■Feet
■Backs
■Livers
■Lungs
■Heads
■Brains
■Spleen
■Frames
■Kidneys
■Stomachs
■Intestines
■Undeveloped eggs

But there are exceptions…

Giblets (livers, hearts, gizzards and necks) as well as other organs can be sold as edible meats or used generically to make hot dogs, bologna and sausage. Or as a good meat & vitamin source for dog/cat food.

This is false because the feed guideline on the bag is created by AAFCO and not the food manufacturer. It is a generic guideline. Remember that your dog is a unique individual. Use their recommendation as a guide, to judge how much food is best for your dog. You may need to feed up to a cup above or below what they recommend. Consider your dog's size, breed, age, energy level and metabollic rate.

It -is- ideal that the first ingredients you see are things you recognize (meat protein sources, vegetables); however, it is common for vitamins/minerals and pre/probiotics to be listed at the end of the ingredient panel. These words can be long and confusing such as Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, and anything ending with the word "Fermentation." These ingredients are digestive aides and make the food a balanced diet. Don't let long words scare you, just look them up or ask someone who knows what they are.

AAFCO is the regulating body that implements safe and healthy standards for manufacturing animal foods in North America. The produce guideline for the types of ingredients animal feed can contain and the nutritional levels that must be met to be considered a complete, balanced diet.

The term "Chicken meal" means that the all of the edibile parts of the chicken have been dehydrated and ground into a "meal" prior to being weighed for cooking. Therefore, it amounts to a high meat content when it appears at the beginning of an ingredient list.

When you see just "Chicken" or "Whole chicken" in the ingredients panel, this merely means that the fresh chicken meat was weighed prior to cooking. Fresh chicken is approximately 70% water and that water is cooked away in processing. The benefit of fresh meat is that it retains most of its nutrients because it has only been cooked once.

The short answer is no, both formulas will provide adequate nutritional value. But if you are interested in your dog having optimal levels of nutrition, you would need to give them some sort of added bonus specific to their breed/breed size.

For example:
The main difference between a large breed specific food versus an all life stages/all breed food, is that the fat/protein levels are slightly lowered for large breeds, due to their generally less active lifestyles. This is mainly important for large breed puppies as they grow at a different rate and you do not want them to overgrow and have joint problems. However, if fed the appropriate amounts of an all life stages/all breed formula, they can do just as well. Just remember, less active equals less protein/fat.

Although some of these ingredients can have nutritional benefits, the body is unable to properly utilize them. Some of the common repercussions of these ingredients are allergic reactions and indigestion.

Since raw mimicks what our pets would naturally eat in the wild, it is simple for them to digest. Their gastrointestinal tract isn't being forced to try and break down an extruded, man-made kibble. This also allows the nutrients to be utilized by the body more quickly and efficiently, with less leftovers to be excreted.