Dog food-are these ingredients necessary?
Been comparing dog foods again as I'm trying to find a less expensive alternative to the Blue Basics we've been using. Blue Basics contains lots of ingredients like blueberries, cranberries, yucca, p...
Forum Discussion
Dogs (like humans) need certain vitamins and minerals in their diet. Most dog foods insert these nutrients in chemical form, much like you'd find in over the counter vitamin supplements.
The boutique dog (and cat) foods add exotic ingredients (like blueberries and chicory root) because these items are a natural source of the vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet. They believe that these "Food-grown" vitamins and minerals are more readily absorbed and utilized by the body than the artificial chemical extracts are.
You can easily Google the debate over whether food-grown vitamins are absorbed and utilized better than those that are artificially supplied. I'm not willing to participate in a debate on the subject.
I know a lot of dogs that have lived long, healthy lives on grocery store dog chow. I also know a lot of people who have lived long, healthy lives on junk food, McDonalds and beer.
Personally, I feed my dog and cat Wellness brand foods because I like the ingredients list better than that found on any of the major players in the industry. Some of the boutique brands are made in the same factories on the same equipment as the store brands, so I don't trust those. Wellness has never been part of a recall, and they don't share production equipment with any other brands.
Our dog spent her first six years on Kibbles & Bits and Beneful. She has spent the last six years on Wellness wet & dry foods. She is no longer plagued by the terrible seasonal skin allergies she once had, and her annual bloodwork looks better now than it did before. As a parvo survivor, we monitor her pretty closely.
The boutique dog (and cat) foods add exotic ingredients (like blueberries and chicory root) because these items are a natural source of the vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet. They believe that these "Food-grown" vitamins and minerals are more readily absorbed and utilized by the body than the artificial chemical extracts are.
You can easily Google the debate over whether food-grown vitamins are absorbed and utilized better than those that are artificially supplied. I'm not willing to participate in a debate on the subject.
I know a lot of dogs that have lived long, healthy lives on grocery store dog chow. I also know a lot of people who have lived long, healthy lives on junk food, McDonalds and beer.
Personally, I feed my dog and cat Wellness brand foods because I like the ingredients list better than that found on any of the major players in the industry. Some of the boutique brands are made in the same factories on the same equipment as the store brands, so I don't trust those. Wellness has never been part of a recall, and they don't share production equipment with any other brands.
Our dog spent her first six years on Kibbles & Bits and Beneful. She has spent the last six years on Wellness wet & dry foods. She is no longer plagued by the terrible seasonal skin allergies she once had, and her annual bloodwork looks better now than it did before. As a parvo survivor, we monitor her pretty closely.
