Salmon Dog Food
Many pet food companies offer dog food formulas that contain whole salmon or salmon meal. However, did you know that depending on where your dog’s salmon came from, it may have a drastically different nutritional profile? Here is some important information about salmon dog food formulas.
A Note About Ethoxyquin
Ethoxyquin is a preservative that has raised concerns among many pet owners. Ethoxyquin is actually used as a pesticide, and can cause mortality in fish. Ethoxyquin is sometimes used to preserve the salmon or salmon meal that is in salmon dog food formulas. Some pet nutritional experts have speculated that ethoxyquin can cause or contribute to serious health problems in dogs. Since ethoxyquin helps to prevent fats from becoming rancid, many pet food companies use it as a preservative. Since ethoxyquin may be present under many names, it’s best to contact a pet food company directly, in order to ask them if any of their salmon dog food formulas contain ethoxyquin.
Health Benefits of Salmon
Salmon has long been associated with many different health benefits, both for dogs and for humans. Since salmon contains valuable omega-3 fatty acids, it can promote good canine health. Omega 3 can help your dog’s cognitive development, promote a healthy coat, help preserve joints and even improve the function of some of your dog’s internal organs.
Farm Salmon or Wild Salmon?
Many dog food companies don’t discern between if their salmon is farm-raised or wild caught. For most formulas, the salmon that they use will probably be obtained from a fish farm, since this is the least expensive type of salmon. However, farm raised salmon also tends to have a lower nutritional content than wild caught salmon. This is because farm raised salmon are often fed a very basic diet, which doesn’t imitate the variety of foods that they consume in the wild. Farm raised salmon may also become contaminated with feces, chemicals or additives that are in their water. In order to choose the best salmon dog food formula, try to purchase a formula that specifies that its salmon is wild caught.
Nutritional Content of Salmon
The nutritional content of salmon may vary. For example, a 3 oz. piece of Atlantic farm salmon has 175 calories, 10.5 grams of fat, and 18.8 grams of protein. By comparison, a 3 oz. piece of Atlantic wild salmon has 155 calories, 6.9 grams of fat and 21.6 grams of protein. As you can see, there is a huge discrepancy between wild caught salmon and farm raised salmon as far as nutritional content.
Some Salmon Dog Food Recipes: