Can you select canned food or dry food? What brand? There are so many diverse brands, all sizes and shapes of pet food to select from and Pure Pet owners are supplied with very little information to base your choices on (other than marketing) - it could become so confusing! Well, buckle your seatbelt based on how much you really are aware of the pet food business, this might be a rough ride! You're going to learn seven secrets - nicely kept secrets - of pet foods. Sit back, brace yourself, and continue reading. 

Beneful says it is 'Premium Dog Food for a Happy, Healthy Dog' and retails for about $18.00 for a 31 pounds. Tote, Science Diet "promises" 'precisely balanced nutrition through continuous research and the highest quality food backed by your Vets endorsement' and sells for about $21.00 for just a 20 pound bag. Then you will find a lot of pet foods which produce the exact same statements - 'Premium Dog Food, Highest Quality' - which market for $30.00 or more to get a 20 pound bag. And the exact same is true for cat owners. . .Do you select Whiskas that says 'Everything we do is about making cats happy!' Or can you select among these large end cat foods which produce the exact same promise of a happy, healthful kitty however cost 3 times as much?

With the on-going pet food recall pet owners have queries like 'Has this food been recalled?' Or 'Is this food the next one to be recalled?' ...'Is my pet safe?' Wow this is perplexing! And scary too! Just what is a pet owner to do? How about studying a few secrets! Equipped with all the knowledge of a few keys of pet foods, it is not anywhere near as confusing.

Secret #1...

All pet foods use descriptive words such as premium and choice, although some of these really use premium or alternative ingredients in their food. The 'secret' is that each the principles of the pet food business, no pet food may make any promises or references in their label or advertisements regarding the grade or quality of components. You see, the term 'premium' if it is associated with pet foods DOES NOT mean that the components in the meals are premium. With pet foods, superior doesn't (can't) describe the meals nor does it (is it) clarify the standard of the food. It's a marketing term and that's all. Per the pet food businesses own regulations and rules, "There are no references to ingredient quality or grade" (regulation PF5 d 3). So, words such as premium, or alternative, or grade are simply marketing or revenue conditions. They shouldn't be interpreted as terms describing the standard of the food.

Why would not a pet food label be permitted to inform a potential client the quality of the components? Does not a pet owner deserve to know what they're purchasing? This leads me into another secret...

Secret#2...

If I will compare 'people' food to pet foods for only a second, most of us know there are unique qualities of individuals food. There's White Castle (I'm sorry, I really like the little men!) And there's Outback Steak House (another favourite). Both restaurants serve sausage and meat. At White Castle for below $3.00 you can find a few burgers and an order of chips. While at Outback you can find a steak and baked potato for about $16.00. Both function beef and curry - however you already understand that there are enormous nutritional differences among a fast food hamburger and a beef. . .right?

The issue from the pet food sector - is that many pet owners do not believe in precisely the very same conditions in regards to pet foods. They do not believe in terms that you will find fast food kinds of pet foods and you will find sit down restaurant more nutritious kinds of pet foods. Actually, several years ago a young guy attempted this quite experiment with his own diet - eating nothing but fast food for 30 days. In only 1 month of eating fast food three meals every day, he gained a lot of fat, blood pressure and cholesterol levels sky-rocketed. Now, envision your pet eating this kind of food its' entire lifetime.

OK, so back to our two meals. . .if a chemical analysis of your meal at White Castle was compared to a chemical analysis of your meal at Outback - both would analyze with a percentage of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Regardless whether you consider a steak at Outback a higher quality of protein than the burger - it would still analyze as protein. The analysis doesn't measure quality of protein.

So here is the secret. . .All pet foods come with a Guaranteed Analysis stating the percentage of protein, fat, fiber and moisture in the food. The REAL secret lies in the quality of the percentages of protein, fat, and so on.

In a chemical analysis of a pet food - chicken feet would analyze as protein, although granted it provides very little nutrition. And as well, a cow that was euthanized (put to sleep) because of a disease that made it unfit for human consumption - would analyze as protein although that could be considered dangerous for consumption. Both of those things - chicken feet and a euthanized cow - are allowable ingredients and commonly used in pet food. You see the secret within the pet food industry is manufacturers have a WIDE OPEN door to where they obtain their ingredients. The only strict rule they must follow is an adult dog food must analyze with 18% protein and an adult cat food must analyze with 26% protein. Sources to acquire those particular percentages range from a 'human grade' meat, to chicken feet, to euthanized animals, to grain proteins, to even man made chemical proteins and many variations in between.

Pet food labels do not have to tell - are not allowed to tell - the sources they use to obtain that required 18% or 26% protein. And to make matters worse. . .quality minded pet food manufacturers - the companies that use 100% human grade ingredients - are not allowed to tell customers or potential customers that their products are quality, human grade ingredients.

So how can you know if your pet's food uses chicken feet or euthanized cows or if it contains human grade ingredients?

Secret #3...

If the words premium and choice mean basically nothing with regards to the quality of pet food, and if some pet foods use chicken feet and euthanized animals in their food - how can a pet owner know what they are getting in their pets' food?

This big secret lies in fixing definitions. Contrary to 'people' meals where you can pretty much examine the food to ascertain the caliber, pet food is much different. All of 'people' food needs to meet specific USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) guidelines. The exact same isn't true for pet foods. Chicken ft and euthanized cows are NOT allowed in individuals meals for obvious reasons - they don't have any nutritional value or else they might be dangerous to eat. The exact same is NOT true for pet foods. The only way to understand if these chicken feet or euthanized cows are on your pet's food would be to understand what ingredients they may be utilised in.

The frequent pet food component 'Meat and Bone Meal' is essentially a blend of several different lost left-overs in the human food market. Components of 'meat and bone meal' could be anything from bunny heads, stomachs, and intestines, to (dreadful but accurate) Exotic animals such as horses, cows and cats and dogs out of vet offices, animal shelters, as well as farms. And along with these euthanized animals the pet food also includes the medication pentabarbitol which has been used to euthanize the animal. 'Meat and bone meal' also can include left-over restaurant grease, and diseased (such as malignant) meat cells cut off from slaughtered animals. To put it differently, this typically used ingredient is a mixture of highly poor and possibly harmful left-overs in the human food market.

The pet food component 'Meat By-Product' or 'Meat By-Product Meal' is pretty much exactly the exact same thing as 'meat and bone meal'. It's an extremely poor pet food ingredient comprising literally who-knows-what.

Another similar ingredient to the above is 'Animal Digest'.

Concerning the chicken ft I said earlier - this thing are available in the components 'Chicken By-Product' or ' 'Poultry By-Product' or 'Chicken By-Product Meal' or ' 'Poultry By-Product Meal'. Any left-overs from the poultry or chicken branch - such as but not limited to poultry feet, skin such as some feathers, poultry or chicken heads, and intestines have been observed in those ingredients. It does NOT matter regarding the health of the bird - ill, healthy, deceased, dying. . .all is contained in these components.

So here is what you have to do. . .BEFORE you buy any pet food, flip the bag over and carefully inspect the listing of components. The aforementioned ingredients could be recorded within the first ten or five components. If you see ANY of these ingredients - it's my proposal to NOT buy that meals. Recall - chicken feet and euthanized animals do examine as protein. That's all that is necessary in pet foods - only the appropriate diagnosis.

Another little trick some pet food manufacturers utilize within this class is utilizing grains and chemical additives to grain merchandise to raise the protein proportions. Which is precisely the origin of the pet food recall that started in March 2007 - compound proteins. Two distinct chemical additives - which have NO nutritional significance to pets, however that examined as protein - have been inserted to some grain product (wheat germ, corn gluten, or rice gluten) solely to supply a inexpensive protein. Countless pets died and hundreds of others became sick because nobody depended on the issue of the blend of both of these substances would lead to kidney and sinus congestion. Their key is that the product must test as having a specific quantity of protein - nobody is needed to supply an excellent beef protein.

Though you're taking a look at the ingredient list - it's also wise to be aware of the number of grains (wheat, corn, rice) or just the number of grain products (corn gluten, whole corn, ground corn, whole wheat, ground wheat, wheat gluten, rice, brown rice, brewers rice, soy, etc and on) are recorded within the first five or 2 components. If you discover more than 1 grain recorded from the first five components - which is telling you that this pet food is getting a few of its protein from grains.

What's protein obtained from grains important that you be aware of? Several reasons - first off science demonstrates that dogs and cats equally need and flourish on a meat protein. When a pet food is getting protein from grain resources, the pet isn't receiving the meat that it ought to thrive. Secondly, if the grain products are a corn glutenfree, wheat gluten, or rice gluten free you take the danger of compounds like melamime added for it utilized strictly to raise the protein investigation. Incidentally, melamime is just one of those compounds regarded as the origin of this March 2007 pet food recall. And there's yet another issue with grains - aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a mortal mold that's not uncommon to wheat, corn, and soy and it is responsible for several other pet food remembers you likely never heard of. In December 2005, Diamond Pet Food included improvised grains which murdered over 100 pets until the item was remembered - all because of aflatoxin.

It's my recommendation to prevent any pet food which includes wheat, corn, or soy in ANY version. The risk is just too significant.

Secret #4...

I have got more tips for you to search for in the fixing listings. . .chemical preservatives. A very well kept secret of the pet food sector is the ordinary use of chemical compounds. BHA/BHT are extremely common chemical compounds used in pet foods and science has connected them to cancer and tumors. Another frequent preservative is ethoxyquin that has known dangers to cancer. Ethoxyquin is ONLY permitted in human food in certain spices due to the very little proportions. However it's enabled in considerably higher proportions in pet foods.

If you scan the fixing listings, you'll be searching for BHA/BHT and ethoxyquin listed everywhere. Commonly BHA/BHT is utilized to carry on the fat from the meals that usually is located higher on the record. And also try to find one or more one of these substances near the conclusion of the ingredient list. As for me, I would not touch a pet food which comprised those chemical preservatives. You would like a pet food that's maintained naturally - common all-natural preservatives are 'natural mixed tocopherols' or 'vitamin E'.

Secret #5...

The very best food to supply for your furry friend is a well made food with ingredients that are human. This ought to be straightforward enough. . .How would you discover that? You already know that pet food makers are NOT allowed to make any statement regarding grade or quality of components, the only way you're able to discover the grade or level of your pets' food is to call the manufacturer and ask them.

Now, let's say you call the ABC pet food company and ask the question "Is the Premium pet food and Premium cat foods produced using ingredients that are human?" It could be that you get the response yes, we use human grade ingredients - when actually only a couple of ingredients are human grade. Here's the trick to asking. . .ask them if they are APHIS European certified.

Pet food manufacturers that are APHIS European certified assures you that ALL ingredients in their pet food are human grade. APHIS - Animal Plant Health Inspection Services - is a division of the USDA. APHIS European certification provides this pet food manufacturer with the opportunity to ship their foods/treats to Europe. When importing pet foods from the US, European countries demand that all ingredients are human grade and thus require this certification. Most pet food manufacturers that have APHIS European certification do not ship their products to Europe - they simply use this as a means to assure their customers to the higher quality of their ingredients.

Again, you WON'T see this listed on the label - it's not allowed. You must call the manufacturer and ask. Often times the representative of the pet food won't even know what you are talking about when you ask about APHIS certification - if that's the case, you can assume they are not APHIS European certified. APHIS European certification is a bonus to pet owners - it is not required or even suggested that any pet food manufacturer go through the extra steps to obtain this. This is a special effort some pet foods go through to tell their customers they REALLY CARE about the quality of their products. Personally, I would NOT buy a pet food that doesn't have it.

And by the way, if you can't reach the pet food manufacturer, or they do not return your call within a short time frame, lose their number! Any company that does not place a priority on answering customers questions - doesn't deserve your business!

Secret #6...

Minerals are a required ingredient in human diets as well as diets for our pets. Copper, Iron and Zinc are common minerals found in pet foods. Just as they are - copper, iron, and zinc are basically rocks, very difficult for anyone or any pet to utilize. Science has developed several ways to introduce minerals into the body (human and pet) for better absorption thus benefiting the individual far more. This scientific development is called chelating or proteinating and it's been around for years. Through the chelating or proteinating process minerals are absorbed about 60% better than just the minerals alone.

This secret is spotting the minerals in your pet food to see if they are chelated or proteinated. Notice the minerals on your pet food label, way down on the list of ingredients. You are looking for minerals that read 'copper proteinate' or 'chelated copper'. If you see just the mineral listed, your pet is sort of like Charlie Brown at Halloween saying 'I have a stone'. If you want your pet to have the best, chelated or proteinated minerals are part of the best foods!

Secret #7...

This secret is called 'friendly bacteria'. Although 'friendly bacteria' sounds a little scary, the reason for it lies in your pets' intestinal system. A huge part of your pets' immune system is found within the intestinal system. Keeping the immune system healthy helps to keep the animal itself healthy. This friendly bacteria is similar to what's found in yogurt, however in pet food it is introduced in a fashion so that the cooking process doesn't destroy it. Looking at the fine print on your pet food label, this time you are looking for lengthy, scientific words like Lactobacillus Acidophilus or Bifidobacterium Thermophilum. If you do NOT see these words or some very similar, that pet food is not addressing the care of your pets' immune system. And again, if you would like your pet to have the very best, you need 'friendly bacteria' in their meals.

You will find your seven quite secrets that will assist you discover the complete healthiest and finest pet food to your four-legged friend. Equipped with these secrets - you finally have the knowledge to locate your pet the very best meals possible! A pet food which could prolong their life and avoid premature aging and disease. If you do not wish to bother doing the assignments involved, I recommend you to sign up for my monthly magazine Petsumer Report(TM). During Petsumer Report(TM) I've done all of the homework for you - every month I review and speed above 40 different pet foods, toys, treats, and several other pet supplies. It is the ONLY book of its' kind providing pet owners with the information they need to know regarding their pet product purchases.

I want to share just a couple more things...

It's best to feed an adult dog or adult cat two meals a day. The nutrition they consume with two meals is better utilized than with just one meal a day. If you are currently feeding your pet one meal a day, split that same amount into two meals and feed in the AM and PM.

You should know that all canned or moist pet foods are anywhere between 70% to 85% moisture. This means that 70% to 85% of that can or pouch of food is useless nutrition - its water. Granted our pets need water, cats especially tend not to drink enough water. But since all canned or moist foods are mostly water, they do not provide adequate nutrition to be fed strictly a canned or moist diet. Use a canned or moist product to supplement your pet's diet - not as the only food.

The best pet foods are preserved naturally (secret #4) - but there is a concern with naturally preserved pet foods. . .freshness. Take notice of the expiration date on your pets food label - typically with naturally preserved dry pet foods (not as much of a concern with soft foods because of canning - very little need of preservatives) the expiration date is one year to 18 months from the date it was manufactured. Let's say the pet food you are considering to purchase on July 1, 2007 has a 'Best if Used by' date of January 1, 2008. This would tell you that this particular bag of pet food is already 6 months old. While it is still 'good' a more healthy food - a tote that's just two or three months old - is much better. Obviously preserved pet foods shed nutrient effectiveness with time. Always attempt to come across an extremely fresh bag.

If you're thinking about altering your pets meals, ALWAYS consult with your Veterinarian first. You need to always maintain your vet advised of any adjustments you make with your pet. Do not take chances. And should you change pet food, then make the shift over very gradually. I always urge to pet owners 1/4 fresh food to 3/4 old meals for 4 days to 7 times, 1/2 to 1/2 for another 4 to 7 times, etc. Shifting food fast can cause gastrointestinal illness! Its short word, but we do not want autoimmune disease!!!

1 final thing, as you're already conscious cats and dogs have a much superior sense of smell than humans. Their food bowl may be a wealth of scents - both bad and good. A few times a furry friend will refuse to eat simply because he or she smells a preceding food in their bowl. Plastic food and water bowls keep scents the worst. And astonishingly so does stainless steel utensils. The ideal sort of water and food bowl is a ceramic one. They keep odors at the least.

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