Why Feed Our Premium Brands to Your Pet? No By-products is One Reason

BY-PRODUCTS IN PET FOODS

 

By-Product Definition: Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

 

Many people are still feeding their pets grocery store - level pet foods. Companies like Pedigree are the ones doing big advertising with glossy ads showcasing healthy dogs. The natural foods we carry are not commonly advertised on television and other media. Interesting, isn't it?!

While some grocery store foods are full of by-products, the foods we sell are free of by-products and cheap filler like wheat and corn. In addition, none of our foods have any artificial colours or preservatives in them. But the big companies still get some support online from articles supporting by-products in pet foods.

We just read this entry on Pedigree's webpage and found it very frustrating that this information is being spread on the internet when so much has been done in the past decade to improve the quality of pet foods that are available. Natural Pet Food's customers consider their pet to be a member of the family, and want them to have the same quality food as the human members of that family. Is a by-product the same quality as a human grade cut of meat? Of course not.

http://www.pedigree.com/faqs/ingredients.aspx#3

 

 As a person with many past and present beloved family pets, I do quite a bit of reading on pet foods and want the best for them. One of our family pets did die a painful death from cancer before I started learning about pet foods, and I think it is possible that cheap pet food was a factor in the development of that cancer. Pets live short lives but we all want them to be healthy and spend as much time as possible with us. Playing the odds and giving them the best diet possible is a step in the right direction. I want to share what I have learned in the hopes your pet can live a healthier life.

The important thing to remember is that the main source of material for this opinionated article is Pedigree dog foods. This company manufactures a food with by-products in the ingredient list. Hardly unbiased.

Now lets take a closer look at Pedigree Dog Food. They do a lot of advertising {unlike the really good super premium brands interestingly) and their commercials show leaping happy dogs. But how good are their ingredients?

Here are the ingredients for their original formula food.

 http://www.mypedigree.ca/en/our-food/foodproductlist/dryvitalityib/

 

There are a number of things wrong with this food, in my opinion. First of all, the first ingredient, which is the largest by weight, is corn. Think about it. We make syrup out of corn so that's not going to be good for their blood sugar, and probably bad for their teeth as well. It's a simple carb with little nutritional value. The next ingredients are meat, bonemeal and animal fat. Meat and animal fat? From what animal? I don't know where this company gets their meat meal.There are no assurances on the packaging that specify exactly what this is.

When you buy a food with meat and animal ingredients (which could be one of many on the market)  what  assurances in general are there there that it isn't from a very bad source? Are those sources euthanized or diseased  animals, expired grocery store meat, road kill, or even restaurant grease? These questions need to be more clearly answered by the government and pet food makers.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/dogs-meat-meal/

 

Try finding a pet food containing by-products with OVERALL ingredients as good as a food with HUMAN GRADE chicken. You will have a hard time doing that. Really good quality brands that I would feed to family pets like Orijen, Fromm, and Go Natural have meat that is specially inspected to be fit for human consumption. That, of course, means that the ingredients are not from euthanized animals etc. Secondly, the really good quality foods do not have filler like simple carbs, such as wheat and corn. Instead, they contain antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables that support the overall health with natural sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

These fruits and vegetables may also have valuable cancer and disease preventing properties for your pet just as they will for you. In the long run, spending money on better pet food may save you money on vet bills. Any trip to the vet will likely cost you enough money to buy a lot of dog food. At an average cost of about $70/bag a good quality dog food winds up costing you about $2.50 a day. Not so bad when you look at it that way, right?

They also will not have any artificial colors or preservatives like many cheaper byproduct pet foods. Those chemicals will build up in your pet and be a risk factor for cancers. On top of all this, really good quality foods contain probiotics that can help with digestion. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria in your pet's stomach that can help break down food and promote good health.

 

These days people consider their pet a member of the family and want them to eat as good quality food as the humans. Would you eat a diet of by-products, corn/wheat, and synthetic vitamins? How healthy do you think you would be? Still think a food with byproducts is better? Look up that brand on www.dogfoodavisor.com and see what they say….

Then look up some of the many high quality brands we carry like Orijen, Acana, Fromm, Go Natural/Now!, or Natural Balance. We don't think you will find too many critics. We research all of our products closely to make sure you always get great quality products when you buy from us.

This pup is going to eat the best food possible. From Natural Pet Foods!