At the animal area of the supermarkets, in garden centres or on the net, it is really the embarrassment of choice for dog croquettes. And in this respect, Petfooder regularly innovates by abundant the new product market. But do you know what they are really worth?
Croquettes without cereals
The croquettes without cereals that have appeared in the linear of animalistic are undoubtedly the oldest of these generations of “News” Croquettes. Where the old generation croquettes contained rice, wheat or corn, croquettes without cereals or “Grain Free” Have replaced these cereals with other sources of starch such as legumes, potatoes or sweet potatoes.
The promise of croquettes without cereals is mainly to offer your dog a diet that more respects his nature and needs. One of the main arguments for the sale of croquet without cereals rests on the fact that, in the wild, carnivores do not eat only a tiny amount of cereals contained in the digestive tract of the prey they hunt.
To abandon cereals so seems a good idea on paper, but, in reality, it is nothing. In fact, the manufacturers of these croquettes are ignoring the fact that they replace cereals with legumes or tubers, which do not do more part of the “Natural” of the dog than cereals.
Moreover, the legumes contained in these croquettes, like the lenses, for example, can be at the origin of digestive intolerances in the dog and could, according to the results of several studies, be associated with a greater risk of developing dilated cardiomyopathy. In non-predisposed breeds or aggravate existing heart disease.
Read also: Croquettes without cereals for dogs
Crotty in cold-pressed
Cold-pressed croquettes are distinguished from “Classic” croquettes; by their manufacturing process. Where most croquettes are manufactured according to the cooking process-extrusion that heats the croquettes between 90 and 140 ° C, cold-pressed croquettes are made using a press, using ingredients that are not heated beyond 50 ° C. In reality, crocheting pressing is the process that pre-existed the use of the extruder.
If these croquettes come back to the front of the scene at the moment, it is because one accuses the extruded croquettes of containing acrylamide (a carcinogenic compound resulting from the Maillard reaction which forms when we cooked the High-temperature foods) and to contain nutrients degraded by heat (including proteins) and therefore less well assimilable for the dog.
Know that if cold-pressed croquettes can be an alternative to extruded croquettes, they also have disadvantages as much shorter shelf life or a smaller starch digestibility that it contains if it has not been well cooked.
To read also: Cool cold croquettes for dogs
Vend croquettes
Dog vegan croquettes are, in a way, antithesis, croquettes without cereals that are designed for the carnivores of dogs. Formulated without any animal product in their composition, the vegan croquettes target the owners of animals that have chosen to adopt a vegan lifestyle for them and who, for the sake of consistency with their convictions, wish to impose this choice on their animal. Of company.
Yes, but here are; The vegan croquettes are incompatible with the nature of carnivore with an omnivorous trend of the dog. These croquettes, therefore, expose dogs to serious nutritional deficiencies that will hurt their health irremediably. These foods are, therefore to strictly exclude from the feeding of your hairball.
Read also: Vegan croquettes: veterinarians put homeowners warning.
Croquettes with insects
The proteins brought by insects in the croquettes seem to be an alternative approximately equivalent to poultry proteins. Made from larval larvae of flour or black fly, they also have the advantage of constituting a new source of protein to which our dogs have not yet developed intolerance and allergy so that they can Be used as hypoallergenic foods in sensitive dogs.
But, as not only proteins in a food, it is essential to look at all the contributions of these new croquettes, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that they constitute actually complete meals. And they are balanced for your dog.
And, although it is repeated that insect breeding has a lesser impact on the environment than meat livestock farms, this is irrelevant in the context of pet foods. Indeed, for classic croquettes, the by-products of the human food industry are used, which makes it possible to spoil anything while, for croquettes to insects, we raise insects for this purpose.
Read also: Croquettes for dog insects.
Croquettes “Custom” online
Choosing the croquettes according to the breed of his dog or according to his food preferences, many are now online croquette brands that offer you to develop revenues “tailor-made” For your dog. Just fill out an online questionnaire on the profile and preferences of your Canid, and the site then calculates a recipe that is adapted to the particular case of your pet. Some brands even push customization until printing the photo and the name of your animal on the food pack.
In most cases, do not go wrong: the sale of these industrial products “specifically designed for your dog” more than a clever marketing strategy than the real adaptation of the product as needed.
It should be known that most of the operators of these brands are created from any room by young graduates of business schools, without any knowledge of animal nutrition, who have laid the enormous potential of the pet food market. (they represented himself 4.3 billion euros in 2019).
In order to produce their croquettes, these brands are content to carry out specifications that they send to different factories. Often, they choose the factory that will propose to it the lowest price; without further information on the product, they will then market that what the plant will register on the label and without taking the precaution of analyzing the products that come out. With good communication (sometimes at the limit of legality), these companies succeed in selling their product products at gold prices and mislead the owners of animals that will be able to choose the best for their pet.
To read also: Dog Food: Stop to false arguments!
