Pet The World

When looking for the best dog food - consider Life’s Abundance. The “best food for dogs” are not all created equal.

STOP

Check your pet food label

Does your pet food contain the following ingredients:

Corn or Wheat - If 2 or more cereals like corn and wheat are among the first 7 ingredients on your label, your pet may not be getting the animal protein it needs to thrive.

By-Products - Animal necks, feet, underveloped eggs, intestines and beaks.

Chemical Preservatives - BHA, BHT or ethoxquin are considered by many professionals to be harmful to animals.

Life’s Abundance Premium Health Foods are formulated by a Holistic Veterinarian

Quality Food + Daily Supplementation = Optimal Nutrition

It took me four brands of Dog Food before I finally found this company.

About The Author

I am Lori Matthews from New Jersey. I have done much research on pet food and the ingredients. I know that it so important what our pets eat. Nutrition affects their everyday life. For more information please visit www.Premium4Pets.com.

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Reading a pet food label, how difficult can it be? You just pick up your regular brand and look at the variety on the front, right? Not so fast! Reading a pet food label isn’t as easy as you may think. It’s not just ingredients and feeding suggestions. There’s also a “secret code” you should know about. The code helps you separate the Chicken Formula from the Chicken Dinner and the Beef and Bacon from the Beef with Bacon. You may be thinking “Aren’t they all the same?” and the answer is no.

While pet food labeling is regulated at the federal level, some states have their own labeling laws. Many follow the Pet Food Regulations established by the AAFOC (Association of American Food Control Officials).

The secret of pet food descriptions are dictated by four AAFCO rules…

1) The 95% Rule - The products that fall under this regulation have simple descriptions such as “Chicken Cat Food” or “Beef for Dogs”. These foods must contain at least 95% (not including water) of the named ingredient. In this case, chicken or beef. If a food description contains more than one meat, poultry or fish ingredient such as “Chicken and Liver Cat Food” , then both ingredients combined must equal 95%, with the first named ingredient being the highest percentage of the two. The 95% rule does not apply to grains and vegetables, so “Chicken and Rice Dog Food” must still contain 95% chicken.

2) The 25% or “Dinner” Rule - If the named descriptive ingredient falls between 25%-94% of the total product (still not counting water), then the description must include a qualifying word such as “Dinner”, “Platter”, “Formula”, etc. As in the first rule two listed ingredients must have be at least 25% of the total weight combined. So, “Chicken Dinner” only has to contain 25% chicken, while “Chicken and Liver Dinner” only has to contain 25% of the two combined. (Minimum of 3% of any named ingredient.) Unlike the first rule, the 25% rule applies to all food, not just meat sources.

3) The 3% or “With” Rule - This is where things get a little sneaky. Any ingredient on a label proceeded by “with” must equal at least 3% of the total weight (minus water). That might sound all right if the food is “Beef with Chicken” (95% beef, 3% chicken), but how does it sound in this form…”Dog Food with Beef”? Yep, that tells you that it only has to contain 3% beef! (Makes you wonder what the other 97% contains doesn’t it?)

4) The “Flavor” rule - There is no percentage attached to an ingredient described as a “flavor”. There only needs to be an amount sufficient enough to be detected by test methods. As you can probably guess “Chicken Flavored Cat Food” may contain very little chicken. In this case it doesn’t even need to be chicken as we normally think about it, but instead can be chicken meal or chicken by-products.

Premium Food - Looking down the pet food aisle you may be attracted to foods listed as “Premium” or “Gourmet”. These descriptive words have no requirements attached to them, so while a “Premium” food may sound like it’s higher quality food, in reality it doesn’t have to be any better than anything else on the shelf.

Now you know the secret of pet food descriptions and can be confident that the next time you’re scanning the different varieties of food for your best friend you’ll be able to tell the difference between “Beef for Dogs”, “Beef Dinner”, or “Dog Food with Beef”.

Jill Richards is the Owner/Operator of
“Have Leash, Will Travel - Pet Sitting” in Aurora, CO and offers t-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers to Pet Professionals, Animal Rescue Workers, Anti-Breed Ban/BSL Fighters, and Pet Lovers through
USPetPros.com

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Many pets today face the same struggle as their owners do when it comes to maintaining a healthy weaight. In fact, I am the owner of an overweight cat named Chubbs who tips the scales at a whopping 25 pounds!

Most people who see Chubbs think that he is just a cute and cuddly great big cat. In fact, many pet owners think that there is no harm in owning an obese pet and like the attention that their porky pets attract.

It is estimated that almost half of all pets are overweight or obese. The problem with allowing your cute critters to turn into portly pets is that they can suffer the same problems as humans that are overweight.

Can you imagine the strain on an obese pets joints trying to lug all that extra weight around? How about the extra work that their heart and organs go through to function? Our overweight and obese pets suffer the same risks that their human owners do when they are overweight.

So, what’s the solution for our overweight pets? For free pet tips and healthy pet recipes visit LittlePawsPetClub.blogspot.com First have your pet examined by a veterinarian. Your veterinarian will be able to tell you the proper weight range for your pet as well as give you some advice to help your porky pet get back into shape.

Also you should be feeding your pet the healthiest diet possible. It has been documented that humans as well as pets bodies will tell them that they should eat (even when they are not hungry) if they are lacking in their nutritional needs. Check into a holistic, all natural diet for your pet.

Also keeping your pet active is a great way to help it maintain its weight. Be sure to have plenty of interactive play time with your pet and supply toys to stimulate your pets activity.

As for my Tubby Chubby, his veterinarian suggested feeding chubbs a very healthy, all natural, high protein cat food and measuring out his servings.

Chubb’s vet also recommended placing chubbs food in a location that would force Chubbs to climb or get some exercise, but not in a spot that was too difficult for him to get to.

I hope that this information has helped to make you aware of what a problem obesity has become with our pets and inspired you to look into a healthy diet and lifestyle for your pets.

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