How To Choose Healthy Pet Foods

Health is known to be directly related to the type of food taken in everyday. This concept is applicable to all things living, including animals. Pets, more specifically, have certain nutritional needs that owners need to carefully account for. Options for pet foods are abundant and thus, many might have a hard time choosing which would be the healthiest pet food from the bunch. Healthy treats need not be expensive. You only need to exert in effort learning about what you need to get.

Pet foods that are high in protein would be best bets of owners. Protein is what most animals need. However, it is important to know that proteins are not all the same. There are two types available, the animal based and the plant based. Carnivores, like cats and dogs, would be better off with animal based protein.

Make sure that you know specific details about the foods that you are considering buying. Be careful with feeding your cat or dog dry foods. These do not have enough water and also are high in carbohydrate content. Urinary issues like crystals can arise from lack of water intake. Carbohydrates may also result to weight gains and even disrupt balance in blood sugar.

Water bowls should be kept full all the time. There are many animals that do not possess a strong instinct for thirst. This may lead to them becoming dehydrated. Although wet or canned foods have high water content, this is still not sufficient.

It is very important that you pay attention to food labels. Know that not all pet foods have been created equal. Do not jump to the conclusion that an expensive brand name offers way much more than the cheaper alternatives. There are actually some popular brands that come with higher carbohydrate content than the other existing brands.

Healthy foods should contain ingredients made of real meat and not just by-products. Those that come with fruits, vegetables and whole grains like oats, barley and rice will be great considerations as well. Less healthy alternatives are those that have by-product meals, colors, and even preservatives. Not only do these have bad side effects, they also have no value in terms of nutrition.

There are two label items that you should consider focusing on. One is the ingredients. Ingredients are often listed according to their weights. The first ingredient you need to look for is meat. Avoid those that list in meat by-products or organs.

The second label is guaranteed analysis. Guaranteed analysis is what will show you nutritional breakdowns. This is often listed by percentage. The healthiest pet food will come with high percentage on meat protein.