Unfortunately, we can not say pet foods on the market are filled with healthy, safe, ingredients.  Fact is, many of the food found on the shelves of your grocery store, department store, or even some large specialty pet shops can not be trusted.

A year ago Menu Foods recalled all its products due to over 50,000 dogs and cats who fell ill or died due to contaminated wheat gluten that came from China.  For me, this was no surprise, it was bound to happen.  However, sadly, to many, many people, this was the first that they heard of pet food being inadequate and unsafe for their pets.

There are many other super scary and extremely gross things that get mixed up in some commercial pet food that is found on shelves in our very own city.  Dead zoo animals, road kill and euthanized cats and dogs often make it to rendering plants who turn it into “meat meal” before it ends up in our dog’s dinner bowl.

One of the scariest things I read from Journalist Jessica Smith from News Target Press Release is this: “The chemicals used to euthanize zoo animals, dogs and cats can survive the cooking process, which means these chemicals end up in pet food, and ultimately, in your pet.”

Chemicals, preservatives and many other common ingredients in commercial pet food have shortened our dogs life expectancy dramatically.  Severe problems like organ failure, liver dysfunction, breakdown of the immune system, allergic reactions, cancer and death; Not to mention, blindness, loss of hair and behaviour problems, including increased aggressiveness, can often be contributed to our dogs diet.

What else is scary?  Animals who died of illness, including cancer, are sent to pet food manufacturers.  That means your dog may be eating a diseased protein source.  Some companies even use saw dust as a filler in the food!  No kidding!

Often, the heart warming commercials we see on TV, the pretty packaging containing information we assume healthy when we see words like “all-natural”, “premium”,  “healthy-diet”, or even “preservative free” written on the bag is very misleading.  Often those words are false advertising. 

Unfortunately, many of our trusted veterinarians are not nutritionists and often their education on nutrition was either an option or taught by pet food company representatives, such as Hills, Iams, or Medi-Cal leading to one-sided education.

Tomorrow, Thursday January 24, 2008 at 9pm on CBC-TV will be a documentary called “PET FOOD: A DOG’S BREAKFAST”.  It will be repeated on Saturday January 26 at 10pm ET on CBC Newsworld.    http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/dogsbreakfast.html

Veterinarian Meg Smart, who is featured in the CBC documentary, says that if she brewed up a pot of leather boots, wood chips and motor oil, it would pass Canadian standards!!  What?!  Yup, it’s true.  The leather boots contain enough nitrogen, wood chips contain enough fibre and carbohydrates, and the motor oil contains enough fat to pass Canadian standards.

Another information source that I like is from a link that was sent to me in hopes that I would purchase the e-book.  Although I did not buy the book, I do like the first 5 minutes (out of the 8 minutes) of this audio slide show.  It provides point form information that speaks to the alarming misrepresentation of what we know (or don’t know.)  http://www.thedogfoodconspiracy.com/v/a/fk.html

When looking at ingredients on pet food bags, there are some major culprits that you should avoid:

• By-products  (this could mean any part of an animal not fit for human consumption.  Beaks, feathers, udders, hoofs, entrails, intestines, diseased or cancerous tissue, and on and on.)
• Meat meal (this doesn’t even identify the animal.  This could include rendered cats and dogs, dead zoo animals, and even road kill.  You will not know how much “real meat” is in the food)    
• Fish meal (again, a non-specific source of fish)
• Corn (anything with the word “corn”, including whole ground corn)
• Beet pulp  (this is a filler, no nutritional value, and it also helps to produce a firm stool, giving us the ‘illusion’ that the dog is healthy)
• Wheat  (this is a major reason for allergies)
• Peanut hulls  (this is a filler, no nutritional value)
• Brewers rice 
• Ethoxyquin (this chemical is used as a food preservative - it is also a rubber stabilizer and a major preservative in tires, keeping the rubber in them from oxidizing!  It is used to keep fats from turning rancid.)
• Sodium carboxy-methyl-cellulose  (this is an edible plastic filler that is outlawed for human consumption, but it’s still in some pet foods)
• Cellulose gum or Guar gum  (this is used to bind beak bits, ground bones and other ingredients into chunks or kibble)
• Potassium sorbate  (used to preserve the things that weren’t preserved before they went in!)
• Artificial colors/flavors  (these are harmful and toxic to dogs, and not to mention, unnecessary)
• BHA and/or BHT  (both are carcinogens) 
• Artificial preservatives
• Additives

What is sickening to note, is that the pet food manufacturer only has to list these toxic ingredients on the label if they were the ones who put it in their product…  That means that if it enters the pet food chain at the rendering plant or the slaughterhouse, it does not need to be listed!

Often if we see a list of vitamins or vitamin supplements on the ingredient list, like “vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D supplement”, etc., it makes us feel good… after all, our dogs need vitamins, right?  But the truth is that these supplements have been added because the no-name meat was cooked at high temperatures and there is little or zero nutritional value left.  The supplements are added to provide the overall minimum level of nutrition requested.  However, these supplements are then cooked again at high temperatures and their quality is diminished. 

So, what can we do??  To start, we can educate ourselves.

Excellent books that Clever Canines highly recommends are:

• The Nature of Animal Healing,    from Martin Goldstein
• Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats, The Ultimate Diet,    from Kymythy R. Schultze
• Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food,    from Ann Martin 
• Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats,   from Richard and Susan Pitcairn
• The BARF Diet,   from Dr. Ian Billinghurst
• (all books are available at Unleashed)

It is important to know where the ingredients for your pet food come from.  There are some great specialty stores in our city who can help educate you on ingredients, quality, producers, and what is best for your dog. 

Clever Canines highly recommends Unleashed, 2719 - 14 Street SW, www.unleasheddogs.net  Unleashed will only support pet food companies who do not source out ingredients from other countries, like China, who can provide the source of where their ingredients come from, and who have ethical practices.  The companies they deal with only produce pet food.   For example, Proctor & Gamble produce IAMS, Heinz produce Kibbles & Bits, Mars (Efam) produces Royal Canine.  As we all know these company’s main business focus is as far from pet food as the planet Pluto is to Earth and their business model is based on profit, not quality.

There are a few really great companies who produce a high quality diet.  These companies are not from a major manufacturer, which means that providing whole ingredients that are human grade are the only option for them.  Companies that I am proud to mention are, Origin (made here in Alberta), Innova, TimberWolf Organics, Natures Variety, and Solid Gold.  Many of these are grain free!  (All can be found at Unleashed.)

There are other ways to feed your dog a balanced, healthy diet that you can feel good about that does not include kibble.  Raw food and home cooked diets are notably popular.  Fact is, both our dogs, Niko & Foster, are on the BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet.  There are enormous health benefits to our companion animals by returning them to their evolutionary diet.

By feeding raw, you are feeding a diet rich in enzymes that are biologically available to your dog.  Fresh whole foods including raw meaty bones, crushed vegetables, offal and other healthy whole foods make up your dogs evolutionary diet.  If choosing to feed raw, be sure to do your research to ensure you are feeding a well-balanced diet.  Again, talk to the knowledgeable staff at Unleashed for further information or to purchase your raw or cooked food.

Which ever way you choose to feed your dog, remember that there are several options and not all food is created equally.  Feel good about what you give your dog and have a happy, healthy life together.

Yours truly,

Tracie, Clever Canines 

This entry is filed under Rants by Tracie