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At For Pet's Sake, we carry several lines of premium, all natural, holistic dog and cat foods.  We know that these are the best foods for your pet, short of feeding them a raw, ancestrally formulated diet right from your kitchen.  But what does all that mean?  What is wrong with the pet foods you find at the grocery store, or even commercial pet stores?

Most commercial pet foods are made up mostly of grain fragments (the left overs from the human food industry), with a small amount of meat thrown in and the whole thing coated with recycled used (and frequently carcinogenic) fats to make it palatable to our pets.  I'm fairly certain, in most cases, these are things we’d refuse to feed our pets if we saw them in their raw state.  But why does the industry use these types ingredients at all?  The answer is simple – it is far cheaper than feeding meat.  But it has nothing whatsoever to do with good or species-appropriate nutrition for our pets. Neither cats nor dogs have any evolved need for carbohydrates in their diet at all, and these are readily converted to fat. 

Now, I suppose the bigger question is, how do I know a good quality food when I see one?  What do those labels really mean?  Well, lets run though a few common ingredients found in pet foods and what they are.  We'll start with what you want to avoid.  If your pet's food contains any of these ingredients, consider switching... now. 

Corn Gluten

An inexpensive by-product of human food processing which offers very little nutritional value and serves mainly to bind food together. It has poor nutritional value and quality.

Wheat Gluten

The tough, viscid nitrogenous substance remaining when wheat is washed to remove the starch.  An inexpensive byproduct of human food processing with almost no nutritional value left, serves mostly as a binder.

Powdered Cellulose (sometimes just Cellulose)

Dried wood is the most common source for cellulose (I'm not kidding.). It is cleaned, processed into a fine powder and used to add bulk and consistency to cheap pet foods. I would consider this ingredient appropriate for termites, but certainly not for dogs or cats.

Peanut Hulls

The outer hull of the peanut shell.  No nutritional value whatsoever, and are used exclusively as a cheap filler ingredient. Possibility of pesticide residues being present.

Soybean Mill Run

Composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal.  An inexpensive byproduct of human food processing, commonly referred to as 'floor sweepings'. An inexpensive filler with no real nutritional value.

Animal Digest

A cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. The animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: any animal that is dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter, goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.

BHA

Butylated Hydroxysanisole - a white, waxy phenolic antioxidant, C11H16O2, used to preserve fats and oils, especially in foods.  Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

BHT

Butylated Hydroxytoluene - a crystalline phenolic antioxidant, C15H24O, used to preserve fats and oils, especially in foods.  Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

Ethoxyquin

6-ethoxy-1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline. Antioxidant; also a post-harvest dip to prevent scald on apples and pears.  Originally developed by Monsanto as a stabilizer for rubber, Ethoxyquin has also been used as a pesticide for fruit and a color preservative for spices, and later for animal feed. The original FDA permit for use as stabilizer in animal feed limited use to two years and did not include pet food, but it falls under the same legal category. It has never been proven to be safe for the lifespan of a companion animal. It has been linked to thyroid, kidney, reproductive and immune related illnesses as well as cancer, but so far no conclusive, reliable research results either for the safety of this product or against it have not been obtained. Monsanto conducted research years ago, but results were so inconclusive due to unprofessional conduct and documentation that the FDA demanded another study. There are currently several studies underway to determine whether Ethoxyquin is safe or not, and until those studies are completed, pet food suppliers may continue to use Ethoxyquin. This is how things stand after about 6 years, and no new details have emerged so far.

Chicken By-Product

Chicken by-products are much less expensive and less digestible than the chicken muscle meat. The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. If there is any use for any part of the animal that brings more profit than selling it as "byproduct", rest assured it will appear in such a product rather than in the "byproduct" dumpster.

Sugar

Can include sucrose, cane sugar, caramel, corn syrup and others.  Sugar or sweetener is an absolutely unnecessary ingredient in pet foods, added to make the product more attractive. Continuous intake can promote hypoglycemia, obesity, nervousness, cataracts, tooth decay, arthritis and allergies. Pets also get addicted to foods that contain sugars, so it can be a tough piece of work to make them eat something healthier.

Now, that is just a SMALL selection of the things put into commerical pet foods.  You are free to investigate further on your own.

But, what should you look for on a label?  First, and most importantly, is to examine the ingredient list itself.  Pet food ingredients are listed by weight.  This means that the first ingredient is what is most prevalent in the food.  Obviously, you want it to be meat, and not corn or some other grain fragment.  But lets delve a bit deeper.

What is the difference between "Chicken" (or "Beef" or "Lamb") and "Chicken Meal"?  This is important.  Chicken (when seen on an ingredient list) is inclusive of the natural water in the meat.  This makes it heavy.  Why does that matter?  Well, once this water is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight, which would in reality place it much lower on the list.

What about Chicken Meal?  Well, it is the same as Chicken, except all the water is removed before processing it.  This makes it weigh much less.  When it is seen at the top of an ingredient list, you can be assured that there is plenty of real meat in your pets food.

Confused?  Don't be.  Just look at your first few ingredients, and make sure they are a named meat source, not a by-product.  Then look for good quality ingredients.  Fruits and vegetables are wonderful, as are eggs, cheese, flaxseed, and kelp.  Good quality grains in moderation are fine too.  These include oatmeal, brown rice, barley and millet.  But, if you wouldn't eat it, you don't know how to say it or you don't know what it is, you probably shouldn't feed it to your pet.  Just remember that vitamins and minerals are listed too, and I can't usually pronounce those, but they are a vital part of your pets diet.

Still perplexed?  Come and see us in the store and we'll help you understand what is in your pet's food, and help you find a new one if you'd like to switch.  You can also visit www.dogfoodanalysis.com.