Organic Pet Food: The Right Choice for Your Pet?

The idea behind organic pet food has something to do with the saying "you are what you eat." That is to say, it applies to pets as well as humans, and as far as any health conscious pet owner is concerned, organic pet food has become the clear choice.

Pet Food Recalls and Organic Pet Food:

If you owned a pet in March of 2007, you were certainly aware of the pet food recalls.

 

These had to do with contamination in wet pet foods made with wheat gluten rice proteins. The sad truth was that due to the contaminated pet food, over 100 pet owners lost their pets out of over 500 reported cases. This might get any pet owner to make serious changes when it came to where they buy their pet food.

Due to the March 2007 contamination reports, many owners started re-thinking what they fed their pets. I certainly did, and this is when I began researching organic pet food companies.

The first thing to understand about the 2007 recalls is that many of the pet foods recalled came from a company called Menu Foods. However, Menu foods represented nearly 100 brands of cat and dog food. The facts showed that some of the pet food brands that had recalls were also supposedly organic and all natural pet foods! So how do you ensure you are getting the best organic pet food available?

What to Look for in Organic Pet Foods:

What you want to look for in a safe organic pet food is the word "no." That is to say, you want to buy organic pet food that has no added growth hormone, no antibiotic-fed proteins and no protein fillers. It is also important to find out where the pet food is coming from. For instance, all the 2007 recalls were from China, so with a little research, you might be able to find out the organic pet food company you decide on makes all it's organic pet food in the United States.

The Bottom Line Concerning Organic Pet Foods:

There is no doubt that organic pet food had a huge surge in sales after the 2007 recalls, and many pet owners will never go back to the big name brands, deciding to buy more local organic pet foods or even finding recipes to make their own organic pet food at home.

Although organic pet food is going to cost more, most pet owners will agree that it is worth the price to sleep easy at night knowing their pet has a healthy and contaminate free diet. Keep in mind however, that just because a company claims to be organic and "all natural" it doesn't mean that a big brand isn't behind the company. Bigger companies have a bigger chance of accidently selling contaminated pet food, simply because they have to stay cheap to stay competitive. Just make sure to do the research before buying into an organic pet food companies promises. Your pet will be glad that you did.