As more and more pet parents like yourself consider feeding their dogs and cats a healthier diet, learning about the ingredients in your pet’s food becomes all the more important.
While many leading dog food and cat food brands cover the front of their bags with beautiful photography or illustrations of healthy ingredients, the ingredient listing on the back is where you can determine whether your pet is getting the best dog food and cat food available.
Why is the first ingredient the most important? How do some brands categorize certain ingredients to make their food appear healthier? Why is corn not necessarily the healthiest ingredient? Take a minute to find out the answers to these questions and more.
Is your dog food and cat food healthy? Here’s what to look for.
When evaluating pet food ingredient listings, consider these factors:
The first ingredient is the most important because there is more of that ingredient than any other. All dog foods and cat foods must list the ingredients of their food in order of weight. As the label below shows, the first ingredient should be real chicken, fish or lamb. The first ingredient in a leading brand pet food is ground yellow corn (which can be difficult for dogs and cats to digest, and has been linked to allergies in some dogs
The top 10 ingredients usually comprise 80% or more of a dry pet food's entire formula and give you a real insight into the formula’s overall quality. For example, Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe dog food to those of most leading dog food brands, the differences in ingredient quality are clear.
Some dog food and cat food brands define their ingredients in several different ways so that the ones of lower quality appear further down the ingredient list. For example, a product list could contain chicken, ground corn, corn gluten, ground wheat and corn bran. And, if you were to group all of the corn ingredients as one, they would probably far out-weigh the amount of chicken in that food.
Be sure to read all of the ingredients at the end of the listing to know if any artificial preservatives and colorings are being used.
The kinds of ingredients you’ll find in healthy dog foods and cat foods.
Now that you have a basic understanding of how to read a label, it’s important to know the specific ingredients that comprise healthy dog foods and cat foods—as well as the ingredients that should give you pause.
Real meat, such as chicken, fish or lamb, is a source of high-quality, highly digestible protein. Proteins are essential for growth, maintenance, reproduction, repair and energy.
Whole grains such as brown rice, barley and oats supply complex carbohydrates to maintain your dog or cat’s energy level.
Veggies and fruit provide essential phytonutrients, antioxidants and enzymes, plus natural vitamins, minerals and fibers that have been shown to promote health and wellness.
Surprisingly, many leading dog foods and cat foods contain the ingredients below, which are not of the highest quality.
Animal by-products are the non-rendered clean parts derived from slaughtered animals: lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, blood and more.
Artificial color and chemical preservatives like BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and propylene glycol. They provide no nutritional value and have been associated with possible toxic side effects.
Corn, wheat and soy have been linked to allergic reactions in some dogs and are not as easy to digest.
The bottom line on dog food and cat food labels.
Choosing the best dog food or best cat food for your beloved pet isn’t easy, especially when there are so many brands touting themselves as being healthy. Next time you’re in the store, take a minute and look at the ingredient listing that’s on the dog food or cat food you’re using now. With what you’ve learned about pet food labels, that minute could mean a big difference in the health of your pet.
Subject: Look for this when choosing dog food 
Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:52 pm
