All pet parents want the best for their fur babies, and we’re fast becoming more and more aware of the importance of a healthy diet for our animals. Just like us, our pets thrive when they’re fed a nutritious diet of natural foods. Every pet owner should strive to feed their dog the best diet possible if they want them to enjoy a long and healthy life.

Unfortunately, many common dog food brands include ingredients that are low-quality and harmful to the health of our pets. This can lead to serious lifestyle problems in the long term, including illness and even death. If you want to keep your pet as healthy as possible — for as long as possible — here are some dog food ingredients you and your furry friend should avoid. 

4-D Meats

Dogs thrive off a diet of good quality of protein; however, most dog food is actually lacking in this vital food group. In fact, many popular dog food brands use 4-D meat as the protein source in their products. 4-D meat is an inferior meat sourced from diseased, disabled, dying, or dead animals.

This meat is determined to be “unsuitable” for human consumption; however, many dog food brands make use of it in their dry dog food and wet dog food products. This presents a host of problems for canines, with many becoming sick after they eat 4D meat.

Corn

Corn is a cheap grain that is used as a filler to add volume and weight to many popular dry dog foods. Unfortunately, corn offers almost no nutritional value for dogs, and can actually be harmful to their health. This is because the majority of animals and humans cannot adequately digest unprocessed corn, so in order to make it digestible, it is heavily processed, increasing it’s glycemic index substantially.

Grains

Did you know that dogs can also suffer from allergies? If you have a pet with allergies, you should avoid feeding them dog food that contains grains, as repeated exposure can lead them to develop a serious grain allergy.

Similar to corn, the grain is used as a filler in low-quality dog food to add volume and weight while keeping the cost low.

Where to find healthy and affordable dog food?

Just like humans, dogs thrive when they’re consuming a healthy and nutritious diet. If you want to keep your dog in tip-top health, you should make an effort to feed them high-quality food. It can be difficult to source good quality dog food if you aren’t sure what you’re looking for, however with some research online; you can educate yourself about the type of food your dog should be eating. Depending on the age of your dog and its breed, they may have specific nutritional needs, so it’s important to conduct some research and educate yourself. If you aren’t sure what you should be feeding your dog, you can ask your veterinarian for advice.

Starting your search for high-quality dog food can be easily done online. There are plenty of educational websites offering tips on how to best care for your canine friend. Plus, ordering your dog food online is convenient and simple to do, and you can have it delivered directly to your door — saving you the effort of searching the pet store! 

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