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Sometimes standing in the pet food aisle feels like shopping for things like body wash or shaving cream; with so many options how does one ever decide what brand to buy?
When it comes to pet food, the decision carries more weight. I might randomly pluck a bottle of soap off the shelf, but I want to put greater thought into what I’m feeding my pet. But all those options can be overwhelming, and I sometimes wonder if they aren’t all the same.
The truth is they probably are. My dog had some digestive problems in the winter so I started label-reading her food. It turned out that most of the brands contained basically the same ingredients. That led me to wonder just how I’m supposed to decide what to feed my pets.
First things first: if you have any real concerns about what to feed your pet, or if you find that the food you’re using gives your pet digestive problems, consult your vet. Beyond that, it’s a matter of personal choice. I have a friend who’s dedicated to eating organic food in her own life, so she feeds her dog the same way.
She looked up special recipes for dogs, and she cooks an organic stew for him. If that’s more effort than you want to expend, there are other options; most pet and grocery stores carry at least a brand or two of all natural and/or organic pet food.
Aside from special foods like that, how does one decide amongst all the pet foods that are priced in the same range, what to purchase for their pet? Here are a few things to consider:
Before you got your pet, what did it eat? You can continue to give your pet what it ate before, and because that food’s proven to work for your pet, then it should continue to work well.
The first or second ingredient in many dog and cat foods is some kind of corn- or soy-based filler. It doesn’t do a whole lot for your pet’s nutrition (but it’s not bad for them either), so you can try searching amongst brands that contain less of that ingredient, or even none of it. That might help narrow down your search.
Remember that just like with people, there might be certain foods that your pets don’t like or have problems with for whatever reason. We gave my dog a new brand of food and it worked well for her. Then we just switched the flavor of that food, not the brand, and it suddenly gave her digestive problems. Sometimes it’s just a matter of trial and error.
I do have one word of caution. If you want to shop around and try a couple different brands of food with your pet, seeing what the both of you like best, that’s fine. But don’t buy a whole different brand of food every time you need to replenish your stock; frequently switching around from one type of food to another isn’t good for your pet’s digestive system.
Keep your pet on the same kind of food for at least a couple months before introducing a new type. You can even start cutting the new brand of food in with the old to ease the transition.
Really, as long as there’s not a special type of food your pet needs, there’s no easy answer as to what to feed your pet. Through a process of trial and error you can decide what works best both for you and for your animal friend.
Related Articles:
What to Do If Your Dog Eats Chocolate
Treats for Pets with Dietary Restrictions
The Animal Lover’s Alternatives to Owning Pets
Racael Ray’s Food Going to the Dogs
Increasing Demands on Pet Food Banks and Low-Cost Clinics
*(This image by jpockele is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
