xtrname
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2006
- Messages
- 2,140
- Reaction score
- 0
Purchasing good dry pet food is extemely difficult. This is mainly due to misleading information by manufacturers and false posting on the internet.
Many people buy dry food out of convenience or unique reasons. But a completely dry kibble diet generally creates long term issues for your pet. If you really must, get the most appropriate. No point saving a few dollars now and give back a lot more on expensive medical costs later.
Important criterias are
1. Ingredient list - Look for high quality meats. Watch out for fillers. They boost the analysis content but are actually substances which cannot be digested/absorbed. Some items/grains like corn, soy, gluten & yeast can cause severe allergies or sickness. A high carbohydrate level is harmful to cats in the long run.
2. Manufacturer ethics - Procter & Gamble who owns brands like Iams, Eukanuba conduct horrific animal testing. Colgate-Palmolive is another. For these large conglomerates, profits is the driving motivation. Not concern for your pets.
3. Rotate/Mix - There are always pros & cons to each brand. Either the wrong proportion of nutrients or missing something. Best to is rotate/mix among a few good brands so you will always be covered. In addition, the pet will not get bored on a single diet.
4. Ensure your pet has a source of clean water all the time. - This is critical to their health no matter what diet they are on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A trend has been to produce dry food which mimicks the cats' natural hunting environment as closely as possible. Cats are obligate carnivores and thrives on a highly meat-based diet.
Ideally, it will be a high protein, mid/low fat & very low carbohydrate diet. Completely or almost completely grain-free.
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm
Home-prepared, BARF seems to be another trend. Kindly do your own research on BARF. Do ensure the recipe contains enough nutrition. and observe how your pet is doing with it over time. Animals are not all alike.
http://www.catinfo.org/
References for BARF from post #85 of this thread. (Thx to the posters)
Just remember NOT to feed cold.
Other references :
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/articles.php?p=361&more=1
.
Many people buy dry food out of convenience or unique reasons. But a completely dry kibble diet generally creates long term issues for your pet. If you really must, get the most appropriate. No point saving a few dollars now and give back a lot more on expensive medical costs later.
Important criterias are
1. Ingredient list - Look for high quality meats. Watch out for fillers. They boost the analysis content but are actually substances which cannot be digested/absorbed. Some items/grains like corn, soy, gluten & yeast can cause severe allergies or sickness. A high carbohydrate level is harmful to cats in the long run.
2. Manufacturer ethics - Procter & Gamble who owns brands like Iams, Eukanuba conduct horrific animal testing. Colgate-Palmolive is another. For these large conglomerates, profits is the driving motivation. Not concern for your pets.
3. Rotate/Mix - There are always pros & cons to each brand. Either the wrong proportion of nutrients or missing something. Best to is rotate/mix among a few good brands so you will always be covered. In addition, the pet will not get bored on a single diet.
4. Ensure your pet has a source of clean water all the time. - This is critical to their health no matter what diet they are on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A trend has been to produce dry food which mimicks the cats' natural hunting environment as closely as possible. Cats are obligate carnivores and thrives on a highly meat-based diet.
Ideally, it will be a high protein, mid/low fat & very low carbohydrate diet. Completely or almost completely grain-free.
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm
Home-prepared, BARF seems to be another trend. Kindly do your own research on BARF. Do ensure the recipe contains enough nutrition. and observe how your pet is doing with it over time. Animals are not all alike.
http://www.catinfo.org/
References for BARF from post #85 of this thread. (Thx to the posters)
Just remember NOT to feed cold.
Other references :
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/articles.php?p=361&more=1
.
Last edited: