What you don't know could turn out to be bad for your dog! While most of us don't pay a lot of attention to what we're feeding out pets, we really shouldn't be trusting manufacturers to label things accurately and follow regulations. There aren't actually very many rules about what can be used in dog food, and what you don't know could make your dog very sick.
Too Bad To Eat
Dog food can contain a lot of things we wouldn't be happy about eating, including bones, nervous tissue, organs, skin, ligaments, hair and meat from animals with diseases. The bodies of euthanized pets and zoo animals have been used, too.
Even the good meat that ends up in cat and dog food has undergone heavy processing, losing most of the value it once had. Ingredients like "poultry broth" and "animal meal" are far removed from the meat we imagine.
Animal meal is what's left after a carcass has been processed to remove all the fat and meat. What remains is ground up and dried, resulting in a meal that has a similar texture to corn meal and included in pet food. Broths and similar substances in pet food are made of processed carcasses that come from many different kinds of animals, cooked until a liquid is produced.
It's Legal!
Unfortunately, none of this is against the law. We're used to fairly good rules about what can and can't go into human food, and we're used to those laws being reasonably well enforced. The regulations about what can be put into pet food are much looser, and may not be enforced at all.
This means that just about anything might turn up in your dog's food, with labeling meaning little. Even the words "healthy and balanced" mean only that there's a particular ratio of protein and fat, as well as some added vitamins and minerals.
Toxic Additives
All of us have probably heard of the recent pet food recalls created by contaminated wheat gluten from China. However, melamine isn't the only dangerous additive that can be found in pet food. There are a lot of preservatives that aren't allowed in human food, and which cause illnesses like cancer, kidney failure, liver failure and more.
Expensive Brands, Too
It's not just cheap pet food that's the problem, either. There's no regulation on high end or organic foods, as well. While these pet food may be of higher quality, we have no way of knowing whether they use the same ingredients as their cheaper relatives or not. That can make it hard to find a food that's good for your dog, even if it's one recommended by your vet.
Solutions
There are a number of things you can do to protect your dog. First, learn to read the label - ingredients higher on the label are in larger percentages. That means you should look for named meats instead of generic terms, broths or meals.
You can also learn about the additives and preservatives that can hurt your pets, and look for the foods with the lowest percentage of grains. There are also a number of excellent recipes out there that can help dedicated pet owners make their own foods. Just be sure to do something, since most foods are actually dangerous.
Too Bad To Eat
Dog food can contain a lot of things we wouldn't be happy about eating, including bones, nervous tissue, organs, skin, ligaments, hair and meat from animals with diseases. The bodies of euthanized pets and zoo animals have been used, too.
Even the good meat that ends up in cat and dog food has undergone heavy processing, losing most of the value it once had. Ingredients like "poultry broth" and "animal meal" are far removed from the meat we imagine.
Animal meal is what's left after a carcass has been processed to remove all the fat and meat. What remains is ground up and dried, resulting in a meal that has a similar texture to corn meal and included in pet food. Broths and similar substances in pet food are made of processed carcasses that come from many different kinds of animals, cooked until a liquid is produced.
It's Legal!
Unfortunately, none of this is against the law. We're used to fairly good rules about what can and can't go into human food, and we're used to those laws being reasonably well enforced. The regulations about what can be put into pet food are much looser, and may not be enforced at all.
This means that just about anything might turn up in your dog's food, with labeling meaning little. Even the words "healthy and balanced" mean only that there's a particular ratio of protein and fat, as well as some added vitamins and minerals.
Toxic Additives
All of us have probably heard of the recent pet food recalls created by contaminated wheat gluten from China. However, melamine isn't the only dangerous additive that can be found in pet food. There are a lot of preservatives that aren't allowed in human food, and which cause illnesses like cancer, kidney failure, liver failure and more.
Expensive Brands, Too
It's not just cheap pet food that's the problem, either. There's no regulation on high end or organic foods, as well. While these pet food may be of higher quality, we have no way of knowing whether they use the same ingredients as their cheaper relatives or not. That can make it hard to find a food that's good for your dog, even if it's one recommended by your vet.
Solutions
There are a number of things you can do to protect your dog. First, learn to read the label - ingredients higher on the label are in larger percentages. That means you should look for named meats instead of generic terms, broths or meals.
You can also learn about the additives and preservatives that can hurt your pets, and look for the foods with the lowest percentage of grains. There are also a number of excellent recipes out there that can help dedicated pet owners make their own foods. Just be sure to do something, since most foods are actually dangerous.
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Click Here to find out which dog foods have been proven to be harmful to a dog's health. Find out what the best dog food is to make sure your pooch is in perfect health.
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