How Can You Recognize a Natural Pet Food?

Don’t go by the dog/cat food banners or the marketing that you may see on tv, hear on the radio and in store, but have a look at the ingredient list. The AAFCO Nutrient Profiles (only) list minimum required amounts and don’t mention anything about quality‚ but here’s how to recognize quality as far as you can go by looking at an ingredient list.

Protein Sources
Look for high quality proteins such as named meat and fish or concentrated named meat proteins such as chicken meal and lamb meal.
Avoid the cheaper protein sources such as poultry by-products, meat and bone meal and also keep away from protein fillers... corn gluten meal, egg product meal and wheat gluten.

Carbohydrate Sources
Look for whole grains and starches (brown rice, barley, sweet potato) and vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, alfalfa etc).
Avoid refined and processed carbohydrates such as refined flours, mill runs, brewer’s rice.

Fats and Oils
Again, look for named sources. Chicken fat, lamb fat, herring oil, sunflower oil etc. In all of these examples the exact source is mentioned. This is one simple method to differentiate food by quality.
Avoid fats from non-specific sources. You’ll recognize names like poultry fat, animal fat or vegetable oil on the label.

Preservatives
Natural pet food of course should have natural preservatives. These include mixed tocopherols or vitamin E. Shelf life will be shorter compared to artificial preservatives, but I suppose you wouldn’t want to buy two years of dog/cat food upfront anyway.
Avoid synthetic preservatives such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is approved as preservative for pet food but not human food, enough said. BHA & BHT are known carcinogens!

Colorings
Who needs them? Does your furry baby really care what color the food is today?

What Can You Expect From A Natural Dog Food?
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