There are a handful of ingredients found in poor quality food that should be avoided to ensure that your dog remains healthy and strong for its lifetime with you. Avoiding these ingredients will allow your dog to receive proper nutrition and quality in their food. By doing this you prolong their life, set them up for less illness or a shorter duration of illness, and inevitably lower your vet bills. Animal Digest One of the most, if not THE worst ingredient you could possibly feed your best friend. This "ingredient" consist of unspecified pieces of unspecified animals from unknown sources which is cooked down into a gruel. Animal digest can contain things like slaughtered animals, animals that died of disease or were disabled at the slaughterhouse, roadkill, useless scraps of meat not fit for human consumption and worst of all - euthanized pets. Poultry Byproduct Byproducts are famous for being controversial, but the reality is that the parts and pieces of poultry that go into this "ingredient" includes everything we do not consume. These ingredient are often unfit for human consumption and include parts such as under-developed eggs, intestines, ligaments, blood, feet, foetuses and carcasses. Animal Fat Rendered fat from unspecified animals that can also contain rancid restaurant grease and oils that have been labelled as unfit for human consumptions. Corn Whether it's corn, corn meal, corn gluten meal or any other corn product, it is a cheap filler and inexpensive form of protein that dog food companies use to cut costs when manufacturing their kibble. Corn is not easily digested by dogs, nor is it a healthy source of protein. It is highly unnatural for carnivorous canines, and is one of the leading allergen sources for pets in our modern world. Corn contributes to making our pets bodies sluggish, while contributing to that "dog smell" that many pet owners complain about. Beef Tallow This is another gross ingredient that has no place in your dog's food, consisting of rendered fat and tissue from cattle. Whether or not the cattle was diseased, disabled or dead before slaughter is unknown since there are zero regulations for it. Oat Hulls / Rice Hulls / Other Hulls Hulls are extremely inexpensive and utterly useless to our pets, often taken from processing for human food. This kind of product acts strictly as a filler to bulk up and bind kibble. There is no nutritional value other than difficult to digest fiber. Salt Extra salt in pet food is as unhealthy for them as it is for us and there is absolutely no need for salt to be included in a kibble, treat or food. There is enough sodium in healthy, whole meat that there is no need for any additional salt to a dogs diet. Flavouring / Colour A good quality kibble has no use for flavouring or colour, since both of those things are often chemical additives that do no good for our pets. These are added strictly to encourage your dog to eat the food, and also to make it more visually appealing to you. If the kibble is coloured, don't buy it! Ethoxyquin Ethoxyquin is used as a preservative in many pet foods and should be avoided at all costs. This chemical is believed to contribute to kidney damage, liver damage, cancer, hair loss, eye disease, chronic colitis and more by many reputable veterinarians.
The ingredients I have listed as the main components of a bad quality kibble, and should be avoided. In order to determine what a good quality food is, read my "The Best Dog Foods" article. Consider switching to a raw food diet or a homemade diet where you can control the quality and ingredients yourself. A raw food diet is the very best nutrition you could provide your pet with, but there are also very good kibble options on the market that promote health and well-being! Get informed and be an advocate for your dog! Don't forget to like K9 Instinct on Facebook to get new blog updates and news!
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Angel K9 Instinct
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