Mythconception monday

  MythConception:  "Pet food labeled 'Grain Free', means it is species appropriate for dogs and cats"

FALSE.

Just because a food is labeled "natural", or "grain free", doesn't mean it's an appropriate food to feed to you dog or cat. 

Follow Dr. Royal's "Quick Guide" for how to properly assess your pets food, so they can achieve wild health!

Ignore pictures & the potentially misleading words and pictures on the front of the package. You can read them later. Go directly to the:

INGREDIENTS
  -Ingredients are listed in order of weight before processing the food. 
  -Are the  meats or fish the first and maybe the second and third ingredient (s)? This is a good sign. 
  -The next ingredients should not combine to be a lot carbohydrates. (Grains, potatoes, chickpeas, flours, corn, etc.)
  -Are there unneeded fillers, toxins, chemicals, dyes, and proteins from non-meats?
  -Is there ingredient splitting to move unwanted (carbs usually) further down the list?
  -Make a general assessment of what the ingredient list looks like to you -- healthy or not?

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Protein, Fat & Carbs are the three main components of food. One goes up and the other goes down.

It's time for a little math...

   Guaranteed Analysis:

•   Protein should be greater than 40%.
•   Fat should be greater than 30%. 
•   Carbohydrates should be less than 30% and preferably less than 20%.

How To Calculate Carbohydrate Percentage 
(Because they do not usually put it on the label!)

• Dried Food -- including kibble and freeze dried

       -From the Guaranteed Analysis, add the "Crude Protein" percentage to the "Crude Fat" percentage
       -Subtract this total from 100% giving you a rough estimate of the percentage of carbohydrates. 

• Wet Food --Wet Foods include canned foods, most commercially prepared raw foods, and semi-moist foods. 

       -Subtract the moisture content from 100% to get the total dry matter amount. 
       -Subtract from this number both the percentage fat and the percentage protein. 
       -Divide that number by the total dry matter amount and multiply by 100. This will be a rough estimate of           the percentage of carbohydrate in the diet. 
    Example:
     100 - 78% moisture = 22%
     22 - 2% fat = 22%
     20% - 5.5% = 14.5
     14.5 divided by 22 = 0.659 x 100
          = 69% carbs in this wet food.

In an ever changing pet food market, it's hard to support companies that have ethical practices and are doing their best to provide your pet with a biologically appropriate diet. Through tips like these, we hope to empower you to accomplish the extraordinary and keep the animals in your life, wildly healthy!

Looking for more information regarding animal nutrition? Take a look at our courses and materials to learn more!