{"id":225185,"date":"2025-05-05T17:31:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T17:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/animal\/what-should-a-dog-eat-is-dog-food-healthy\/"},"modified":"2025-05-05T17:31:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T17:31:40","slug":"what-should-a-dog-eat-is-dog-food-healthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=225185","title":{"rendered":"What should a dog eat? Is dog food healthy?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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D<\/span>elicious, hot dinners are a luxury for my flatmates and me, and after a long day at work, we are usually content with eating food, which is somewhat<\/em> warm and watching TV. But Hazel, our three-year-old bundle of joy is always there, sniffing around, sitting next to us, and begging for a bite of food with the most adorable puppy eyes. Every time she does that, we have to disappoint her with (what I presume is) bland dog food because milk products, spicy\/oily food, and chocolates are unhealthy, even harmful, for dogs.That also eliminates almost all the snacks that are usually on hand.<\/p>\n

One day, as I was contemplating whether the garlic bread I was munching on, and she was pleading for, was healthy for her or not, I got thinking.<\/p>\n

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Who can say no to these eyes? Courtesy: TBI.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Is the dog food she eats, good for her? How much do we really know about the ingredients, proportions and quality of raw materials before we purchase it? Is Hazel eating healthy food?<\/p>\n

To better understand the matter, I got in touch with Dr AK Pattanaik, a principal scientist at the Division of Animal Nutrition in ICAR\u2014the Indian Veterinary Research Institute\u2014in Uttar Pradesh.<\/p>\n

Dr Pattanaik has invested the last 25 years researching animal nutrition with a particular focus on the clinical nutrition of pets and farm animals. As a result, he had valuable insights regarding dog food, which will be helpful to any pet parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommercial pet foods are available in three categories\u2014dry, semi-moist and canned. Dry pet foods are most common and are generally produced using a process called extrusion,\u201d he began.<\/p>\n

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Extrusion is a process by which raw materials or ingredients are turned into kibble. The ingredients are mixed, sheared and heated under high-pressure. A large rotating screw is tightly fit in a stationary barrel. The food passes through the barrel and is made into a ribbon-like shape and later cut into smaller pieces.<\/p>\n

Here<\/a> is a short video to best understand the process. Although the video is about an American company, the process is more or less the same.<\/p>\n

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Representative image. Source: PxHere<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Dr Pattanaik further added that the dog food in India is usually made of cereal and cereal by-products, meat and fish, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, fats and oils, common salts and various additives like vitamins, preservatives etc.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally speaking, pet food which is produced appropriately taking into consideration the recommended ingredient quality and hygienic measures and specified nutritional profile is considered good. Having said that, any compromise in the quality in terms of inferior raw materials, inadequate and\/or imbalanced nutrient profile and poor shelf life would certainly not desirable for the good health of the pet,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

While shopping for our food, we are generally careful about the ingredients and examine the minutest details like its cholesterol content or whether it contains non-vegetarian ingredients.<\/p>\n

So, isn\u2019t it necessary to be just as careful while selecting food for our canine friends?<\/p>\n

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Image Courtesy: Thrishnaa Ilavazhagan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Here are 6 pointers to look out for, while purchasing dog food:<\/p>\n