By looking at the ads regarding pet food on TV or in magazines, you get the impression that every commercial pet food is healthy. All fresh ingredients displayed in the ad could tempt you to try these pet foods! However, the truth is most foods might be far from what those artful ads make us believe.
If you ever have opened a pet food can that was advertised as healthy, and then found a glob of unrecognizable or something other, then you know what I mean.
Now, if you are aware that not all ads and commercials of pet food live up to their promises, you should ask yourself: how can I identify if a particular pet food is healthy? The reply to this is hidden on the pet food package, in plain sight, and the midst of unfamiliar terms.
To buy a good thing for your pet, you need to interpret pet food labels correctly. For correct interpretation, you must purchase pet foods packaged by top pet food bags manufacturers.
Healthy pet foods contain real food ingredients
Commercial and healthy pet foods are made from organic food ingredients that reflect the requirements of the pet. Don’t forget that ingredients are listed in the sequence of their relative quantity in the food.
Healthy cat and dog foods must contain animal-derived substances as their initial ingredients. The quality of the ingredients is quintessential to the health of your pet. If you watch terms like ‘fish meal,’ ‘chicken meal’, ‘animal fat,’ or ‘animal by-products,’ you should know these ingredients are of quite low quality.
Better options for you are products that label terms that precisely define the ingredient, such as
- Chicken,
- Cod, or
- Animal parts like beef liver or chicken heart
Finally, synthetic chemicals must be kept to a minimum. Most of the available supplements of pet food routinely added to pet foods are of questionable or low value and quality.
Healthy pet foods are organic and certified
This is quite true, simply because natural ingredients are both healthier and safer for your pet. Organic ingredients are safe due to their manufacturing and processing precludes via regulatory use of toxic processing and manufacturing chemicals. These include
- Agricultural pesticides,
- Fertilizers like hormones, sewage sludge, and antibiotics used to raise livestock, and
- Toxic chemicals used during production, including among others, fumigants, pesticides, and corrosive sanitizers.
Also, organic ingredients remain away from genetically engineered foods.
In addition, some studies have shown that organic substances are healthier compared to their conventional counterparts. It is only because they are diligently processed and are free of toxic residues. Organic ingredients are also healthier due to having more nutrients, including antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and important trace elements.
But, you must be aware that only USDA-certified organic claims are enforced and regulated by Federal law. Other non-certified claims cannot be verified by an unbiased third party.
Healthy pet foods are manufactured from human-grade quality ingredients
Although it doesn’t make much sense, you get both
- USDA-certified organic ingredients for human consumption and
- USDA-certified organic ingredients for pets (examples are peas, eggs, etc.).
The latter is known as feed-grade ingredients, and easily gets approval for the sole pet foods to use. Feed-grade ingredients are of low quality compared to human-grade ingredients.
Thus, if you’re looking for a portion of healthy pet food, watch out for the descriptive term ‘human-grade on the pet food package! Also, try to get the food that is well packaged by pet food bags manufacturers.
Never accept that pet food makers are needed to tell the shopper whether they utilize human-evaluation or feed-grade fixings; they aren’t. But they definitely will show if they utilize human-grade fixings because these are better (a significant selling point) and more costly to create (a justification for charging more for their product).
Healthy pet foods are identified by the method of their processing
Every certified organic pet food, containing all the appropriate ingredients for a specific pet, is not necessarily healthy. Healthy pet foods always offer more than organic certification and species adequacy. They are also processed in a manner that preserves the bio-availability and integrity of the nutrients in their ingredients.
Heat-based processing like baking, canning, or extruding food, ruins the quality of many and renders even the best of ingredients ‘lifeless’. Dehydration is among the better ways to process foods. However, bear in mind that cats don’t do well on dry food. Also, certain problems can even be linked with re-hydrated pet foods that were previously dehydrated.
If you don’t get fresh foods, the best options among commercial pet foods are fresh-frozen products. Of course, freezing is more expensive and less convenient for a manufacturer to store and ship, and those costs get passed down to the consumer. So, don’t forget that this additional expense will almost ensure that your pet will stay healthy for long. Also, it will save you the financial burden and pain of caring for a sick animal.
Wrap Up
Your pet demands different foods to stay happy and healthy! Since your pet has a handful of choices of its own, the onus is on you to provide her with different healthy, safe (USDA certified,) human-grade, organic, and quality foods. Here ingredients must have been processed in different ways that are designed to preserve the endogenous nutrients. By following the above steps, your pet will thank you for your care and diligence.
