While it's not a sweeping rule, generally pet food that is higher in animal protein (as opposed to cheaper plant-based protein) is considered more digestible for our furry friends, and better quality overall.
How can you tell if your pet food is high in meat?
In the pet food industry, all ingredients are required to be listed on the label in order of weight. This means that the ingredients listed first make up the largest proportion of the recipe.
Why meat is important
The truth is, modern dogs are actually omnivores. Fifteen thousand years spent living alongside humans has resulted in the development of a highly adaptive canine metabolism, and the evolution of three new genes related to starch and glucose digestion. Domestic even dogs produce carbohydrate-digesting enzymes in their digestive tract which other carnivores, such as cats, do not.
Plant-based ingredients are in fact an important part of a dog's diet as they contribute fibre, as well as important vitamins and minerals that dogs need for longevity. Read more here about the benefits of grains in dog food.
However, while dogs can digest grains and plant-based proteins, they are still best suited to a diet high in meat and animal protein.
This means, when looking at ingredients, it's generally best to look for foods that list meat or animal proteins as the first ingredient, if not the first few ingredients.
An easy rule to use is that if the food contains two out of the first three ingredients as whole-meat sources, it's a winner. However, note that some cheap pet food brands tend to 'split' their carbohydrate ingredients to make them seem like a smaller portion. An example of this is by listing 'wheat' as a second ingredient, and then 'wheat bran' lower down the list. This avoids having to list 'wheat' as the first ingredient and therefore makes another ingredient, such as meat, seem more prominent.
