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Pet Food: The Good, the Bad, and the Healthy

Most dogs and cats in the U.S. eat food and treats manufactured specifically for their particular species. Holistic veterinarians focus on the quality of nutrients entering pets’ bodies and strive to get them on whole-food-based diets with the same grade of nutrients consumed by humans. By providing their pets with commercially available dry and moist foods and treats – and under a barrage of buzzwords highlighting their supposedly nutritious nature — pet parents are lulled into a false sense that their pet’s best health is being served. That is not always the case. In fact, pet parents can inadvertently poison their furry family members.

Let’s consider why pet food may be a good or bad choice for your pet, starting with ‘the good.’

The Good

Automatic feeders can make feeding your pets even more convenient. Even with a busy schedule, you won't have to worry if your pet has had their breakfast or dinner.

Convenience

When feeding most commercial foods, pet owners benefit from the convenience of opening a bag of dry food or a can of wet food, or defrosting and serving frozen pet food. As our society has become more focused on convenience instead of health, processed foods requiring little to no preparation have become popular among pet owners.

Nutritionally Complete and Balanced

Commercially available pet food is required to be nutritionally complete and balanced for all life stages, which gives the pet owner a degree of certainty that their companion animal will consume a combination of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to meet their nutritional needs.

Labeled List of Ingredients and Recommended Feeding Guidelines

Commercial diets and treats are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the product’s label is legally required to include “proper listing of all the ingredients in the product in order from most to least, based on weight” along with Guaranteed Analysis (percentages of crude protein, fat, fiber, and moisture).There is also a guideline for the daily quantity of food recommended to be fed based on pet body weight. Now let’s move onto ‘the bad.’

The Bad