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Commercial Dog Food Can Be Dangerous - Is Your Dog Food Safe?

November 25, 2008 by Lynn Halladay · Leave a Comment 

by Lynn Halladay

While most of us don’t think about what goes into pet food, we should. That’s because the ingredients in your dog’s food could cause illness and even death. We can’t trust manufacturers to take care of our pets, because there aren’t a lot of well enforced rules about the ingredients and processing for pet food.

Too Bad To Eat

Dog food can contain a lot of things we wouldn’t be happy about eating, including bones, nervous tissue, organs, skin, ligaments, hair and meat from animals with diseases. The bodies of euthanized pets and zoo animals have been used, too.

Even the good meat that ends up in cat and dog food has undergone heavy processing, losing most of the value it once had. Ingredients like “poultry broth” and “animal meal” are far removed from the meat we imagine.

Animal meal is what’s left after a carcass has been processed to remove all the fat and meat. What remains is ground up and dried, resulting in a meal that has a similar texture to corn meal and included in pet food. Broths and similar substances in pet food are made of processed carcasses that come from many different kinds of animals, cooked until a liquid is produced.

It’s Not Illegal!

You might think this sort of thing would be against the law. After all, there are strict rules about what can be used in human food, and those laws are fairly well enforced. Unfortunately, pet food regulations are a lot looser and are rarely well enforced.

This means that just about anything might turn up in your dog’s food, with labeling meaning little. Even the words “healthy and balanced” mean only that there’s a particular ratio of protein and fat, as well as some added vitamins and minerals.

Toxic Additives

We’ve all heard of recent pet food recalls caused by wheat gluten poisoned with melamine from China. However, that’s not the only additive that’s in pet food, and plenty of them are extremely dangerous as well. Preservatives that aren’t allowed in human food and cause serious illness in workers exposed to them are extremely common in dog food. Over time, they can cause cancer, illness, liver and kidney failure and many other problems. The food you give to your pet could be causing him or her to become sick.

Expensive Brands, Too

It’s not just cheap pet food that’s the problem, either. There’s no regulation on high end or organic foods, as well. While these pet food may be of higher quality, we have no way of knowing whether they use the same ingredients as their cheaper relatives or not. That can make it hard to find a food that’s good for your dog, even if it’s one recommended by your vet.

Your Options

There are a number of things you can do to protect your dog. First, learn to read the label - ingredients higher on the label are in larger percentages. That means you should look for named meats instead of generic terms, broths or meals.

You can also learn about the additives and preservatives that can hurt your pets, and look for the foods with the lowest percentage of grains. There are also a number of excellent recipes out there that can help dedicated pet owners make their own foods. Just be sure to do something, since most foods are actually dangerous.

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Feed Your Dog With All Natural Dog Food To Keep Them Healthier

November 13, 2008 by G D WILLIAMS · Leave a Comment 

by G D Williams

Pets are members of your family what is more, they need special attention in the matter of food. There are numerous advantages of feeding natural foods to dogs. All natural dog food is very rich in vitamin E and C, which is very important for their body.

Vitamin E keeps their coat healthy and vitamin C is good for their bone strength. All these vitamins have the same effect on your pet as they do to the human body. Vitamins such as, beta-carotene are a great help to remove toxins commonly known as free radicals, from their body.

Animals ordinarily eat meat, thus their body gains lots of toxic material and the if toxic material is not removed from their body, then there are lots of chances of them getting infected with diseases of the lungs and heart. It is good to give supplements of all natural dog food day-to-day to keep their metabolic system free from infection and diseases.

All natural dog foods are high in fiber and antioxidants. Natural foods also contain manganese, phosphorous, calcium and potassium all these vitamins and minerals are required for a healthy diet. There are numerous vegetables available to you that are rich in antioxidants, such as, dark leafy greens. By feeding your pet a diet of natural dog food, you are cutting down on health problems and veterinarians bills.

There is lots of proprietary natural food available in market for your pet. Yet, it is better to confer with your Vet before feeding canned natural food. The advice of a veterinarian is essential before going for a experimentation because some canned food is filled with bread.

Every pet owner feels his pet should have good breath, brilliant coat sheen, clean teeth, bright clear eyes and be healthy all the time. For this entire thing, the pet should have good quality of all natural dog food, because a complete diet can only bring this affect to your love able pet. One should take care about the health of their dog so that your pet will also live a longer life.

If your pets are properly fed with rich nutrition, then it will help prevent against common diseases. It is always advised that your veterinarian recommends a holistic food diet or a home made food diet, thus, this will keep your pet away from artificial ingredients.

Particular foods should be avoided, these are foods containing a high amount of oil and low budget food supplements. Feed this type of food will lead to digestive problems and could lead to hair loss as well.

Feeding all natural dog food has many advantages and when you visit your vet to ask for advice, you will find they will say it is advisable to give natural food to your dog. By using natural food as a diet you will be rewarded with a positive effect on your dogs behaviour. Such as, you will find they become more active and playful, and if your dog is quite aggressive, you may find it assists to calm them.

So feed your dogs with all natural dog food to keep them healthier.

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