The decision of what to post about often comes from things I see. I was at the grocery store & someone went past me & I saw a big bag of commercial dog food in his cart. I was thinking this guy has no clue what is in that food or he wouldn’t be buying it. Well I hope he wouldn’t be buying it, but sadly people see this brand on TV & they claim it will keep your dog healthy & give it what it needs to stay that way for its whole life. Sadly people buy into this & don’t read or investigate what they are feeding their beloved pet. I will look into cat food, soon, but seeing how dog food triggered this I will start there.
Many of the companies that have commercials on TV are huge companies & big profit is what most are about, & using low quality ingredients, fillers, & synthetic supplements makes them more money. Of course this is not true about every food advertised on TV, but I wanted to write this to give you an idea of what some of these ingredients really are. I picked several major brands & researched the top ingredients listed. Ingredients are listed by quantity in the product most down to the least. It would have taken me weeks to research all ingredients, so I decided to give you some information about the top ingredients. I am hoping you will go look at your dogs bag of food & read the ingredients & if you are unsure what they are then google it & then google the side effects of it in dog food.
Years ago I remember looking at the ingredients of a dog food someone told my sister to buy. She bought it (sadly didn’t ask me) & another sister saw it & told her to read the ingredients & there was no meat in the first four ingredients. Dogs are carnivores not vegetarians or grain eaters & the first ingredient in a dogs food should be meat. This food & lot like it are still on the market.
I don’t feed grains to my dogs nor do I recommend it, if a dog feels they need something green, they will eat a little grass. If you put a bowl of wheat in front of your dog they are not going to eat it like a duck or a horse would. Give them some meat & it will be gone in a moment. Grains, corn, & soybean meal are low quality fillers used by dog food manufactures so they can make more profit. Many say they consulted Veterinarians, but most people don’t know that in College Veterinarians students are only taught for about 8 hours on nutrition. Sadly this class is often taught by those who manufacture foods I would never feed after researching the ingredients.
Our pets rely on us to feed them the best food we can. Yes, I know the higher quality foods cost more, but what you save on Vet bills for digestive issues, allergies, infections, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargic, weight issues will be worth it in the end. There are good quality foods that won’t break the bank, I found one.
Ok let me give you some of the ingredients I found & info about them.
Chicken: Is often the top of the 10 most common allergens for dogs. Poor quality rendered meats, high fat skin, often companies use dead, diseased, disabled or dying chickens (the ones not allowed to be sold for human consumption). Side effects: itchy skin, ear infections & digestive issues. Chicken is common because it is lower cost, sadly many chickens are automatically fed antibiotics while at chicken farms & this is in their systems when they are slaughtered for eating.
Rendered meats/fats: is the process of melting down raw animal fat: beef, tallow(dense fat surrounding the kidneys from cattle or sheep) pork lard & poultry. Many dogs can’t tolerate these.
Non rendered parts: usually refers to animal-by-products that do not undergone the industrial heat process.
Rice: a cereal grain which is a carbohydrate & a cheap filler. Carbohydrates can lead to weight issues & grains can lead to skin issues, itching & ear infections.
Whole grain wheat: Carbohydrate, can lead to skin irritations, itching, ear infections, paw licking & digestive issues. Many wheat fields are sprayed with weed killer which is then on the plant when it is harvested, this weed killer has been linked to cancer in humans. That is another reason not to risk feeding grains to our dogs.
Poultry bi-product meal: Non-rendered parts such as the neck, feet, undeveloped eggs, & intestines. Side effects: allergic reactions, chronic itching, ear infections, reduced fecal quality. Obesity, dull coat, systemic inflammation from low quality protein sources.
Whole grain corn: A low quality filler that is hard to digest, little nutritional value, can cause digestive upset, weight gain due to high carbohydrate content.
Corn Protein meal: Changed name from corn protein meal: A low cost less bio-available filler, also called corn gluten meal: Side effects: can cause allergic reactions, Risk of aflatoxins contamination from mold, lead to obesity. Found at Lowe’s & Home Depot in the garden department being sold as a weed killer.
Aflatoxins: are poisonous carcinogenic toxins produced by certain molds that grow on crops of corn, peanuts & tree nuts. Can lead to cancer, liver damage or death to a pet. Can be present even if there is no visible mold. It’s why high quality ingredients are so important.
Natural Flavors: hydrolyzed proteins (proteins broken down into smaller peptides) from yeast extracts or broths. Sadly if from low quality yeasts they can cause health issues for dogs.
Glycerin: Over consumption can lead to increased thirst/urination & potentially kidney issues.
Monodicalcium Phosphate: It is an inorganic compound (also a component in fertilizer) Can contribute to kidney damage, chronic kidney disease, & formation of bladder stones.
Calcium Carbonate: Chemical compound (found world wide as rock) side effects: kidney damage, skeletal abnormalities, can interfere with absorption of vital nutrients of iron & zinc.
Potassium Chloride: Side effects: muscle weakness & kidney issues
Meat & Bone Meal: From cooking & grinding animal tissue & bone into a powder. Can cause joint issues in large breed puppies. May introduce toxins & heavy metals.
Soybean meal: Low quality filler, can cause digestive issues & allergens.
Animal fat: When not listed as a particular type of animal fat it may be low quality which can lead to pancreatitis, obesity rancidity, toxins, cardiovascular strain, hyperlipidemia.
Chicken by products: low quality ingredients, a rendered dried & ground mixture of neck, feet, undeveloped eggs, organs remaining after slaughter. Can cause allergic reactions, & poor digestion.
Ground Grain Surghum: a lower quality filler that reduces nutrient absorption.
Sulfur Dioxide & Anhydrous ammonia: a product of corn gluten meal & are registered as a toxic chemical substance w/EPA.
I just scratched the surface of the ingredients in these foods. There were synthetic Vitamins added, which getting vitamins through natural sources is always best.
I hope after you have read this post you have gone & looked at your dogs food. If you pour their food into a container, please keep the bag till that food is gone or minimally keep the bar code part. If there is a recall you want to know if your dog’s food was part of the recall. Please research the ingredients in your dogs food if you don’t know what they are.
There is a group called AAFCO that puts standards on pet food but the standards are so low it is sad. Some ingredients would not be legally allowed to be put in products we eat. Sad thing is animals are property in the eyes of the law, so standards for their foods are low. It is up to us to do our due diligence & know what we are feeding our furry family members. What goes into them will be a key factor for their health & well being long term. My dog Ace who was in the first photo & the last photo lived to be 17 & 8 months old (guessed his age at 15 months when I got him, but he could have been older, Vet didn’t think younger). He went on a walk the last week of his life, not far, but he was happy & still got excited when a friend visited that week.
If you are enjoying my blog posts & learning something please help me to get the word out there so more people will find my blog. My goal is to help as many people to help their pets to live long healthy lives & not just survive but thrive. You can help me in several ways. Comment on my posts, share the link with pet owners you know, Like the posts, subscribe to my blog & visit often. If you have a question & want to reach out to be you can email be directly at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com. I appreciate all my subscribers & those who have commented, liked & shared my blog posts. Thank you, Debbie
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