Healthy Pet Food Tips

The list is intended as a starting point for your own research - it is a list we are compiling of pet foods deemed safe by the pet food companies themselves. It is neither an endorsement of any pet foods listed, nor is it a complete list of all pet foods not being recalled. And, even though a brand is listed, we cannot guarantee the food is safe. Therefore, it is your responsibility to verify the safety of the brand you're interested in with the pet food company and/or the FDA. Links to their websites have been provided when possible.

WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT ON THE LIST

The majority of this list is pet foods that have NOT been recalled since the start of the pet food recalls on March 16, 2007. However, because of the many emails we've had asking why recalled foods are not on the list we will now list those brand names as well.

Deciding what to feed your pet isn't easy these days, especially after the FDA's unprecedented pet food recall in 2007 that pulled more than 100 brands off store shelves. The culprit of the contaminated food was wheat gluten poisoned with melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers. The tainted food caused kidney failure and other illnesses, and may have killed thousands of pets.

Frightening recalls and poisonings aside, there are plenty of other reasons to be aware of what's in your animal's food. A good diet keeps your pet's coat healthy and keeps his digestive system running smoothly. Also, you pay for what you get: Foods with a lot of fillers are cheaper but less nutritious. Just as with human food, good ingredients will go a long way toward giving your pet a long, healthy life.

Careful
Learn to decipher labels on commercial pet foods. The most important parts of the label are the nutritional adequacy statement and ingredients list. The former tells you whether a food is suitable as the sole nourishment for a healthy pet, as judged by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. The label will specify that the product "provides complete and balanced nutrition." Look for labels that state that the food has been tested using AAFCO procedures. A well-formulated cat or dog food will list chicken, beef, lamb, poultry, or fish meal first (ingredients are listed in order of weight).

Cats are carnivores and dogs are omnivores, so both need their meat. Bonemeal and other meat by-products are poorer sources of protein. Soy, rice, oats, yeast, wheat, corn, and other fillers provide protein but aren't as digestible, so look for foods that list these lower in the ingredients. Manufacturers sometimes try to mask the amount of fillers in pet foods by breaking them into components.
http://www.wikidweb.com/wiki/Health-pain.blogspot.com