So, you think you know what dog food is preferred for the animal. You bypass the Purina dog chow, because that's obviously garbage, and you gravitate to the Science Diet because it's recommended and sold by most vets.


Then, you do a bit of research and find that the following ingredients are desired:

Desired Ingredients: The first ingredient should be meat protein (any kind). Other good ingredients are meat meal (any kind), rice, barley, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, sunflower oil.

You also discover that some ingredients are better left out of the food:

Not desired Ingredients: Meat by-products (any kind), cheap indigestible fillers like corn, brewer's yeast/rice and soy, known allergens like wheat, vegetable oil



Now, you check out the labels of various products. The first 10 ingredients are listed.



1. Orijen: Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, potato, whitefish, chicken fat, sweet potato, eggs, turkey, salmon meal

2. Innova EVO: Turkey, chicken, turkey broth, chicken broth, chicken meal, herring, carrots, eggs, salmon, flavorings

3. Wellness Core: Turkey, chicken, turkey meal, chicken meal, potatoes, tomato pomace, natural chicken flavor, canola oil, liver, salmon

4. Chicken Soup/Dog Lover's Soul: Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, fish meal, barley, brown rice, oatmeal, millet, white rice, chicken fat

5. Blue Wilderness: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Potato, Turkey Meal, Whitefish Meal, Salmon Meal, Tomato Pomace, Chicken Fat, Oatmeal, Natural Chicken Flavor

6. Nature's Variety/Instinct: Duck Meal, Turkey Meal, Salmon Meal, Canola Oil, Tapioca, Tomato Pomace, Pumpkinseeds, Herring Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Montmorillonite Clay

7. Taste of the Wild: Bison, venison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison

8. Canidae: Lamb meal, brown rice, barley, rice bran, peas, millet, canola oil, lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor

9. Merrick's:Turkey, turkey broth, duck, chicken, chicken broth, liver, brown rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas

10. Natural Balance: Chicken, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Barley, Duck Meal, Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken Fat, Tomato Pomace

11. Solid Gold: Ocean Fish Meal, Beef, Potatoes, Canola Oil, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavoring, Salmon Oil, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root

12. Nutro: Broth, lamb, chicken, turkey, chicken liver, beef liver, rice, eggs, tricalcium phosphate, guar gum

13. California Natural: Lamb meal, brown rice, sunflower oil, rice, flavors, potassium chloride, vitamins, salt, rosemary

14. Newman's Own: Chicken, water, salmon, whitefish, rice, flaxseed, oatbran, kelp, guar gum, carageenan

15. Hill's Science Diet: Water, chicken, ground whole grain, corn, barley, soy, liver, dicalcium phosphate, salt, iron oxide

16. Pedigree: Water, chicken by-products, meat by-products, chicken, liver, beef, egg, tomato, vegetable oil

17. Cesar's: Water, chicken, liver, beef, meat by-products, starch, wheat, salt, potassium chloride, zinc sulphate

18. Alpo: Corn, bone meal, soy, chicken By-Products, Animal Fat, Poultry By-Product Meal, Rice, Salt, Iron Oxide, Calcium Carbonate

19. Kibbles 'n Bits: Corn, soybean meal, bone meal, wheat, animal fat, corn syrup, wheat middlings, water, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol

20. Purina Dog Chow: Corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat, corn gluten meal, bone meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, barley, wheat



See any correlation between advertising and the quality of the product?

Apparently, most veterinarians value the money more than the animal.