When you look closely at the ingredients, it’s pretty clear that in nearly every case, prescription dog food is just regular food with a new label and a much bigger price tag. Sure, there are some extra ingredients, but they are WAY down on the label.
Manufacturers are aggressively competing against one another in the lucrative pet food market, by introducing ‘new’ versions of food. Many of these trends parallel our own foodie trends:
- continued emphasis on protein – including alternative protein sources like quinoa and lentils
- vegan or vegetarian food
- low protein food
- grain-free is now almost half the market in dog food
- prescription diets
- food formulated for small dogs
- breed-specific food such as Royal Canin kibble for Yorkshire Terriers
Trendy new dog foods are all about PROFITS
These “new” dog foods aren’t really new, and they aren’t designed with your dog’s health first. They’re designed to increase PROFITS for pet food manufacturers.
Before you shell out big bucks for these specialty foods, take a closer look and be sure you’re not being manipulated by this multibillion dollar industry.
Let’s look at an example of prescription dog food vs regular food
Dana Scott from Dogsnaturallymagazine.com has just written an extensive review of prescription dog food, versus regular store food.
It’s hard to see how prescription dog food, or veterinary diets, are worth the premium pricing. Here’s an example from dogsnaturallymagazine.com.
Here, we compare the ingredients ABOVE the named fat, which represent the bulk of what’s in the food. (Read more about how dog food ingredients are listed in this blog)
PRESCRIPTION DIET
Hill’s Science Diet Healthy Mobility Dry Dog Food for Joint Health
Chicken Meal
Whole Grain Wheat
Brewers Rice
Whole Grain Sorghum
Cracked Pearled Barley
Brown Rice
Soybean Meal
Dried Beet Pulp
Chicken Liver Flavour
Pork Fat
So, as you can see, the main ingredients are the same in both foods. What’s different? THE PRICE!
REGULAR DIET
Ingredients from Iams Veterinary Formula Joint Plus Dry Dog Food
Chicken by-product meal
Corn meal
Ground sorghum
Ground whole barley
Chicken (meal or whole)
Chicken flavour
Dried Beet Pulp
Chicken Fat
In most markets, the prescription food is almost TWICE AS MUCH MONEY as the regular food.
As with all my columns, this information is for your consideration. Please do not make changes to your dog’s diet, medication or exercise plan without consulting a professional.
Our pets are getting progressively fatter and sicker eating processed pet food.
The best prescription: a whole, healthy diet for your Morkie
Your Morkie is a carnivore and needs quality meat. Yet commercial food can be nothing but empty calories, and stuff like CORN which isn’t what dogs need. Or worse, processed dog food can contain carcinogens, triggering cancer.
Dr. Karen Becker, of healthypets.Mercola.com offers a NEW list of Best to Worst Ranking of 13 Pet Foods.
From the best – Nutritionally balanced raw homemade diet to the worst, an unbalanced homemade diet, raw or cooked.
Here’s Dr. Becker’s list:
Nutritionally balanced raw homemade diet
Nutritionally balanced cooked homemade diet
Commercially available balanced raw food diet
Dehydrated or freeze-dried raw diet
Commercially available cooked or refrigerated food
Human-grade canned food
Super premium canned food
Human-grade dry food
Super premium dry food
Grocery store brand canned food
Grocery store brand dry food
Semi-moist pouched food
Unbalanced homemade diet, raw or cooked