The composition of dry food from different manufacturers is completely different. How do you know which dry food is best for your dog?
No one doubts that dogs, by their nature, are predators and they received all the necessary substances for their full life in the wild while hunting other animals, i.e. made from meat, so meat is the basis of nutrition for dogs. And additionally - vegetables and fruits.
As for grains, none of them are almost completely digestible by the dog.
Most dry food manufacturers use grain crops as the basis for the production of dry food, since grain has always been and is cheaper than meat. As meat, waste from the meat industry is mainly used.
How to choose food for puppies and adult dogs
Introduction to industrial food begins at 6 weeks. There is a gradual weaning of puppies from their mother, or a decrease in the daily intake of a special milk formula.
Babies need a lot of protein for proper development, and calcium and phosphorus to support healthy bone growth. The norm for protein in puppy food is 40-50%. If you look at it in grams, then 8-10 g for every kilogram of weight.
Easy to calculate. For example, source data:
- puppy weight – 5 kg;
- protein content in feed – 30%;
- daily serving size – 140 g.
It turns out that a puppy needs 40-50 g of protein per day; he will receive 42 g of protein from the food (140*30%). This is the norm. If after calculations you get less than the daily requirement, then it is better to choose another product.
The protein requirement for adult dogs is 4.5 g per kilogram of weight. The presence of antioxidants is desirable to protect against premature aging of the body. If the product is intended for large and giant breeds (Labrador, German Shepherd, Great Dane), then the composition contains glucosamine and chondroitin to support joints.
From 7 years old, a pet is considered elderly. His metabolism slows down, despite his high activity and good appetite. The risk of obesity and injury increases, which requires reducing portions and switching to special nutrition. It contains biotin to improve metabolism, taurine for vision and heart, and L-carnitine to maintain weight.
For small breeds
Representatives of small breeds (weighing from 1 to 10 kg) are characterized by mobility and high excitability. Such dogs are predisposed to the following diseases:
- the appearance of tartar;
- dislocation of the kneecap;
- obesity (if we are talking about neutered pets).
Also, small breed dogs quite often suffer limb injuries and traumatic brain injuries.
To avoid these problems, your pet needs to be fed special dietary foods. These products contain large quantities of protein, linoleic acid and B vitamins. Thanks to these components, small dogs are highly active. The composition of dietary feed helps strengthen the animal’s bones, prevents the accumulation of extra pounds, and prevents the formation of tartar and the development of allergies.
How to choose dog food by class
According to the international classification, animal feed is divided into two classes: economy and premium. But there are other inscriptions on the packaging: super-premium and holistic.
Despite the fact that the last two classes are just a marketing ploy, thanks to these inscriptions you can determine the quality of the product.
Economy
Budget, affordable product. It is based on cereals and meat and bone meal, made from production waste. Most animals eat this food with pleasure, which is due to the presence of a flavor in the composition that is attractive to pets. Economy class includes brands such as Pedigree, Chappi, Oscar, Trapeza, Our brand.
Premium
A quality product containing up to 30% meat, vitamins and minerals. In order to reduce the cost of the product, inexpensive sources of fiber are used - corn, wheat. This class includes brands: Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Happy Dog.
Super premium.
Optimal in terms of price/quality ratio of the product. Lots of meat, few cheap raw materials. Source of fiber - potatoes, peas, rice. What brands are produced: Hills, Eukanuba, Nero Gold.
Holistic.
The highest class. Animal food is prepared from foods suitable for human consumption. Brands: Acana, NOW, Go!, Origen.
When choosing healthy dog food, pay attention only to super-premium and holistic classes.
We choose the best price-quality ratio
The best cost-quality ratio, unconditionally, is with holistic and super-premium classes. I’ll explain why: calculate the cost of pet food based not on the cost of packaging, but on monthly consumption. Expensive feeds rich in animal protein last longer, because... the daily feeding rate is less. So it turns out that the price difference between premium and super-premium is not that big.
The pet's health is more important. Choose quality food and save money on trips to the vet.
Meat included
When deciding which dry food to choose for your dog, you should first of all pay attention to the composition. Price, class, brand are not indicators of quality; advertising should not be trusted. If you want to feed your pet only safe, healthy food, then you need to learn how to read the ingredients correctly.
Protein comes first. A dog is a predator and cannot live without meat. A good product consists of at least 20% meat. If fiber (cereals, grains) comes first in the composition, then the pet will not receive the amount of nutrients it needs.
Not only the quantity of protein is important, but also its quality. If the ingredients say “meat and bone meal”, “bone meal”, “meat products” and other vague phrases, then the food is almost certainly made from waste - bones, tails, wool, feathers. There is little benefit from such ingredients, and ground bones are not absorbed by the body at all. The manufacturer of high-quality food indicates what and whose meat is in the composition: “fresh lamb meat”, “dehydrated chicken meat”, “salmon fillet”.
As for the type of meat, there are two of them - fresh and dehydrated. Of course, fresh sounds tastier and healthier, but after drying, the protein remains three times less than in the original product due to evaporation of moisture. Dehydrated meat has already been dried and is exactly as specified by the manufacturer.
Another important point: how to correctly calculate the amount of protein in the composition. The packaging indicates a certain percentage (20-50%) of meat. But in fact there is always less protein. The fact is that the manufacturer indicates the amount of meat used. If you remove water from it, the volume becomes smaller. And to find out the real amount of protein, you will need the value of “protein” or “crude protein” in the analytical composition.
How to choose dry dog food based on the type of meat depends on your personal preferences and the dog's reactions. If she digests a product with chicken well, then there is no point in changing this food for another with beef. Dogs do not need a variety of food, unlike humans, and can eat the same food for a long time.
Plant protein isolate
Plant protein isolate is a product that contains more than 90% pure plant protein. It is obtained through lengthy extraction, heat treatment and centrifugation, which separates the protein from fats and other components. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
The name of this ingredient is alarming due to its streamlined nature - we do not know what plant proteins became the raw material for the isolate. But we remember that they are much less digestible by dogs and cats than proteins of animal origin. According to the CPT (Feed Your Pet Correctly) service, the nutritional value of plant protein isolate is 1 point out of 10.
If plant protein isolate is listed as one of the first five ingredients in a food, does that mean it forms the basis of the diet? And this is simply harmful! The manufacturer saved money, but be careful: the basis of a healthy diet for dogs and cats (originally predators) should be animal proteins - meat, poultry, fish, and not their substitutes!
Cereals, cereals, vegetables included
After meat, the food contains cereals, grains or vegetables. In economy class products this is wheat and corn. Premium includes oats, rice. Expensive feed contains potatoes, peas, lentils, and beans.
Each of these products is a source of fiber necessary for comfortable digestion. There's nothing wrong with cheap corn and wheat, but they are more likely to cause allergies than potatoes and peas.
Food high in fiber is needed by overweight animals with digestive problems. But you shouldn’t eat them all the time.
Minerals
Are minerals needed in food? Yes! But which ones?
⠀❗️This is the main question. Minerals are inorganic compounds, but they are essential to every form of organic life. ? Like a strong mortar, minerals, through chemical reactions, “glue” together the elements that make up any protein: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur. ⠀ For this purpose, 18 minerals are needed, and not all of them are synthesized in the body. Some can only be obtained through food. And this is our area of responsibility if we are talking about pets.
Minerals are involved in many processes that occur every second in the body, for example, ☑️ in maintaining the structure of the skeleton, ☑️ in maintaining acid-base and water balance, ☑️ in conducting nerve impulses and muscle contraction, ☑️ in maintaining healthy skin, coat and joints ☑️ in the implementation of cell activity. ⠀ And this is only a small part of the work! Perhaps there is not a single process in the body in which minerals do not participate. Therefore, it is critical that they are in balance. If there is too much or too little of one mineral or another, serious bodily dysfunction can occur? ⠀ By law, any food must contain a certain minimum of minerals. And if the package says “minerals,” most likely the food contains some kind of complex mineral premix ❗️ However, this ingredient is considered controversial, since it is impossible to determine its exact composition. It is preferable when the manufacturer indicates specific chemical compounds - the sources of each mineral. ⠀ We at Lapas & Co carefully read everything that is written on food packages and are happy to share this information with you - here and in each of the four chain stores. Come, write - ask your questions! We are responsible for those we have tamed ❤️
How to understand that the nutrition is chosen correctly
Among animals, especially modern breeds, there are allergy sufferers. It is very difficult to choose food for such pets; you have to go through different brands and types.
If the food is not suitable for the dog, it is manifested by the following symptoms:
- ears get dirty quickly;
- eyes are streaming;
- severe itching (the dog scratches itself until there is blood and bald spots);
- hair loss;
- dull coat;
- lethargy, loss of appetite;
- unpleasant odor from the body, from the mouth;
- a lot of feces with an unpleasant odor.
In these cases, even if there is only one symptom, you need dog food from a different manufacturer or with a different type of protein. Most often, animals are allergic to chicken, less often to lamb and beef, and even less often to fish.
After changing your diet, you will notice the first improvements in 1-2 weeks. Full recovery occurs in 5-6 weeks. And to understand whether a particular food is suitable for a dog, you will have to wait at least a month. Exceptions include severe allergy symptoms - vomiting, diarrhea.
If you are leaving a dog with someone while you are away, warning them about their dietary needs and purchasing a supply of food is one of the rules for foster care described in our article.
Veterinary feed
Veterinary feeds are not suitable for daily consumption. They are prescribed by doctors to prevent or treat a specific disease. You can see them by special marks on the packages.
- Gastro.
A product intended for the treatment of diseases of the digestive system. It is distinguished by a high content of probiotics to normalize intestinal microflora and the presence of easily digestible ingredients. The amount of protein is reduced and fiber is increased. It is desirable that the fiber be represented by rice (the most dietary product), as in Farmina Vet Life Gastrointestinal.
- Hepatic.
Balanced food for liver treatment (for example, Royal Canin Hepatic HF16). Contains vegetable proteins, and also reduces the amount of copper and zinc. A complex of antioxidants slows down the destruction of liver cells.
- Renal, Kidney (k/d).
Nutrition for the treatment of kidney diseases. Increased protein and phosphate content to prevent renal failure. An example of food with this composition is Happy Dog Renal.
- Urinary.
Nutrition for urolithiasis, for example, Hill's Urinary Care. The mineral formula removes stones and sand, and magnesium, potassium and calcium prevent bladder inflammation.
- Cardiac.
For pets with diseases of the cardiovascular system. Contains L-carnitine. These foods include Royal Canin Cardiac EC.
- Diabetic.
Food for animals with diabetes. Maintains normal blood glucose levels. For example, Farmina Vet Life Diabetic.
You should not prescribe veterinary food for your pet yourself. Depending on the type and severity of the disease, treatment will be recommended, and diet is only part of complex therapy.
If you are the person hired to look after your dog, they must be aware of the pet's health and follow the recommendations. We recommend reading about how to choose a dog sitter.
Preservatives
The shelf life of dry pet food is usually 12-18 months. How is it possible to preserve the product for such a long time? On the one hand, temperature treatment of food is already a kind of sterilization; moreover, the development of most bacteria requires a humid environment, and there is very little moisture in dry food - about 8%.
But on the other hand, animal feed contains a large amount of fat, and this is the main problem - over time, as they say in everyday life, fats go rancid, but in scientific terms, they oxidize.
In order to stop the oxidation process, antioxidants are added to the feed - substances that protect fats from the harmful effects of oxygen. Twenty years ago, special chemical compounds were mainly used as antioxidants, but since the early 1990s, natural antioxidants have become increasingly popular.
These include vitamin E (another name for mixed tocopherols) and plant extracts, such as rosemary extract. The effectiveness and safety of these additives has been proven: for example, according to studies, tocopherol mixtures can withstand temperatures of up to 150°C and have a shelf life of about 2 years.
