Dog Food Warning: Important!

by larry

http://spoiled-mutts.com Ingredients in some dog food may surprise you
By STACY SMITH SEGOVIA
The Leaf-Chronicle

If you ever stop to think about what's in your pet's food, you'll wish you hadn't.

Chicken heads and diseased slaughterhouse animals are common ingredients. Euthanized pets and their minced flea collars, restaurant grease and bovine tumors are less-common ingredients, but they are out there.

Laura Blanz, owner of Total Canine Care in Clarksville, says labs have found phenobarbitol (the chemical used to euthanize animals) in some pet foods, left over from the euthanized animals used to make the food.

"The vast majority of pet food produced in this country is made with what we would consider to be poor-quality ingredients," Nancy Kerns writes in the February 2006 issue of The Whole Dog Journal.

Kerns goes on to explain that nutritionists are beginning to advocate more varied diets, with numerous sources of nutrients, for most captive animals. The Whole Dog Journal, available at Total Canine Care, lists 48 dry dog foods and 32 wet dog foods that are "approved" by the journal's standards.

The approved foods contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. They contain no animal byproducts or sugar. A high-quality protein source, such as whole meat, poultry or fish, should be one of the first ingredients listed.

Reading the labels on your pet food is the first step in determining whether the food meets your standards. Equally important is your pet's health while eating the food. Stop feeding any food that leaves your pet itchy, lethargic, with dull eyes or coat.

Health foods for pets are a growing industry, with popular brands like Newman's Own introducing pet food lines. In general, the higher the quality of the ingredients, the more expensive a food will be.

The Whole Dog Journal has some advice for concerned dog owners that applies equally well to cat owners:

Look for foods containing whole meats, vegetables and grains.

Remember that the more ingredients a food contains (barring the vitamins and minerals), the less of each ingredient the food contains.

Expect to pay dearly for quality.

Buy foods that suit your dog.

Stop feeding your dog a food if he exhibits signs of illness. Get him to a vet, and contact the maker with the date-code from the bag.

If cheapest and easiest have been your top criteria for pet food, you may find your pet's nutrition is getting shortchanged. If you decide to make a change, do so gradually.

Veterinarian Dr. Robert Goldstein offers three steps to getting your pet on a healthier diet. First, switch to an all-natural dry food as a complement to your pet's current diet. Second, add steamed or pulverized vegetables and oil to the dry food. Third, add human-grade meats or a pre-made raw food mixture.

Erin Johnson feeds her two dogs Dr. Harvey's Canine Health, an expensive premix she must cook for eight minutes, then add cooked meat to complete the meal. She says she understands it's not practical for most people to invest that kind of time and money into feeding their pets.

"Some people have to feed their dogs dry foods — they have two kids, a job, the P.T.A.," she says. "But you can do it without going over the top."

Johnson says she saw the biggest improvements in her dogs' health after switching them to a high-quality dry food. That falls right in line with Goldstein's recommendations and is infinitely more doable for most people.

Stacy Smith Segovia is a features writer for The Leaf-Chronicle.

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Lare says; why go to all that trouble and expense? You can prepare the healthiest meals anywhere yourself by making your own natural dog food AND you will know EXACTLY what is in it.

You want your dog to live a long and healthy life don't you? Then take care of him, spend a little time preparing healthy, life giving natural dog food he will enjoy and you will be comfortable in the knowledge that you are doing the very best for your dog.

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By; Lare Parsons
Author/writer with more than 30 years
raising & caring for multiple dog breeds.

http://spoiled-mutts.com/