Keep Your Dog Healthy By Avoiding These Harmful Ingredients
A dog is men’s best friend, and to be honest, nobody wants to give the harmful ingredients to their lifelong companion. However, you might be giving this lovely creature some food that contains terrible ingredients without knowing. As a result, your dog’s health might take a serious hit because of these poor quality dog foods.
What is Dog Food
Wikipedia defines Dog food as follows: Dog Food is food specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of carnivores, better suited for the consumption of meat than of vegetable substances, yet also have 10 genes that are responsible for starch and glucose digestion, as well as the ability to produce amylase, an enzyme that functions to break down carbohydrates into simple sugars - something that carnivores lack. Dogs evolved the ability living alongside humans in agricultural societies, as they managed on scrap leftovers from humans.
Avoid These Ingredients At All Costs
Nowadays, even big brands cannot be trusted, and most of them contain ingredients that can seriously damage the health of your dog and might create lifelong health issues. Following is the list of ingredients you need to avoid at all costs to keep your dog healthy.
4-D Meat Products
Many pet foods use 4-D meat products that literally stands for diseased, disabled, dying, or dead1. Pet food producers will save meat for their own purposes, which can trigger chronic illnesses and impaired cognitive ability in dogs.
Corn
Believe it or not, corn is not going to contribute to your dog’s health. Instead, it can make your dog sick by increasing his blood sugar. With low nutritional value and a high glycemic index compared to other grains, corn only works as a filler.
Grains
If your dog has allergies, then grains can be extremely harmful to your dog. Grains are mainly used to change the texture of the dog food or to increase volume. Even if your dog does not have any allergy, you should avoid grain to be on the safe side.
Preservatives, Dyes, and Other Add-ins
BHA, or butylated hydroxyanisole, is one of the most dangerous preservatives. BHA is also known as carcinogen and has been proven to cause kidney and liver disease in rodents. Another preventable preservative is ethoxyquin, which is also not approved in pet foods2.
Pet food coloring can trigger an allergic reaction, cancer, and behavioral issues. Red 40, Blue 2, and Yellow 5 and 6 are proven to affect a dog's health. However, all types of dye may be dangerous. You must also check the list of ingredients for propylene glycol in dog treats and soft dog foods.
Tips for Choosing a Good Dog Food
You should be able to understand the labels on different dog foods to get the best product available3. Another tip is to try to find a statement from the Association of Animal Feed Control Officials. AAFCO demands the dog food to provide a complete nutrition meal for your dog. Luckily, all the manufacturers of dog food are bound to print the minimum amount of fat and protein in their dog food. The label indicates which age group of dogs should consume it, so purchase accordingly.
How to Find Deals on Healthy Dog Food
Doing your research is your best bet so that you can make an informed decision. Always consult the vet if you are not sure of the requirements of your dog’s diet. Once you know what your dog needs, you can carry on searching for the best food available to meet his diet’s requirement.
The key to finding healthy dog food is checking the ingredients carefully. Dog food with safe and nutritious ingredients is bound to make your dog healthy and happy. Searching for dog food online4 is the best way possible as you get to compare different products with pros and cons.
1. https://www.petsafe.net/learn/pet-food-the-good-the-bad-and-the-healthy
2. https://www.eatthis.com/bad-dog-food-ingredients/
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