Alright, let me walk you through what I did when I checked out the ingredients in Prairie pet food the other day. My dog’s been eating it for a bit, and I figured it was time I actually stopped and properly read what’s in there, instead of just grabbing the bag.
So, I grabbed the bag first thing. Had to turn it around a few times to find that small print section, you know the one, the ingredient list. Always feels like they hide it sometimes!
Looking at the List
Found it. Okay, the first thing I always do is look at the very beginning of the list. They say ingredients are listed by weight, so the first few really tell you a lot about what the food is mostly made of. I was looking for real protein sources right away.
Here’s kinda what I saw near the top:
- Some kind of meat meal, like Turkey Meal or Chicken Meal. Seeing ‘meal’ is pretty common, means the water’s mostly out. It mentioned it was a source for glucosamine too, which I guess is good for joints.
- Then came the carbs. I spotted stuff like Tapioca and Sweet Potato. I prefer seeing things like sweet potato over just generic grains sometimes.
- Chicken Fat was in there too, listed as preserved with mixed tocopherols, which is just a fancy way of saying vitamin E, basically a natural preservative. Fats are important, gotta have those.
I kept reading down the list. Saw other things like pumpkin, flaxseed, dried egg, even some fruits like apples and blueberries further down. Also saw different fish meals listed, like salmon and pollock.
My Thoughts After Reading
Honestly, going through the list wasn’t too hard. You just gotta take a minute and actually read it. Seeing named meats like chicken and turkey at the start felt okay. I always feel better when it doesn’t just say “meat meal” but actually names the animal.
Having whole foods like sweet potato and pumpkin is generally something I like to see too. It makes me feel like it’s not just filler stuff.
So yeah, that was my little dive into the Prairie ingredients. Just took the bag, found the list, and read through the first bunch of items and scanned the rest. It’s always a good idea to just check for yourself what you’re feeding your furry friends. Takes maybe five minutes but gives you a much better picture.
