If you were a dog or a cat, which would you prefer?

IF YOU WERE A DOG OR CAT WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER? 

The first set of ingredients is commonly used in commercial processed pellets. The second set of ingredients is commonly used in natural home-made style pet food. If you were a companion animal (or human) which would you prefer???? 

Ingredients:

Chicken meal   Lamb meal   fish meal   chicken   chicken digest   pork liver   barley   sorghum  dried whole egg    cracked pearled barley   ground whole grain corn   pork by-products soybean meal   dried whey   maize  wheat   oatmeal   brewers rice   potato flour   millet ground yellow corn   chicken fat(preserved with mixed Tocpherois)   animal fat   rice flour dried beet pulp   chicken liver flavor   soybean oil   natural flavoring   flaxseed   linseed yeast culture   brewers yeast   salt   iodised salt   sodium scienite   sodium chloride   potassium potassuim chloride   chloride   chlorine chloride   dl-methionine hydroxyanalogue  l-lysine vitamin e supplement   vitamin d3 supplement   d-activate animal sterol   vitamin a acetate niacin   calcium carbonate   calcium iodate   dicalcium phosphate   d-calcium pantothenate biotin    vitamin b12 supplement   riboflavin supplement   thiamine mononitrate   ascorbic ascid pyridoxine hydrochloride   folic acid   iron oxide   manganous oxide   magnesium oxide ferrous sulfate   copper sulfate   zinc oxide  ethyenediamine dihydriodide   zinc proteinate manganous proteinate   iron proteinate   magnesium proteinate   copper proteinate glucosamine hci   marigold extract   chondrotin sulphate

VS 

Ingredients

Chicken   mutton   beef   ostrich   spinach   carrots   celery   parsley   broccoli    sweet potato Butternut   beetroot Brown rice   pearl barley    split peas    lentils    rolled oats    wheat germ Cold pressed olive oil    fennel    basil    rosemary    garlic   mint   sage   thyme   oregano Yeast    lecithin   kelp   calcium  dandelion  vitamin c 

Don’t understand the ingredients??? Don’t  feed it! 

Despite the fact that the pet food industry is a much regulated industry, and that all pet food has to be labeled in terms law, it is very clear that the industry is not open, transparent and forthcoming with their labeling and ingredients. 

Still, it is our responsibility as pet carers and responsible consumers to understand the food that we and our companions consume and understand the jargon written on our labels

The labeling is so complex and the script so small that it is no doubt that the consumer has no chance of understanding the label and deriving at an informed decision.  So often we read of preservatives, colorants, stabilizers and emulsifiers without really understanding what they are or mean. Other terminology that is used which leaves us confused is: “meal, digestives, by-products, fat, flavouring, etc.”  

Remember, your pet food contains very little meat and most of the composition of your companion’s diet is made up from the “other”. This makes it even the more important that you understand what is in fact the bulk of your companion’s diet. 

Most people pick up a bag of kibble or a can of food and read “with chicken or “with beef” and think that they are feeding a diet that contains plump whole chickens or choice cuts of beef. But the law is very clear: 

the “With” rule allows an ingredient name to appear on the label, such as “with real chicken,” as long as each such ingredient constitutes at least 3% of the food by weight, excluding water for processing.

As a responsible and discerning consumer and protector of your companion animal, one has an obligation to scrutinize and understand the labeling and the ingredients contained within your pets nutrition.