All of us can understand how overwhelming it is to walk into a pet store to the over abundance of pet food options available. How do you choose the right one? And who do you trust to help you make that decision?

Truthfully, there are many correct choices of pet foods, but brand matters. Pet store employees are trained to push preferred brands in their stores. Your veterinarian has your pet’s health in mind and knows your pet’s medical history – trust their opinion first!

Pet store employees are trained to push preferred brands in their stores.

Have you seen the television commercials criticizing the ingredients in your pet’s food? Have you ever read your pet food’s ingredient label to understand its composition? No matter what the ingredient list of your pet food label says, don’t you want the food you feed your pet to have quality control standards similar to food that you eat? I will discuss the anatomy of a pet food label in a later post. But the correct answer is, yes, your pet should be eating food held to the same quality standards as human grade food.

Your pet should be eating food held to the same quality standards as human grade food.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition invites veterinarians from all over the country to visit their headquarters in Kansas where you have opportunities to view their food research facilities and manufacturing plants. Hill’s Pet Nutrition sets many of the standards of pet food contents in the United States through years of research. The quality of their food is demonstrated in the care taken to formulate each diet specifically for a pet’s needs.

Is Hill’s the only pet food company that offers superior pet food and performs their own research? No. Royal Canin and Purina are other pet foods companies that offer similar quality pet food products. All three of these companies produce veterinarian recommended pet foods.

Royal Canin, Purina, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition produce veterinarian recommended pet foods.

What about all of the other pet food companies out there such as 4-Health, Merrick, Honest Kitchen, Rachel Ray, Blue Buffalo, and Taste of the Wild? These companies are all considered to produce off-brand pet food.

Did you know that many off-brand pet food companies borrow manufacturing plants from other companies and there is a low quality control of the food that is being produced at that plant? Did you also know that many pet foods are formulated for “all life stages” and your adult or senior pet could actually be eating a food that is nutritionally formulated for young pets or ones that are lactating? Is your pet’s food one of them?

Comment below with questions about your pet’s food – make sure to include brand and formula name so a thoughtful response can be formulated.