What you feed your four-legged family member determines his or her future’s health, energy level, longevity and happiness. While you may want the best for your furry friend, comprehending what’s best to feed them is now harder than ever. With numerous pet food brands out there, all claiming to be healthy, veterinarian-approved or premium, it is just hard to know exactly what is what.
That being said, here are a few things to look for to ascertain you are picking the right foods for your pet:
Kibble is a No-No!
Feeding highly processed dried kibble isn’t the way to treat your pet. You would not think of feeding your kids a diet that consists of dry, highly processed pellets packed with preservatives on a daily basis. So why feed that to your pet? Even the premium kibble products are packed with an overwhelming amount of preservatives, chemicals, and other indigestible ingredients.
Minimal Cooking Equals Maximum Nutrition
One of the best ways to maximize taste, digestibility and nutrition is by lightly cooking fresh, whole-food ingredients. Research has proven that pooches digest lightly cooked whole meals better compared to kibble. The light cooking is ideally superior to feeding your pet raw food as it eliminates the potential contaminants while preserving essential nutrients.
Avoid Fillers and Preservatives
Pet food labels can be quite misleading. For instance, you will come across peanut shells labelled as vegetable fibre but add very little nutritional value. That’s just a mild example as other fillers and preservatives can be downright detrimental to your pet’s health. So, always shop for pet food that’s 100% free from chemicals or filler ingredients.
Insist on Transparency
Unfortunately, the pet food industry is still largely unregulated, making it virtually impossible to tell from the labels what the product contains. Rather than buying pet food made from an unknown plant or factory, look for freshly-made food from human-grade kitchens. Under watchful eyes of pet owners, these kitchens often adhere to a higher operating standard compared to their private commercial counterparts.
Ensure the Diet is Proven in Feeding Trials
A Vet team with a background in fields such as nutrition, toxicology, dermatology and formulation should be involved in the making of your pet’s diet. Additionally, the food needed to be tested in independent feeding trials to make sure it’s nutritionally balanced and healthy.
Get The Right Recipe For Your Pooch
The nutritional needs of every dog vary, and their daily meals need to be tailored in regards to their weight, activity level, age, health and appetite. Puppies have varying recipe needs compared to adult dogs, and small breeds vary from large ones. So, look for products that take into account your pet’s individual nutritional needs.
Conclusion
The right food can change the life of your four-legged family member. It can improve health, boost life expectancy and even help you save on the veterinarian bills. The question is where to find the right pet food. Well, whether you are on the search for the best wet dog food, dry dog food, pet snacks, etc., you can’t go wrong by visiting barkingheads.co.uk.