If the recent horse meat scandal has told us anything it’s that what goes into food really does matter and when companies put things in food that shouldn’t be there, regardless of whether they’re safe or not, the public doesn’t like it, and rightly so.
If horse meat can be found in human food then this doesn’t sound good for pet food. Pet food typically has lower quality ingredients and is sold for a lower cost than human food. A reason for this is that many animals, e.g. Cats, are obligate carnivores which means that they simply have to eat meat, and the proteins found in meat. Meat of course is relatively expensive and so some pet food suppliers cut corners when providing meat in their pet food. What do we mean by cut corners? Sometimes you might find things known as animal byproducts. Essentially, this sounds like it could be meat but in reality it’s usually everything from the animal besides the meat, so ligaments, organs etc. To be fair there might be some nutritional quality in these animal by-products however they aren’t what we’d consider quality sources of protein.
As we all know you can only glean a certain amount from a product’s packaging. Whilst there are now stringent legal requirements in terms of what information should be provided on packaging, e.g. Ingredients, there are still ways that some companies are able to pull the wool over the consumer’s eyes. They might use a phrase like beef dinner to describe a product with only 25% beef, and preferably zero horse-meat.
Bet dieting is very important and is a key part of pet care. It’s certainly true that you can get lots of great pet food at your local supermarket etc and this will give your dog adequate nutrients to live a happy and healthy life. However, it is not necessarily the best food for your pet. When we’re talking about dogs specifically, dietary requirements can vary depending on all sorts of factors. For instance, one breed of dog might be much larger or much smaller than others. It makes sense then that different breeds of dog will have notably different dietary needs.
Did you know that some high quality pet food is formulated especially for certain kinds of dogs? It’s not necessarily the kind of food that you’ll find online but you can definitely find it if you look online. You can also find lots more information about pet care and dog food in general.When choosing dog food, then think about the specific nutritional demands of your animal, relating to its size, breed and age etc.
