We all want to take the best care of our pets, and the best place to start is with a quality diet. However, many commercial pet foods contain ingredients that you certainly would not feed your pet if you were aware of their source. The following items are things to avoid in commercial pet formulas - read the labels, and check them every time you buy...pet food manufacturers DO change their formulas, so a brand and recipe that meets your criteria today, may not tomorrow. 1. “By-products” of any sort: These ingredients are what is rejected for human consumption such as feathers, beaks, feet, waste, dead, disabled, dying and diseased animals. 2. “Meat” or “Animal” ingredients: In other words, the specific type of animal is not specified. There is evidence (via the presence of sodium pentobarbital in the foods)that some pet foods contained euthanized animals, including household pets, strays, zoo and shelter animals. Although industry representatives deny the use of household pets, the rumors persist in part because video evidence shows euthanized animals from shelters being taken by vehicle to a rendering plant that supplies ingredients for pet food manufacturers. 3. Corn, wheat and soy: These ingredients are not inherently bad for your pet, but they are common sources of allergens and food sensitivities. They are used primarily as a cheap source of inferior and/or incomplete proteins. 4. “Digest” ingredients: Such as, chicken digest, animal digest, etc. Digest is a polite term for waste. 5. Artificial color or preservatives: Some of these artificial ingredients have been known as carninogenic for some time, but are permitted in pet food (BHT, for example, an artificial preservative). Love Your Pet Natural Therapies recommends a home-made diet as the best diet for your loving companion animal. The next best option would be occasional 'real-food' meals (2-3x week) followed by supplementation of commercial food with 'real-food.' Int he very least, a nutritional supplement should be added daily to your pet's food. Commercial varieties are available (Missing Link, for example), as well as customized blends from Love Your Pet Natural Therapies, or homemade blends can be made. Our next posting will include ingredients to avoid in home-cooked meals for your pets. There is much more information available on this topic. We recommend you conduct additional research. Some places to start: Foods Pets Die For, by Ann Martin Born Free USA, API Report, “What's Really in Pet Food,” http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359 Dog Food Advisor http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com |
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