Protein
Protein is the most important nutrient for your dog or cat because they are carnivores and their digestive tracts are designed to absorb, digest, and utilize animal based protein. Technically dogs require some carbohydrates but the amount they require is very very small. Cats on the other hand can live happy healthy lives without any carbohydrates. Cats are obligatory carnivores meaning they require meat in their diet. Plant based protein is much harder for our pets to absorb then animal protein. The simplest way to think of this is that a cow has a digestive tract that is 20 times longer then it's body with 4 stomachs and the grass is chewed as cud for long periods of time. The grass is being digested for up to 3 days and the cow still only gets half the nutrition out of it. A dog has a digestive tract that is roughly 7 times it's body length and does not chew it's cud. A dog also does not produce the same enzymes to break up the vegetation that a cow does and finally the food is being digested for 8-16 hours. Cats are even less equipped to digest vegetation. The protein percentage listed on the bag is CRUDE protein not digestible. Shoe leather is 80% protein but it's not in a usable form. As pet parents it is our responsibility to make sure there is a sufficient quantity of quality digestible protein in our pets foods.
There are 3 ways I look at animal protein.
Is is a by-product? - By definition meat by-products contain zero meat. Chicken by-products usually contain one of the following - necks, intestines (large and small with whatever was inside them when the animal died), or feet. Now I have no problem with my dog eating any of those parts, but if he eats 2 feet I want him eating 1 neck, and 2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs, 1 liver, 1 heart ect. The problem is not that a dog or cat can't digest these parts but that these parts do not contain a balance of nutrition that a dog would get from a whole chicken. Not to mention it is not easily digested protein and can cause kidney and liver failure if they eat it daily.
Is it in meal or in fresh form? Neither of these forms is bad but it is important to know the difference. "Fresh" meat (Ex: "Chicken") contains a high amount of water content. This water content evaporates during cooking as the food is brought down to it's 10% moisture content. Based on the starting moisture content a fresh meat source will lose from 50% - 80% of it's weight. "Meal" form (Ex: "Chicken meal") means that same meat has had the water removed and is a concentrated protein source that retains 99% of it's weight through the cooking process. So why does this matter? Manufactures are limited to about 25% fresh meat. If they use any more it clogs up the processing equipment and because ingredient lists are formulated from pre-cooked weights the most "fresh" meat that will make it to your dogs bowl is about 12.5% of the finished product. That is no where near enough. So when you see a fresh meat know that by the time it makes it to your pets bowl it should be considered further down the ingredient list. Meat meals give us confidence in the amount of meat that makes it to Fido's bowl.
Is it a generic meat source or a specified meat source? Poultry, animal, and fish are all generic words. What kind of poultry? What kind of animal? The problem with generic poultry is that it could be any bird that died in any way from anywhere. Crows that were roadkill, seagulls found on the beach, ect. The word animal is very scary, cows that died from any sort of blood born pathogen, euthanize dogs and cats from shelters (where do you think they go?) There are giant rendering plants that take in meat from anywhere and turn it into "animal meal" and "animal fat" or "animal by-product meal" then these ingredients are bought by pet food manufactures. The truth is the manufacture probably has very little idea what is in their own food. If a manufacture is cutting corners in this area where you can see it, what corners are being cut where you can't see them?
Specified meat sources are slaughtered with the purpose of consumption so no road kill or sick animals and if it says chicken, they mean chicken.
There are 3 ways I look at animal protein.
Is is a by-product? - By definition meat by-products contain zero meat. Chicken by-products usually contain one of the following - necks, intestines (large and small with whatever was inside them when the animal died), or feet. Now I have no problem with my dog eating any of those parts, but if he eats 2 feet I want him eating 1 neck, and 2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs, 1 liver, 1 heart ect. The problem is not that a dog or cat can't digest these parts but that these parts do not contain a balance of nutrition that a dog would get from a whole chicken. Not to mention it is not easily digested protein and can cause kidney and liver failure if they eat it daily.
Is it in meal or in fresh form? Neither of these forms is bad but it is important to know the difference. "Fresh" meat (Ex: "Chicken") contains a high amount of water content. This water content evaporates during cooking as the food is brought down to it's 10% moisture content. Based on the starting moisture content a fresh meat source will lose from 50% - 80% of it's weight. "Meal" form (Ex: "Chicken meal") means that same meat has had the water removed and is a concentrated protein source that retains 99% of it's weight through the cooking process. So why does this matter? Manufactures are limited to about 25% fresh meat. If they use any more it clogs up the processing equipment and because ingredient lists are formulated from pre-cooked weights the most "fresh" meat that will make it to your dogs bowl is about 12.5% of the finished product. That is no where near enough. So when you see a fresh meat know that by the time it makes it to your pets bowl it should be considered further down the ingredient list. Meat meals give us confidence in the amount of meat that makes it to Fido's bowl.
Is it a generic meat source or a specified meat source? Poultry, animal, and fish are all generic words. What kind of poultry? What kind of animal? The problem with generic poultry is that it could be any bird that died in any way from anywhere. Crows that were roadkill, seagulls found on the beach, ect. The word animal is very scary, cows that died from any sort of blood born pathogen, euthanize dogs and cats from shelters (where do you think they go?) There are giant rendering plants that take in meat from anywhere and turn it into "animal meal" and "animal fat" or "animal by-product meal" then these ingredients are bought by pet food manufactures. The truth is the manufacture probably has very little idea what is in their own food. If a manufacture is cutting corners in this area where you can see it, what corners are being cut where you can't see them?
Specified meat sources are slaughtered with the purpose of consumption so no road kill or sick animals and if it says chicken, they mean chicken.
This food probably advertises "fresh chicken is the first ingredient!" on the front of the bag. But knowing that ingredient loses most of it's weight during cooking we know that "chicken by-product meal" is probably the main ingredient in the food. No Bueno!
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While we know that "Deboned Chicken" is probably not the main ingredient, but we can have confidence in the amount of meat because "chicken meal" is the second ingredient and it will not lose it's water weight during cooking.
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While this food starts off well with lamb meal and brown rice we find that the fat used is generic and we have no idea where that fat source is from.
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