Instructions
Look on the ingredients list for all-natural foods that you recognize: beef, chicken, duck, lamb, brown rice, vegetables. These are high-quality ingredients and are readily digestible nutrient sources your pet's body can use.
Note whether the food includes carbohydrate fillers like cornmeal, wheat, soy and white rice. Stay away from foods loaded with these fillers because they are indigestible to your pet and provide no nutrients whatsoever. Wheat and soy are even known allergens.
Learn about animal by-product meal. It's a common pet food filler made from the feet, feathers, hooves, beaks and hair of other animals. Animal by-product meal is commonly used to boost the protein content on the guaranteed analysis, but it is indigestible to your pet and they cannot absorb any protein from these materials.
Invest in foods that use meat meal, which is meat without its water content. Meat meal is a highly concentrated protein source that pet's bodies can absorb readily.
Identify chemical additives and steer clear of foods that contain them. Any artificial food colorings and preservatives like BHA, BHT and other long chemical words you cannot pronounce have been known to cause harmful effects on pets--even though they are generally recognized as safe. Instead, look for natural sources of preservatives like antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, and no colorings at all.
Check the guaranteed analysis chart to make sure certain minerals have been included in the food. Dogs need a daily supply of calcium, magnesium, sodium and phosphorous, and cats need taurine and magnesium for optimal health. You can find this information in the ingredients list as well as the guaranteed analysis chart.
Look for an indication of how the food is made. High-quality foods are always proud of their nutrient-preserving processing methods and will usually state that somewhere on the bag.
How to Spot a High Quality Pet Food
Pet food ingredients are not all created equal as you can tell by the price differences among pet food! You'll want to know how to spot high quality ingredients, complete nutrition that includes vitamins and minerals pets need and food that does not include harmful chemical additives of any kind.