Nutrition

With so many choices in Dog foods on the market and so much advertising and false information it makes it very much impossible to know what is really healthy for your furry family member. Even myself while looking up processed foods I have found it is not only confusing but quite angering at times knowing what our animals are meant to eat and what these multi billion dollar companies are selling as HEALTHY. I assure you that is not the case. We are at epidemic levels in our animals health problems. Allergies yeast, hot spots, diabetes, endocrine system failure, pancreatitis, kidney and renal failure, obesity, kidney stones, arthritis, cancer, infertility, the lists go on and on. Are these not human diseases I ask...When you look at the history of processed animal foods going back around 100 years (the great depression when people had no real foods to feed their pets) foods for our animals have continued to change and certainly changed for the worse along with their health. On this page I am doing my best to compile some information of what to avoid in processed foods. Even as raw diets are getting more popular, I have seen bad recipes that are not sufficient. Raw feeding can also be expensive as our economy gets worse and more people sourcing raw alternatives is making the price of animal parts that were mostly thrown out, now carrying a hefty price tag. Where Do We go ...

Commercial Dog food - What to avoid

CERTAIN PRESERVATIVES

The following is a list of chemical ingredients that have been widely questioned for safety in both humans and animals:

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
Propyl gallate
Ethoxyquin
Sodium Tripolyphosphate
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Sodium Hexametaphosphate

Meat Meal

Meat meals (beef, lamb, pork, etc.), poultry meals (chicken, duck, turkey, etc.) and fish meals are commonly used as low-quality protein sources, especially in dry pet foods. These meals are meat that’s been dried and crushed into powder, and they provide a cheap way to spike protein levels. But that’s where the benefits end. Meals offer diminished nutritional value and lower nutrient digestibility. They’re typically liquid rendered at high temperatures for hours, then dried into a powder at high temperatures, and finally cooked once more. Multiple high heat applications break down the proteins making them far less useful for your dog’s body. On top of it all, the industrial chemical agents used in the meal extraction process are often found in the final product but are not required to be listed on pet food ingredient panels.

ARTIFICIAL COLORING

Like most ingredients that lack nutritional value, artificial coloring in dog food is only added to enhance product appearance for humans. For one thing, dogs have dichromatic vision, meaning they only see shades of yellow and blue. So all that red food dye to make your dog’s kibble look “meaty” is just rediculous . Or, mixing blue and yellow to make green for “veggies”? Also pointless. Long-term animal feeding studies examine whether dyes cause cancer or other effects, however, there are significant limitations during the process. Many people believe that due to its potential hazards, artificial coloring is not worth the risk and again... colored for humans,, How crazy is that !

Melamine

Melamine is synthesized from urea and made into industrial products such as melamine resin, a very durable plastic, and melamine foam, a cleaning agent. Nitrogen content has long been used as an indirect means for assessing the protein content of foods, and melamine is 66% nitrogen. It is now generally accepted that melamine was intentionally added by suppliers in China to falsely elevate the measured protein content and the monetary value of vegetable proteins. It was also apparent this was a longstanding practice. While melamine alone is relatively nontoxic in dogs and rodents, melamine and cyanuric acid together are highly toxic. The cyanuric acid may have also been added intentionally or it may have been a by-product of melamine synthesis. Melamine and cyanuric acid are excreted unchanged into the urine, and, when given together, form insoluble crystals that obstruct and damage renal tubules and cause kidney failure. (American College of Veterinary Pathologists)

UNHEALTHY FATS AND PRESERVATIVES

While some fat is a nutritional requirement, these specific types of fat can be extremely problematic for dogs:

RENDERED FATS

We’ve already spoken about the inferiority of rendered meals as a protein source, but the fat left over from the rendering process brings its own concerns. Specifically, these fats (often listed as chicken/beef/turkey fat or fish oil on a label) can be a source of harmful microorganisms and/or toxins.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL

This commonly used mineral oil has been linked to allergic reactions and organ damage in dogs. It is commonly found in “pet safe” antifreeze products, which despite the labeling is in fact harmful to pets if ingested.

VEGETABLE OIL

The omega-6 fatty acids contained in vegetable oil trigger inflammation when taken in excess, proving to be particularly problematic for arthritic dogs and those with hip/joint pain.

Farmed Salmon

Salmon is healthy for pet parents and dogs regardless of size or energy level, but the wrong salmon in dog foods can include harmful toxins. Farmed salmon, salmon meal, and salmon oil in your dog’s food can add mercury, PCBs, and other fat-soluble toxins to the diet.

Vegtable or Grain based Protiens ( SOY. PEA ect.)

Grain and vegetable-based protein sources are just not as useful to pets as their meat protein counterparts, so should not be a primary ingredient in your dog’s food. Pay attention to the label to determine if there is any soy in the kibble packages. The ability of your dog's body to process and use the proteins and nutrients, makes these proteins less usable for energy and body processes from immune response to muscle maintenance to metabolism. Common allergens. often difficult for pets to digest, causing bloat and gas.

Animal byproducts

Another non-descript protein source in dog food, animal by-products, are all the remnants of the animal carcass after all the meat and bones have been removed (probably to be used in the meat and bone meal above). Sadly, they are unhealthy fillers and known carcinogens. The issue with animal by-products is that they are nutritionally inconsistent when used in dry dog food. Unnamed animal by-products can be so heavily processed that little to no nutrition is left for the pet.

Artificial Flavour (including animal Digest)

Dog food needs flavour to be appealing. However, the flavour is one of those things that should just come naturally to foods. Be skeptical about the quality of dog food ingredients when flavour needs to be added to anything because it's often a way to hide subpar ingredients.

Animal digest is another non-descript meat source produced by the chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean animal tissue that has not undergone decomposition. Animal tissue scraps are one of the ingredients to avoid in dog food.

Basically, it is a mixed “meat” broth that is heavily processed. Used as a flavouring, the meat broth is sprayed onto dog food to cover up unsavoury flavours and make up for a lack of actual meat flavour from, you know, meat. The presence of animal digest or any digest indicates that insufficient meat protein is included in the food

The Starch on Starch

White potatoes, legumes, oats, flour including whole grain, rice, corn. These starches are of no benefit. Starchs and carbs are sugars. Dogs do not process sugars as humans. skip it. Many brands do have sweet potato. (fat least that fibrous) carrots (fibre) both with vitamin A (eye health, immune function and cell growth) A diet consisting of unhealthy starchs can cause allery, itching, yeast, hot spots. poor digestion, large smelly poos, obesity, diabtetes

Reading the Ingredient Label

Ingredients (Composition)

Ingredients are always listed in descending order of weight (biggest ingredient first). Unless you are looking for a light or senior dog diet, meat should usually be the first and therefore greatest ingredient.

A good quality food will list all the ingredients by their specific name, rather than vague descriptions of ingredients such as ‘meat and animal derivatives’, ‘cereals’ or ‘vegetable derivatives’. If your pet suffers from food allergies, then you will need to check the ingredients carefully and you may wish to look for a food that only contains one source of meat/protein (single source) to make food trials easier.

WOW!!

It frightening is it not! These are only some things to look for. Try for a limited ingredient food. Marketing is very confusing and the guidelines for kibble companies has many holes. Know what you are feeding your pooch is safe and healthy. When looking at the food analysis, well. That would be quite a conversation of what is allowable regardless where its derived from. Just because its AAfco certified does not mean that its healthy unfortunately. It just means certain vitamins including synthetic and proteins are in the food . It does not mean that its digestible or guarantee a healthy source.

So... what can I feed my dog

There are newer brands of foods that are dehydrated raw. Look for minimal ingredients, real human grade meats, green vege and low glycemic fruit such as berries are good. A proper dehydrated dog food also can be quite expensive. Moreso than raw alone actually.

That of course brings us back to processed kibbles. In a processed kibble look at your ingredients. look for additives, look for minimal ingredients that do not include the above information. Even if feeding a processed food remember that everything has a balance over time. add some farm eggs with shell a couple times a week, maybe some boiled or steamed greens, a raw meaty snack like a human chicken wing or raw chicken carcass, meaty beef bones for recreational chewing, dehydrated lamb or beef lung is great for training treats as it is natural and low in fat. Will not upset tummy. There are many things we can do to add some real foods to our dogs diet that wont break the bank. A raw mackerel or sardine .. frozen whole fish is a great chew outdoors and has amazing health benefits. When choosing treats choose real treats instead of processed. Dehydrated Rabbit ears, duck wings, jerky, duck feet, chicken feet, turkey feet, fish, the list goes on. See the page Bones on Bones for more ideas for raw bones

Adding water to your dogs kibble is very beneficial to help with digestion.

More information to come shortly...