Pet owners can easily be overwhelmed by the different kinds of products that flood the pet food aisle of supermarkets. You can easily spend hours checking out each one and evaluating which one will meet your pet’s needs. These tips can help you dig right in and select the right food for your dog or cat:

• Ignore fancy marketing terms like “natural”, “organic”, or “human grade” because these words don’t mean much when you are determining the nutritional value of certain pet food products. A product that is labeled “natural” generally means it does not contain artificial ingredients and underwent minimal processing. Any company can actually label their products “holistic” or “human grade” because there are no regulations that govern such sorts of marketing. If standards of hygiene are not met, even human-grade ingredients can be contaminated with common pathogenic bacteria.
• Products that are labeled “low-fat”, “for weight control”, or “weight management” may suggest that they contain low calories, but this is not always the case. It is much better to look for product that are labeled “low-calorie”, “light”, or “reduced” because these are the ones that are regulated and formulated to conform to specific calorie counts.

Talk to you vets Glendale, AZ if you have any questions and/or concerns about your pet’s diet.