Pet Digest

How to Read the Ingredient Panel and Guaranteed Analysis on Dog Food When choosing the best food for your furry companion, flashy packaging and marketing buzzwords can be misleading. The real truth? It's in the ingredient panel and the guaranteed analysis (GA). These two sections tell you what’s really in the bag — and how much of it. If you’ve ever flipped a bag of dog food over and felt overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Let’s break it down so you can shop smarter. --- 🥩 Ingredient Panel: What’s Really in There? The ingredient list tells you what’s in the food, listed in descending order by weight before cooking. What to Look For: ✅ Named animal protein first. You want to see things like “chicken,” “turkey meal,” or “beef” listed first — not "corn," "wheat," or "by-products." ✅ Whole ingredients. Look for recognizable items like sweet potato, oats, peas, blueberries, salmon oil, etc. ✅ Meal vs. Meat: Chicken Meal is concentrated and has more protein tha...

🐾 Carbs in Dog Food: What Pet Food Labels Aren’t Telling You When shopping for dog food, most pet parents focus on protein and fat content—but what about carbohydrates? Surprisingly, many pet food labels leave this information out entirely. Here’s why carbs matter, how to calculate them yourself, and what it means for your dog’s health. --- 🧐 Why Are Carbs Hidden? Unlike human food labels, pet food in North America isn’t required to list carbohydrate content. Instead, they focus on: Crude protein Crude fat Moisture Fiber Ash (sometimes) This means you’ll have to do the math yourself if you want to know how much of your dog’s food is made up of carbs. --- 📊 How to Calculate Carbs in Dog Food Use this simple equation: 100 - (Protein% + Fat% + Moisture% + Fiber% + Ash%) = Carbohydrates% > ⚠️ If ash isn’t listed (it often isn’t), assume 8% for kibble-based diets. Example: Let’s say a dog food lists: Protein: 25% Fat: 15% Moisture: 10% Fiber: 4% Ash (not listed): Assume 8% 100 - (25 +...

Why I Don’t Like Royal Canin or Science Diet Dog Food And Why You Might Want to Rethink What’s in Your Dog’s Bowl As a dog lover and pet parent who truly cares about what goes into my pup’s body, I’ve spent a lot of time researching dog food ingredients, reading labels, and watching how my dog reacts to different foods. Two of the most recommended brands by vets—Royal Canin and Hill’s Science Diet—are often praised as premium dog food. But after doing a deeper dive, I’ve come to a firm conclusion: I don’t like Royal Canin or Science Diet, and I wouldn’t feed them to my dog. Here’s why. --- 🚫 1. They’re Loaded with Fillers One of the first things that made me question these brands was the ingredients list. Despite their premium price tag, the first few ingredients often include corn, wheat, soy, and brewers rice—none of which are high-quality fuel for a carnivorous animal. These ingredients are cheap fillers used to bulk up the food and keep costs low for the manufacturer—not to provid...