It’s all down to diet!
The quality and wholesomeness of the food are not the only crucial factors, a dog’s level of activity, its age, temperament, breed and the season are equally important. Very active dogs, racing dogs, sheepdogs, hunting dogs, patrol dogs and guide dogs need more nutritional energy for the work they do. Home-loving family dogs and house dogs have different food requirements than animals kept outside. Our Pet Food Primer will tell you everything you need to know about animal food. For example, a husky needs up to four times as much energy as its less active opposite number from the big city. So optimum nutrition is essential for a healthy natural diet, whether the dog is a canine power pack or a homebody. We provide a high-quality food without any metabolism-stressing additives, and put the appropriate amount of energy into the bowl in a genuinely natural form.
The Naturavetal® Pet Food Primer - The important ingredients
The law prescribes that the order of the ingredients listed on the packaging must be equivalent to their proportion in the food. So the ingredient which comes first must be the main component in the food. Here a distinction must be made between an open and a closed declaration.
The individual components of the food are given in the order of the volume contained in the food. In Canis Plus Complete Dog Food everything is declared in detail openly and transparently!
One of the special things about cold pressed food, as in Canis Plus Complete Dog Food, is that the individual raw materials are very carefully prepared. The meat is dried and ground so that it can be pressed. At Naturavetal the grain is solubilised by a unique patented process using hot steam to ensure it is easily digestible. The vegetables and herbs are air- dried and added immediately prior to cold pressing. This ensures that the bioavailability of the relevant natural products is high. Cold pressing treats the vital elements gently and is carried out at light ambient pressure. This means that vitamins, minerals and secondary phytochemicals are largely preserved. Canis Plus Complete Dog Food does not swell in the stomach. This considerably reduces the risk of gastric torsion (bloating). Cold pressing is naturally more species-appropriate.
Here food groups are given, i.e. the term “grain” can cover oats, wheat, barley, maize and much more. If the content also includes middlings (second-grade flour) or gluten, it says: grains and vegetable by-products. The same goes for meat. In order to know exactly what you are feeding your pet you would have to ask the manufacturer.
Extrudated foods are produced under high pressure and at very high temperatures of over 140° C. This has been proved to alter the ingredients, which lose most of their essential vitamins and nutrients. In addition, this food swells up in the stomach. Because of the production method, extrudates contain very high amounts of starch. Additives such as colourings or flavourings are often added to increase acceptance of the feed. This can result in metabolic disorders.
This declaration normally covers all the components of the animal, including beaks, claws, feathers, etc. These are weighed prior to drying, which means that the percentage poultry content is deceptively high. So in effect, poultry could contain more than the meat.
This is nothing but the pure meat. It is weighed as fresh meat prior to drying.The water content in the meat means it weighs more than it does after drying. The percentage of meat in the overall volume of food is therefore higher prior to drying, i.e. the manufacturer can list poultry meat first among the ingredients. This ruse suggests to the customer that poultry meat is the chief component of the food.
Here the meat is weighed after drying. Despite having the same volume of fresh meat as poultry meat, this value is lower and comes further down the list of ingredients. But, as this is the most honest declaration, poultry-meat meal always features in the ingredients of Canis Plus Complete Dog Food.
The same applies as for poultry – only not weighed before, but after, drying.
This term not only includes valuable ingredients such as heart and liver, but often lower-value components such as fur, feathers, etc. which are difficult to digest. At Naturavetal these animal by-products are inconceivable and never used.
Preservatives are often declared as “EC additives” or “with antioxidants”. Concerns are raised by research findings which report that preservatives can trigger allergies and cause changes in the immune system. They can also have a carcinogenic effect on the body. In fact dry food does not need to be preserved. Fat is generally sprayed onto the food afterwards to make it tastier. In warm weather fat soon becomes rancid and so needs to be preserved. For this reason Canis Plus Complete Dog Food contains absolutely no spray-on fat or preservatives.
In their original form natural vitamins perform very specific functions. Canis Plus Complete Dog Food provides vitamins and minerals the natural way with all-natural ingredients. Many dog owners mistakenly use the quantities of individual vitamins given in the feeding tables as the main guide to determining whether the dog is adequately supplied. But the crucial factor is not the quantity – it is the actual ability of vitamins and minerals to be utilised. Pet owners tend to take note of the quantity, intending it to cover an assumed deficiency. In the course of time this leads to a debilitating oversupply if more vitamins are taken than are actually needed. Artificial synthetic vitamins lack natural diversity. They are now considered to cause more harm than good. Positive effects have yet to be proved. They are poorly processed by the body and put severe stress on the liver and kidney metabolism. You can see that synthetic vitamins are present, e.g. when “additives” are stated on the packaging. This term naturally does not appear on Canis Plus Complete Dog Food as it contains no artificial vitamins.
Minerals perform various tasks in the body. For example, they are used to assist bone formation and they make a vital contribution to the health-promoting functions of the immune system.
Calcium, one of the most important minerals in the canine body, is stored mainly in bones and teeth, with small amounts present in the blood. It is essential for developing and preserving bones and teeth, aids blood clotting and maintains muscle and nerve function. Phosphorous is a partner element of calcium and a building material for bones and teeth. It is of major importance to the metabolism as a whole and essential for the acid-base balance. In Canis Plus Complete Dog Food the perfect Ca/P ratio achieves the requisite balance for optimum health. The use of natural raw materials precludes any excess, at the same time preventing a deficiency.
A distinction is made between animal and vegetable protein, the building blocks of which are the amino acids. Protein sources from animal and plant-based raw materials are important for an adequate supply of amino acids and high digestibility. Special attention must be paid to the essential amino acids, as they are of vital importance to the body and can only be absorbed with food. Protein is needed for developing and maintaining bodily substances (e.g. ligaments, tissue, hair, cartilage). The designation “raw protein” does not, however, tell you anything about the quality of the protein used. Here it should be noted whether the declaration includes “poultry”, which means less protein as it stands for slaughterhouse waste from the whole bird, or whether it states “poultry meat”, which represents really pure meat and is thus a guarantee of high-quality protein.
Fats are particularly important energy reserves and building materials. Dogs are very well able to digest and utilise fats and oils of both animal and vegetable origin. As well as supplying energy, the role of fat in the body is to transport nutrients and protect organs and nerves. A few unsaturated fatty acids cannot be provided in the body itself and have to be supplied in the diet (essential fatty acids). As a rule saturated fatty acids occur mostly in animal fats. On the other hand, the more valuable unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are found mainly in fish and in certain plants. Excess energy/fat is stored in deposits in the body.
The dietary fibre is vitally important for intestinal peristalsis and providing for a well-regulated digestive system. Among other things raw fibre supports good intestinal bacteria, thus promoting a physiological intestinal environment.
The raw ash is determined by calcination in a muffle furnace at approx. 550°C. It reflects the total of all the mineral and trace element compounds contained in a dog food. The commonly held opinion is that a high raw ash value places a great strain on the kidneys. This holds true only for artificial vitamins and minerals and for inferior raw materials. Canis Plus Complete Dog Food contains nothing but premium quality raw materials. It’s raw ash content is therefore a positive criterion for supplying dogs with the ideal amount of minerals and trace elements.
Brown rice, oats, maize and millet are perfect carbohydrate sources for carnivores. Dogs cannot normally digest grain of any kind. Only when optimally solubilised can it be used to supply energy and aid high-fibre digestion.
