What’s really in popular pet foods?

What’s really in popular pet foods?  You might be surprised to learn that many leading pet food manufacturers are more concerned with turning a profit than they are with the health and well-being of our pets.  The use of low quality leftovers from the human food chain often end up as the main ingredients of many common brands of pet food.  Many of these ingredients are basically indigestible by dogs and cats and cause their kidneys and liver to work on overload, leading to a weakened immune system and inviting disease into their bodies.

Let’s start off by discussing “By-Products”.  I’m sure many of you have heard of them, but do you really know what they consist of or where they come from?  By-Products are the end result of the rendering process and often include “4-D” meats (Dead, diseased, dying and disabled) that are rejected from use in the human food chain and may be contaminated with diseases like E-Coli, pets euthanized with Sodium Phenobarbital which remains basically intact after rendering, restaurant waste (including packaging materials), dead zoo animals and road kill that is too large to be buried roadside.  Do you consider any of these things fit for consumption by your beloved furry family member?  If you are in disbelief, as I was when I first discovered this information, please do your own research – there are an abundance of books available and one of my favorites is written by Ann Martin “Food Pets Die For”.  You can also do some internet searches using terms like “4-D animals in pet food”, “Sodium Phenobarbital in pet food” or “What is rendering”.  I recommend avoiding ANY pet food containing By-Products.

Fillers are predominant in many pet foods and are the remnants of processing foods for humans, basically the leftovers after all the nutritious parts have been removed.  Grains like corn and wheat are probably the most common fillers and are believed to be major causes of allergies in pets.  Others are soy and beet pulp which also contribute to allergies.  When you read a pet food label, be aware that manufacturers will often “split” ingredients to make it appear the food isn’t really made up primarily of grains.  For example, the label may list Ground Whole Corn first, followed by By-Products then Corn Gluten, etc.  Dogs that are allergic to these grains and fillers often suffer from chronic ear infections that recur after a treatment course of steroids and antibiotics and do not appear to be seasonal.

Chemical Preservatives are still being widely used in pet foods even though many have been banned from use or heavily regulated in the human food chain.  There is no excuse for a pet food manufacturer to add or allow the use of these preservatives (many of which are known or suspected to be carcinogenic) when there are safe, natural alternatives available like Rosemary and Tocopherols.  Some examples of common unsafe preservatives are BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin and Propylene Glycol.  If you feed your pet a food that contains any type of fish meal, look for a written guarantee by the manufacturer that it does not contain any Ethoxyquin, as it is commonly added to fish meal products.

Be on the lookout for any added artificial colors, as many are highly suspected of being carcinogenic or artificial sweeteners which may contribute to hyperactivity.  Also look for Menadione Sodium Bisulfite (source of Vitamin K activity) which is a synthetic form of Vitamin K and often added to lower quality pet foods that has been linked to liver damage.

Why are these harmful ingredients being added to our pets’ food?  It’s all about the money.  These ingredients are cheap and turn a major profit for the big manufacturing companies.  Unfortunately, these companies are the ones who can afford large advertising budgets, and their products fill the shelves of major chain supermarkets and pet supply warehouses.  Where do you go to find high quality foods that you can feel safe feeding your pets?  Here are some links to manufacturers that I feel confident recommending:

The Honest Kitchen, San Diego, CA (619) 544-0018 www.thehonestkitchen.com

Natura Pet Products (Innova) www.naturapet.com

Newman’s Own Organics www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/home/index.php

Old Mother Hubbard (Wellness) www.wellnesspetfood.com

Orijen Pet Foods www.orijen.cz/orijen/about/

Solid Gold www.solidgoldhealth.com

You can also visit www.APetsBestFriend.biz/InfoProducts.html for links to some recommended reading.

How to choose the right food for your dog

We have been researching canine nutrition and food allergies in order to help our clients dogs live healthier, happier lives.  There are so many pet foods available today, that it’s difficult to know where to begin the selection process.  Many consumers are aware of the recent pet food recalls and are wary of any products that use imported ingredients.  A great reference tool is the book “Food Pets Die For” by Ann Martin (you can find a link to buy this book on our website http://apetsbestfriend.biz/InfoProducts.html).  There are many other books related to this subject, and a great deal of information is also available on the internet.  The best way to know exactly what your pet is eating, and possibly more important, what he is not eating, is to prepare his meals yourself.  Again, before embarking on this journey, we recommend doing some homework so you can be sure your pet is getting everything he needs from his meals.  For most of us, there is just not enough time in each day to cook for ourselves, let alone our pets, but luckily there are some trustworthy pet food manufacturers who believe that our pets deserve the same high quality foods as us humans.  Look for our list of recommendations at the end of this post.  In our opinion, it is a wise idea to find not just one brand of food that works well for your dog, but two or three and rotate them.  We have been taught that we should stick with a single food for our pets to avoid digestive upset, but that could potentially lead to dietary deficiencies or excesses, or your pet could develop allergies to one or more of the ingredients.  When switching between foods, make sure to introduce the new food slowly over a period of one to two weeks, gradually increasing the amount of the new food and decreasing the amount of the previous food.

If your dog is suffering from allergies, the cause could be his food.  Food allergies can easily be confused with inhalant allergies (atopy), flea bite dermatitis or sarcoptic mange.  Once these are ruled out as a source of the symptoms, it is possible to embark on an elimination diet or feeding trial.  Many commercial pet foods, even so-called “Premium” foods, contain ingredients that are common causes of allergies, including: Corn, Wheat, Soy, Dried Beet Pulp, Beef, Chicken and Dairy Products.  Common signs of food allergies include: recurring or chronic ear and/or skin infections, strong skin odor, itchy skin, hair loss, hot spots and do not appear to be seasonal.  Many pet owners believe that food allergies only affect their pets after a recent change in diet, when in fact, these allergies commonly develop in pets that have been fed the same type of diet for over two years.  It is also commonly believed that pet foods containing Lamb and Rice are the best choice for pets with sensitive skin; however, most of these formulas also contain other allergy-causing ingredients.  Lamb and Rice used to be a good choice for pets that showed allergy symptoms when being fed other proteins such as beef or chicken, but can also be a source of allergies.  An elimination diet consists of exclusively feeding your pet a protein and carbohydrate source that he has never eaten before, and absolutely nothing else (including table scraps, treats, rawhide, etc.) for twelve consecutive weeks before introducing one new ingredient at a time.  This can be very challenging in households with children or other members who tend to slip them snacks when no one is looking.

There is not one single food that is best for all dogs, so finding the best food for your dog involves trial and error.  Please learn how to read pet food labels and you can help your dog live a long, healthy life.  Pet food manufacturers commonly “Split” ingredients to make it appear that there is less of a specific ingredient (usually a form of grain) and the labels can be very misleading.  Some of our top choices in pet foods are:

Wellness by Old Mother Hubbard – the grain-free line is called CORE with formulas for adult maintenance and weight loss

Innova by Natura Pet – the grain-free line is called EVO with different varieties and sizes of kibble

The Honest Kitchen – various formulas of raw, dehydrated, human-grade ingredients manufactured in San Diego

These are just a few of our favorites.  When evaluating a potential food for your pet, some important factors to look for are:  use of chemical preservatives (including Ethoxyquin which is commonly added to fish meal ingredients and believed to be carcinogenic), use of ANY by-products (there is no such thing as “High quality By-products” – just do your own search on Google and you’ll be shocked at what comes up), artificial colors (many are believed to be carcinogenic), synthetic Vitamin K (Menadione Sodium Bisulfite source of Vitamin K activity) which has been linked to liver damage and not found in high quality pet foods, Beet Pulp which is used as a filler and believed to be a leading cause of ear infections, Corn, Wheat or Soy are also highly allergenic to a great number of pets.

Hello world!

Hello Everyone!

A Pet’s Best Friend is finally joining the rest of the “Blogging” world.    Bear with us as we figure out how this works.

Got Fleas? We can help.

Let’s start this blog out by tackling a problem that so many dog owners face here in sunny San Diego – Fleas.  Flea season never really ends here in southern California, but we’re definitely in the peak season right now.  We recently came across an article published in The Whole Dog Journal that addresses the dangers of using topical “Spot-On” flea treatments, and immediately set out to find a safer way to combat fleas.  Pesticides and Insecticides have been linked to serious health problems in dogs and cats, not to mention the potential risks to the humans who care for them, so we no longer sell, use or recommend them.  In our experience, these products are losing effectiveness – we constantly see flea-infested dogs who were recently treated with “Spot-On” flea products.  Can it be that fleas are becoming immune to these poisons?  Possibly, but we also believe that these insecticides are damaging our pets organs, thereby weakening their immune systems, which invites these parasites to attack our beloved pets.  Let’s face it, fleas have inhabited this earth for a very long time and to think that they can be eliminated is just wishful thinking.  In order to keep these parasites off our pets, we can’t just put some poison on them and think that’s all we have to do to solve the problem – we need to practice Integrated Pest Management.

Integrated Pest Management involves more than just trying to kill the fleas on our pets – they must be eliminated from our homes and yards.  There are many ways we can control them inside our homes – the cheapest method is vacuuming daily, laundering pets bedding at least weekly and using a flea comb to manually remove fleas from our pets.  Yes, this sounds like quite a bit of work, and it is, but the payoff is that our pets aren’t being poisoned by toxic chemicals (and we aren’t exposing ourselves to these chemicals, either).  Other “safe” methods include sprinkling boric acid (“Borax”) or regular table salt all over the carpet, leaving it down for a day or two and vacuuming it up (best if repeated a few times consecutively) or using an organic, non-toxic product such as Evolv or Bio-Defense & Eco-Treat made by Wondercide (available in our shop or at www.wondercide.com).  Wondercide’s products are made from organic cedar oil and are very effective at killing fleas.  Keep in mind that because these products do not contain any chemicals, you cannot use too much and are encouraged to use them liberally.  More on these and other products later.

You must decide if you are willing to risk the health of yourself, your family and pets by resorting to the use of Insecticides, but we encourage you to educate yourself as much as possible and don’t just use “Spot-On” flea treatments because your vet sold it to you.  Please contact us for more information.