Lets see... What else did I feed her..Oh yeah! She really really loved BHA which is proven to cause cancer and tumors! I also really enjoyed feeding her a dye.. I think it was.. Yellow 6? It has been linked to tumors in the adrenal gland and kidneys, it must be good stuff!
Hold the phone! What you be talking about?
Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to add that I was feeding her Kibbles 'n Bits.
Yes, thats right. Kibbles 'n Bits. Were you expecting that one? She's also been fed Pedigree, Ol Roy , Gravy Train , and Beneful at some time or another in her life. What do all of these have in common? Well, for one, they all have dyes, BHA... Poor ingredients. Poison.
There seems to be a lack of education.
Society has it where people go to Walmart glance through the dog food section and throw in any ole food into their cart because its cheap, it says 'nurtritionally complete', and their dogs absolutely love it. They then sit back and wonder why their dogs have allergies, why they have loose runny stools, and why they are overweight or have issues keeping weight on. They never sit back and wonder 'Hm, maybe Kibbles 'n Bits isn't that healthy...'
I really would love for more people to open their eyes to the garbage they are feeding their beloved dog/ companion/ fur baby. SO! Lets break down a few lists on ingredients found in some well-known comerial dog food, shall we? I've already kind of done Kibbles 'n Bits.. So I guess I'll leave that one alone.
Alpo
Ingredients: Ground yellow corn,beef and bone meal (source of beef flavor), corn germ meal , soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA), digest of chicken by-products (source of chicken flavor), pork and bone meal, poultry by-product meal, salt, iron oxide, glandular meal (source of liver flavor), cheese meal (source of cheese flavor), choline chloride, zinc, sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin E supplement, copper sulfate, vitamin A acetate, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), vitamin B12 supplement, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin D3 supplement, potassium iodide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), sodium selenite, folic acid, biotin
The underlined are questionable or bad. Corn is basically undigestible to dogs, it runs right through them and gives no nutritional value, its also to leading cause of food allergies in dogs.
Soybean meal is another thats pointless and hard to digest.
Animal fat can literally be from anything. Road kill, zoo animals, 4D (diseased, dead, dying, disabled), euthed shelter pets with flea collars still on, anything unfit for human consumption.
BHA is linked to cancer and tumors.
Byproducts are once again unfit for human consumption. Feathers, beaks, feet, blood, stomachs and contents, heads, brains... You get the picture. Gross.
How about a more respected food... IAMS anyone..?
IAMS ProActive Health
Chicken, Corn Meal , Ground Whole Grain Sorghum , Chicken By-Product Meal , Dried Beet Pulp , Chicken Flavor, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Caramel, Calcium Carbonate, Flax Meal, Choline Chloride, Fructooligosaccharides, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract.
Alright, lets start on this one. Corn we already know is undigestible. Sorghum is a grain and if the plant is stressed or young it can produce toxic levels of cyanide.. Yum? By-products.... Beet Pulp. This is also a new one like Sorghum. Ultimately its sugar. They produce the same highs and lows as table sugar and a great deal of stress on the pancreas and adrenals, a condition that may result in diabetes. Also, sweetners have been linked to behavior problems and hyperactivity in pets. Who'd a thunk it?
[size=150]But.. But.. What SHOULD I feed my dog?
Awesome question!
There are a number of GREAT holistic dog foods out there, I now feed one of them myself and are extremely pleased with the results.
Dogs are designed to need a very high to all meat content in their food. It's impossible for them to properly and fully digest corn, wheat, and soy. Rice is a lesser evil.
Grain free is normally the best way to go kibble wise, if it can be afforded. Potato is a simple starch, easy to digest, and sweet potato is even better. Peas are a simple fiber.
Meat meals are better than JUST meat. Dog food ingredients are listed by the weight on bags. Meal is going to weight more that just say.. chicken. Therefore the bag would be made up of more chicken meal than just chicken. Look for at the very least two named meat products lists as the very first two ingredients.
Stay far far away from unnamed animal sources. Meat and bone meal, poultry, liver, animal fat, animal digest and so on and so forth. By-products are low quality and should be avoided.
BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin are all perservatives. BHA and BHT are both known to cause tumors and cancer... Ethoxyquin is often found in fish used in commericial dog foods. Ethoxyquin is a toxin limited and banned in human food.
Many poor quality foods have dyes in them. Although studies have not proven much, they have hinted at majority of the dyes to cause tumors or allergic reactions in animals. Besides, they are pointless. Your dog doesn't care his food is multicolored.
Now, an actual list of good holistic foods!
Blue Buffalo, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Taste of the Wild, Canidae (I feed the Single Grain), Wellness, Wellness Core, Innova, Diamond Naturals, Solid Gold, Acana, Evo.. and many, many more (Help me out guys~)
Ultimately, however, there will be some flaw or another that could possibly be found with ANY kibble. The only food that could be considered perfect would be a RAW diet consisting of Raw meaty bones,muscle tissue, and organ meat, some people like to throw in eggs, small bits of fruit, and small amounts of veggies. Its honestly up to you. Raw bones, unlike dry or wet food, actually clean the teeth while they eat. Raw is also 100% digestible and you KNOW what is going into your pets system.
There are also a few benefits to feeding your dogs a higher quality food.. Besides.. Well ya know.. Poisoning them.
Before its mentioned, yes, higher quality foods DO cost more, however your dog will eat less. My pooch was being fed 6 heaping cup fulls of kibbles 'n bits and still could barely keep weight on. We switched to Canidae and she's down to 3 cups a day and can easily keep up a healthy weight.
People also notice much softer, fuller, and shinier coats. I can personally attest to this as well.
A dogs poop will have less of a smell, it desovles into the ground much quicker, and theres far less of it. Less to pick up or step in! Hurray!
Over-all health is improved leading to less vet visits and less money spent there. Food allergies normally disappear after switching off of corn, wheat, or soy.
Can I has lists?
Well, I thought it'd be a good idea to list dog food brands, the good, the bad, and the down right ugly. This way its an easy and quick comparison on level of food quality.
The worst.
Pedigree, Kibbles 'n Bits, Alpo, Gravy Train (cringe), Purina Dog Chow, Beneful Original, Ol'roy...
'Yuck, but not the most horrible'
IAMs Healthy Naturals, Pro Plan, Purina Beyond One, Science Diet, Eukanuba, Diamond brand,
Much better
Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Wellness, Innova, Diamond brand Naturals, Wellness, Natural Balance
Great
Evo, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Canidae Pure Elements, Wellness Core, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, Acanna, Orijen
The best
Raw diet including the meat, bones, and organs or prey animals such as poultry, cattle, venison, pork ( If frozen for over three weeks), rabbits, rats, mice, guinea pigs.. You get the idea. Dogs can also be given veggies in small amount.. No more that 10-15% of the diet and it is also important to grind/blend the veggies up in a food processor. Dogs can not digest he cellulose wall to get at he nutrients inside so its important to break the walls yourself.
As you can see my lists are lacking, I could use a bit of help with this. 8D
Links
Just a few, I'll add more.
http://www.naturalnews.com/012647.html
http://www.preciouspets.org/truth.htm
http://www.purelypets.com/articles/whatsinfood.htm
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php ... ngredients Is by FAR my favorite and I use it very often. xD
http://dogfoodanalysis.com/ Cool site for dog food reviews.
Okay.. That was a lot of copy paste but ALAS I did write it, just for another site. ;D I thought it could be useful over here as well. The original was hastily thrown together at 3 in the morning after a bout of insomnia.. So.. Spelling errors and poor grammar are expected. See any errors? Point em out.
I also am aware this is for dog food, but almost the exact same rules apply for cats and ferrets when choosing a food. Catinfo.org is a good nutrition website for cats, while holisticferret.com is great or fuzzbuts.
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