My wife and I were sitting in the Vet’s office with our new puppy, Harley, about two years ago. This was our first pet together, and it was a new experience for both of us. You may have a pet when you’re a kid, but it’s really your parent’s pet. All you do is play withh it and feed it sometimes. When you own your first pet, you’ll realize the costs associated with owning it. A few personal finance bloggers have chronicled the high costs associated with owning a cat or dog. My first experience with it was when we were sitting in the vet’s office, and they told us that Harley was allergic to fleas and now skin mites had flared up. We walked out of the office $150 dollars less richer, and we said to ourselves, “What can we do to keep this dog healthy?”

We asked that very question to the veterinarian the next day, and he asked us, “What are you feeding Harley?”. We responded that we were feeding her Purina’s Beneful. His reaction was not good. He went on to explain to us that dogs are much like humans. What you put in their body directly affects their health. If we stuff ourselves with fast food and candy every day, we probably won’t stay very healthy. Likewiise, if you feed your dog the cheapest or cheaper food, he or she will eventually become less healthy. Then, you’ll be stuck with the dilemma of letting your best friend suffer or paying the bill.

We quickly changed to Eukanuba (it’s the dry stuff, so it had nothing to do with the recall), which was only $7.00 more per 20lb bag than Beneful. Part of the reason we were buying Beneful is that it was one of the cheaper products, but also it was just ignorance. We never thought of checking the ingredients or doing research about the company.

The Most Important Tip to Remember

If you want to feed your dog or cat quality ingredients that will contribute to better health, check the ingredients! The first ingredient listed should be a certain type of meat such as lamb, chicken, beef, or turkey. Chicken or lamb meal are okay, but I prefer looking for those brands that list THE REAL DEAL first. Most cheaper brands will have the first two or three main ingredients as corn meal, wheat flour, or brewers rice. Then, you’ll finally get to a meat and it will be chicken-by-products or chicken meal. Do you really want to feed your dog or cat a bunch of carbs to fill them up with no nutritional substance? Some higher end products will include chicken meal or chicken-by-products as a lesser ingredient, because it’s a source of glucosamin for better joint health.

If you look at the ingredients of Ole’ Roy, the cheap Wal-Mart brand, you should be astounded by it. The main ingredients are BONE MEAL and MEAT-BY-PRODUCTS. They can’t even specify which type of meat, because they don’t even know! And what the hell is bone meal? Do they grind up bones and put it in there? Yum Yum!

Yeah, but it’s just a dog or cat. They don’t know the difference!

No, they don’t know the difference, that’s the point. I’m not trying to make this post come across as some kind of “Save The Pets Telethon”. I’m trying to help you save some money, by spending a few extra bucks on pet food. I was convicted by it, when I realized that if I fed my dog better food, that would result in less trips to the vet and less money out of my pocket in the long run.

I’m sure there are some of you out there that will leave a comment about how their dog has been eating Beneful or Ole’ Roy for the past 10 years, and you haven’t had any problems with them. There are always exceptions to the rule, and I won’t deny that. But think twice about saving $7 to $10 dollars next time when you’re picking out pet food. I think you’ll be pleased with the results.