Post by Willow on Jan 24, 2004 18:34:08 GMT -5
Of course, we all want to take the best care of our dogs that we possibly can. We take them to the Vet. and get all the vaccinations we are told our pets will die without. Then we go out and look for the best commercial dog food we can afford.
We have been told to get a food with human grade ingredients and a food with as little grains as possible, because we now know that grains can cause allergies in our pets. Then too, meat or poultry should be the first ingredient.
We've done our homework and we have found the perfect food. Or have we?
The problem with kibble, no matter how good a brand we think it is, is that it is cooked. Cooking destroys all the enzymes. Enzymes are essential to life. The body then is forced to make these enzymes, which puts a tremendous strain on the pancreas.
Plus there are grains, which are of no nutritional value to a dog, but instead put extra strain on the digestive system processing these fillers. All grains break down into sugar's which puts a huge burden on the pancreas, often causing diabetes.
The meats in commercial dog food, even though listed as *human grade* are of poor quality. If you haven't read Ann Martin's book, "Food Pets Die For", I highly recommend it. She explains that any time a dog food package says, *meal*, it means a minimum of 25% of that particular meat, for example chicken, has to compose the mix. The remaining 75% can be anything as long as no one ingredient is greater than 25%. So, for example, chicken meal could be composed of: 25% diseased chicken meat and chicken by-products such as guts, feathers, beaks etc., 20% beef..again more by-products than muscle meat, 20% pork of poor quality, 20% euthanized dogs and cats with their flea collars intact. (Yes! They do use dead dogs and cats in pet food all the time), so this includes the pentabarbital used to euthanize them, which doesn't break down in the heat of processing, so you are giving your dog a low dose of a fatal drug daily), and 15% road kill. To top it off, if the end manufactures bought this meal from a rendering plant, which is the most common scenario, the rendering plant will have added ethoxyquin, BHT, and/or BHA to the mix BEFORE it was sold. Since the dog food company didn't add it, they don't have to list it on the label, but you can be sure it's in the food.
This and more is all documented in Ann Martin's book.
If all that wasn't bad enough, cooking any meat will alter the amino acids to the point that essential amino acids will be missing. No wonder our dogs get so sick so frequently nowadays. Twenty five years ago you didn't hear of Pancreatitis, osteosarcomas, auto-hemolytic anemia, Cushing's etc. There is a reason for that. Every generation our dogs are on kibble is weakening their life force. It's getting to the point that one can hardly find a healthy dog anywhere anymore. Because of this, most people would not recognize a healthy dog if they saw one. The bad breath, body odor, itchiness, ear infections, skin problems, allergies and on and on, are accepted as *the norm*, when they ARE NOT!
We have been told to get a food with human grade ingredients and a food with as little grains as possible, because we now know that grains can cause allergies in our pets. Then too, meat or poultry should be the first ingredient.
We've done our homework and we have found the perfect food. Or have we?
The problem with kibble, no matter how good a brand we think it is, is that it is cooked. Cooking destroys all the enzymes. Enzymes are essential to life. The body then is forced to make these enzymes, which puts a tremendous strain on the pancreas.
Plus there are grains, which are of no nutritional value to a dog, but instead put extra strain on the digestive system processing these fillers. All grains break down into sugar's which puts a huge burden on the pancreas, often causing diabetes.
The meats in commercial dog food, even though listed as *human grade* are of poor quality. If you haven't read Ann Martin's book, "Food Pets Die For", I highly recommend it. She explains that any time a dog food package says, *meal*, it means a minimum of 25% of that particular meat, for example chicken, has to compose the mix. The remaining 75% can be anything as long as no one ingredient is greater than 25%. So, for example, chicken meal could be composed of: 25% diseased chicken meat and chicken by-products such as guts, feathers, beaks etc., 20% beef..again more by-products than muscle meat, 20% pork of poor quality, 20% euthanized dogs and cats with their flea collars intact. (Yes! They do use dead dogs and cats in pet food all the time), so this includes the pentabarbital used to euthanize them, which doesn't break down in the heat of processing, so you are giving your dog a low dose of a fatal drug daily), and 15% road kill. To top it off, if the end manufactures bought this meal from a rendering plant, which is the most common scenario, the rendering plant will have added ethoxyquin, BHT, and/or BHA to the mix BEFORE it was sold. Since the dog food company didn't add it, they don't have to list it on the label, but you can be sure it's in the food.
This and more is all documented in Ann Martin's book.
If all that wasn't bad enough, cooking any meat will alter the amino acids to the point that essential amino acids will be missing. No wonder our dogs get so sick so frequently nowadays. Twenty five years ago you didn't hear of Pancreatitis, osteosarcomas, auto-hemolytic anemia, Cushing's etc. There is a reason for that. Every generation our dogs are on kibble is weakening their life force. It's getting to the point that one can hardly find a healthy dog anywhere anymore. Because of this, most people would not recognize a healthy dog if they saw one. The bad breath, body odor, itchiness, ear infections, skin problems, allergies and on and on, are accepted as *the norm*, when they ARE NOT!