I learned a lot about pet food and what companies like to tell people about their pet food. Based on this, I have an easy to follow guideline on how to pick a food for your animal (focusing mainly on dogs and cats).
Rule #1
Read a friggen book about your breed. It's good to know what the hell kind of animal you have before you start shoveling things down its throat. Books are a handy thing to have around in case you forget if Spot is prone to a sensitive stomach, allergies, etc.
Rule#2
Do NOT buy your food from a grocery store. While a $10 bag of dog food might look too good to pass up when compared to a typical $20-$30 bag of 'premium' food, try to remember why you don't live on Ramen Noodles despite them being 20 cents a pack; they're not very good for you. Your steak isn't $1.99 per pound for nothing, you know. Quality meat costs money, and that's why most dog and cat foods in a pet store cost so much.
Rule #3
Ask your vet. They went to school for a reason.
The reason for this little guideline is because I was searching through some messageboards and found myself reading about vegans and their pets. Honestly, I don't think vegans should HAVE pets, since they're most likely to be PeTA freaks, and owning a pet would violate their faith or something. Anyway, vegans often try to feed their dogs vegan diets.
Lentils and tofu for all!
(What the fuck is a lentil, again?)
