Choosing a Pet Food

When choosing a pet food, there are several factors that need to be kept in mind: palatability, digestibility, suitability for medical conditions, and cost. Lifestyle feeding is important to meet the nutrient requirement of different age groups, and diets are available for puppies/kittens, adults, and geriatrics.

Other factors that may be important to some people include whether or not the food is "natural" or "organic". One must keep in mind that a term such as "natural" is not legally defined or regulated, and as a result is open to interpretation.

Palatability

Taste is perhaps one of the most important aspects of a pet food. Kibble that is not appealing and tasty to a pet will not be eaten readily. Palatability is a result of the combination of smell, taste, and texture of the food. For example, dogs generally prefer moist food over dry food because the increased water content makes it more appetizing. Pets generally prefer their food served at body temperature, which is normally not necessary, but may be of great assistance in getting an animal that is ill and not interested in food, to eat.

Digestibility

After ingested, food is digested (broken down by enzymes) into nutrients that can be taken up into circulation and distributed around the body, for use as energy and to build organs. Commercial diets can vary greatly in digestibility based on the ingredients used and how they are processed. An estimation of digestibility can be made by measuring the difference between the amount of nutrients in the food and the amount in the feces. Higher digestibility of the food means more energy and nutrients to the body, therefore, resulting in more efficient feeding (decreased feeding costs) and less feces. Furthermore, digestibility can be affected by the physiology of the animal. For example, large and giant breed dogs have an increased gastrointestinal transit time, and can benefit from highly digestible foods.

Diets for Medical Conditions

Feeding a specially formulated diet for a medical condition will not cure the disease, but may slow down the progression or minimize the clinical signs of the illness. Most of these foods are available only from a veterinarian and require a prescription. They are specially formulated to meet the needs of the animal's specific medical conditions and have also gone through extensive palatability and digestibility trials. For example, a dog with heart failure can benefit from a diet lower in salt, reducing the amount of fluid that can pool in the lungs. A dog with kidney impairment or failure requires a lower protein diet to keep clinical signs under control. There are also diets formulated for common problems, such as obesity, diabetes in cats, gastrointestinal problems, food allergies, constipation, joint disease, dental health maintenance, and many more. It is best to consult your veterinarian about these diets as he or she represents your expert source on feeding.

Cost

The cost of food is perhaps one of the greatest driving factors in choosing one diet over another. Feeding a dog can be an expensive endeavor, especially for owners of large and giant breed dogs. In general, there are four categories of diets: the generic grocery store brand, the premium pet store brand, the veterinary products recommended for pets with specific medical issues and the top of the line holistic foods. Of course, as quality of the food increases, so does the price. However, even though the net price of a bag of high quality food may be more, the actual cost of feeding your animal may not be excessively increased. Consider a bag of food purchased at a grocery store: A 9kg bag sells for $25.00. This will feed at 20kg dog for 40 days (if fed according to label directions), working out to a feeding cost of $0.62 a day. On the other hand, an 18kg bag of your highest-quality veterinary exclusive maintenance diet sells for $60.00. When fed to a 20kg dog the bag will last for 81 days (according to label directions), resulting in a feeding cost of $0.74 a day! This small difference in price is almost negligible when considering the benefits of a diet much higher in quality. Furthermore, premium diets are superior because the ingredients used are consistent, and do not depend on which ingredients are cheaper at the time of manufacture. You can be certain that your animal is receiving consistent, high-quality ingredients.
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