When we understand the purpose of the ingredients and their side effects, then it can help us determine if the food we are feeding our pets is healing or harming them. 
It’s so important for us to understand what our pets need in their diet to not only survive, but to thrive in life. Understanding what is in the food we feed our pets every morning and every night is crucial to obtaining optimal health for them. And they rely on us to feed them what their body requires.
The history of kibble dates back a little more than 80 years ago by a man who created a biscuit-type treat made of meat for his dog. After that, an American corporation looked into gaining an ingredient panel to create dog food in a kibble form that would be convenient for humans to feed and create a profit for the company processing it. When it was introduced, it was in response to the high cost of meat during the Great Depression and was heavily promoted at the end of WWII when it gained popularity for its convenience, ease of distribution and low cost.
The dog food manufacturers would overcook the meat to powder form, then would put it through an extruding process to form what is now called kibble. We should understand what is put in that kibble so that we can make sure our dogs are getting the nutrients that they need. We know that a high heat extrusion process does cook most of the nutrition out of the food and therefore these dry dog food manufacturers have to add in synthetic vitamins to make up for the loss of the nutrition in the extrusion process.
It’s also important to know the sourcing of the ingredients. Did the meat that they used for their kibble food come from slaughterhouse waste, euthanized or roadkill? Or did the meat come from high-quality grass-fed animals, living free on a farm that died with no rise in cortisol levels? Were the vegetables all organic or were they sprayed with pesticides? Did the chicken get raised on antibiotics and hormones? When looking at the ingredient panel, the first ingredient should always be a named meat. An example would be chicken instead of the term “animal meat” or “meat meal.” You want to look for whole ingredients that you recognize, as in vegetables, as the ingredient following the meat. The ingredients to follow will be a variety of fillers, carbohydrates and synthetic vitamins.
Fillers will contain ingredients like rice, corn and grains. The carb count on a bag of food is never listed. There is a calculator to find the percentage of carbs in the diet. And that’s important to know, especially because carbs can lead to weight gain, diabetes, allergies, poor digestion and organ failure. Those ingredients would be the starchy foods.
Synthetic vitamins are sprayed on at the end of the extrusion to make up for the loss of nutrition that is cooked out of the food. There’s a minimum level of vitamin and minerals required to avoid disease. Excess amounts of synthetic vitamins and minerals can also cause devastating disease. There is a minimum requirement in the pet food industry that is overseen by American Association of Feed Control Operators (AAFCO). Most of the names will sound like chemicals. Every synthetic vitamin comes with risks and side effects.
When we understand the purpose of the ingredients and their side effects, then it can help us determine if the food we are feeding our pets is healing or harming them. If we are harming them, we will continue to see itchy issues, lethargy, food rejection, vomiting, diarrhea, massive shedding, bad breath and bad oral hygiene, to name a few. If we are feeding a species-appropriate diet that is healing them, we will see a shiny coat, consistent energy all day, less itchiness if any, healthy bowel movements, lean build and happy behavior.
We all strive to have healthy pets. With all the research and studies available to us, we can all accomplish a healthy diet for them. And together, we will live in a better place! QCBN
By Sandy Haffner
Sandy Haffner is a pet nutrition specialist and owner of Preskitt’s Pawz ‘N’ Clawz.
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