How do I choose a nutritious and safe brand of pet food for my dog and cat?
“Price can tell you a lot about the food. The ingredients that go into it are expensive,” says Hilary Busch, D.V.M, with M-20 Animal Hospital of Midland. “As a rule of thumb, the highest quality foods are sold only in pet stores.” Dr. Busch also recommends that pet owners stick to trusted brands of pet food and that they look at the ingredients list. Generally, it’s important to have the first ingredient, which is the main ingredient, be a protein source like chicken or lamb, she says. Lower quality pet foods will list corn as their first ingredient, which is a cheaper protein. “Higher quality foods are not more expensive because you don’t go through more,” Dr. Busch says. “Your pet will have to eat more food that uses cheaper proteins as the main ingredient and will defecate more often.” As far as food safety is concerned, Dr. Busch says that in the event of another pet food scare, such as the melamine contaminated pet food that sickened and killed animals in 2007, owners could feed t
