Understanding Pet Nutrition

Whilst owners certainly pay more attention to pet food labels than they used to, recent surveys have suggested that most are still very confused about animal nutrition and what they should actually be looking out for.

One of the main problems seems to be that many pet owners believe the most important nutrient for animals is protein, and this is the one people look out for most on the back of food labels. However, protein is only one of six important nutrients, none of which are more important than the others. In fact, too much protein can be detrimental to health, with an excessively high protein diet being one of the top causes of allergies amongst pets. Furthermore, in the process of prioritising protein, a lot of pet owners completely overlook the importance of minerals and vitamins even though these can be crucial to a pet’s health. Many pet owners also avoid cereals, believing these to be one of the main causes of allergies, yet corn is actually only responsible for around 2% of adverse reactions to food whilst bad reactions to wheat are usually caused by the protein within it, not the cereal itself.

The problem is that people know they need to, and want to, look out for their pet’s health, but they don’t know how to go about doing so. Pet nutrition can be difficult to understand, so the best options are either to consult your vet or do some research online to find out about the best quality foods and supplements to help keep your fluffy companion happy and healthy for years to come.