What Is The True Value of Pet Food - 

Processed Pet Food Diets

It is easy to be convinced that the cheapest food you buy is going to be the least expensive. There are multiple factors in calculating the true cost of raising a pet. Let's start with pet food ingredients in any product; their cost is in direct proportion to the value.

What really matters

The higher the value, the higher the cost. Additional considerations which affect the true cost of raising dogs and cats are additives, supplements, hygiene, clean-up, litter size, body condition and veterinary care. The only formula that matters and won’t deceive you is: Total cost per day per pet = "TRUE COST."

Generic commercial diets - canned, dry, semi-moist

The predominant ingredients are always plant matter and typically consist of corn, soy, wheat, barley, rice with some cooked meat meals. These are the rations, along with table scraps and junk food treats that cause many of the nutritionally deficient ailments of our pets. These conditions include: 

• weight problems
• skin and coat problems
• digestive problems
• large stool volume
• odor
• urinary problems
• Premium commercial diets - canned, dry

The predominant ingredients are usually cooked meat meals; such as:

• meat and bone meal
• chicken by-product meal 
• fish meal
• plant matter (corn and soybean meal, etc.)

These are somewhat more digestible, but are still lacking many of the natural nutrients that were once there. This is due to the extreme temperatures reached during their cooking processes. 

Next week, we will discuss the comparison of a fresh meat diet and the benefits of feeding your pet a raw diet.