Everyone who owns a pet loves and takes care of it as its own family member. It is often seen that the owners pamper these animals with many items to satisfy their needs including toys, pet enclosures, pet accessories, health care, etc. Hence it is obvious that you will be willing to spend a substantial amount on its food so that it can remain fit and healthy.
Important tips to consider while purchasing pet products
Some of the points you need to keep in mind while purchasing the pet products are as follows:
- Proteins form an essential part of their diet and it is very important to keep them energetic. The proteins supplied from the food produce amino acids that do help the animals to perform the usual biological functions of their day-to-day life with ease. Of the 20 amino acids, almost half of them are crucial for dogs while the rest is crucial for cats. The proteins generate the essential amino acids that can not be produced by the animals on their own.
- The pets get dietary fats from different sources such as seed oils and other animal fats. The fats provided by these sources do offer essential fatty acids that their bodies can not otherwise produce naturally. The fats present in their food makes the food adds more flavor into it thus, tempting the pets to have them all for once. Although too much fat in their food does not have the same after-effects as seen in the case of humans such as blocked arteries. However, it affects their body in a completely different manner by causing painful inflammation in their pancreas. Also, a high intake of fatty foods does make them gain excessive weight and become obese similar to humans in this case.
- Carbohydrates involving starches, sugars, and fibers from various sources such as sweet potatoes, peas, lentils, garbanzo beans, etc. Apart from providing energy, carbohydrates play an effective role in keeping the digestive system well-functioning.
- Although we have seen during our childhood cartoons and films that cats easily lick off milk that is filled with cream that contains lactose. However, it is not usually the case with many cats as they have a hard time digesting lactose. Due to this, some of the cats are seen to vomit or suffer from diarrhea
- Some of the ingredients that must not be the part of their foods include
- Carcinogens- You may not even be aware that many of the food you purchase from the supermarket for your favorite pet may contain carcinogens. This is the problem with all sorts of processed foods-both for humans and animals alike… One of the most common carcinogens found in processed pet food is the acrylamide(produced when starchy foods are heated at very high temperatures). Substances of this category can cause several health problems in animals as well as like liver or kidney failure or even early death.
- Preservatives – Many of the food products that are available in the supermarkets are kept fresh by adding preservatives to keep it fresh. Preservatives such as ethoxyquin that are banned in human food are used in the pet food by adding it as preservatives. Also, there are other chemical compounds like Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) that are also used as a preservative. Check out for the chemical compositions of this kind in the label and avoid buying the pet food that has such compositions under its ingredients section.
- Excessive nutrients – Some pet foods have an excessive amount of different nutrients such as vitamins A and D that can turn out to be toxic for pets. Some of the symptoms that they show up are vomiting, loss of appetite, weakness, excessive urination and many more.
- Some of the alternatives to the processed pet foods that you can provide your pets include home-cooked meals that are exactly the food that you have. The benefit of providing home-cooked meals includes avoiding the chances of contracting any particular disease such as salmonella contaminations often suffered by cats as they eat raw food. Another alternative is the proponents of the raw feeding-an an advantage of this choice is that you get to choose the ingredients that will be used to make the meal. In this manner, you are free from worrying about whether if the pets are consuming food with dangerous chemicals in it.
Conclusion
This is thus all you will need to know about the different pet products at the basic level. Hopefully, as new parents to your beloved pets, you may find this article interesting and informative as well.
Note: Try to research and find out more about what else can you do to give your pet the best start in life if it is a newborn in the food you must give it so that it can grow healthy and fit in the future.
