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Dear Zelda, Dear Zelda, My husband and I have a dog we love more than anything. At the same time, we’re trying to save enough money for the down payment on a house. We watch every penny and though we would like to eat steak and serve our dog premium dog food, our present plan doesn’t give us a lot of room to splurge. Do you have any recommendations for a healthy, nutritious dog food that won’t break the bank? Food For Thought Dear Food For Thought, If it’s true that we are what we eat then I’m definitely looking like a glazed doughnut with a hole smack dab in the center. Of course that’s just my fantasy and perhaps I’m like Cinderella when I say “A dream is a wish your heart makes.” In reality, however, I’d be wise to advise you to beware of any budget that has you skimping on healthy food either for yourself or your dog. Eating well does make a difference and I don’t think I’d be twelve years old if I hadn’t been fed a nutritious diet. Your concern is about the cost and your question is how to find quality food for your canine without breaking the bank. Let me start by signaling that every dog is different so begin by knowing your dog. Is your dog allergic to foods? What is your dog’s age? Is your dog overweight or underweight? There are a lot of dog food companies out there vying for your attention so BEWARE of pretty packaging (there may be pictures of vegetables on the bag, but are they listed in the ingredients?) If you spend some time on research you’ll have a better understanding of what will be the best healthy dog food for your dog. Take your check list to the store and look for the following criteria: First, put on those magnifying glasses you picked up at the drug store and carefully read the ingredients on the package. The list of ingredients legally must be in descending order, which means the most prevalent part of the food is listed first and then followed by each ingredient in order by weight. If your dog needs a diet low in protein, look for a dog food with several carbohydrates listed in the top five ingredients. If Fido needs high protein, consider a dog food with the first two ingredients as meat products. Chicken, lamb or fish should be the first ingredient followed closely by veggies and fruits. Things to watch out for include: no animal by products, no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and no corn, wheat or soy proteins (glutens). As for finding a high quality dog food that doesn’t break your piggy bank, recently Science Diet released data claiming that Hill’s Science Diet will cost an average of $3.90 more per month than the leading grocery brand. You can check out this information at http://www.feedingisbelieving.com. If upgrading your dog’s food costs only $3.90 a month… sounds pretty afford-a-bull to me. Even stores like Costco carry nutritious dog treats. Last month I tried some ‘doglicious’ new organic, healthy biscuits called Wet Noses All Natural Dog Treats (www.wet-noses.com). These came from Costco, and the cost, as you might suspect, was very reasonable. Of course, the best way to know what goes into your dog’s food is to make it yourself, and if you’re a cost conscious shopper, homemade dog food can even cost you less than a packaged pet food. There are many websites that offer healthy recipes but the one I found most helpful was http://www.ehow.com. I know you want the best dog food for your furry family member and there are a lot of reasonable, high quality, commercial dog foods that will keep your dog healthy. Take time to read and understand the labels on the packages or research homemade recipes that can fit within your budget. When you think about buying food for your dog, think ingredients and compare prices. This will help keep your canine’s food cost effective. By the way, when I look longingly at a donut, I wisely choose to eat the hole. Zelda Share this column with a friend! |
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