In all the focus on making sure that the family and household are in order, we can't forget that pets are a part of the family also. Although not everyone has pets, wanted to just share some information that we stumbled upon when searching for a decent chow that did not have chemical additives or dangerous by products. Did you know that most commercial chows have yummy ingredients such as newspaper, feathers, high-fructose corn syrup, cancerous or diseased animal tissues, bovine fetal tissue, and glandular waste? Us either. Yikes. With friends and family that share their pet dramas and dilemmas with me, I couldn't help but wonder to ask "Have you ever considered their diet?".
Many of the most common chow can cause illness and sicknesses due to the chemical ethoxyquin. This includes complications such as kidney damage, liver damage,cancerous skin lesions, loss of hair, blindness,leukemia,spleen and stomach cancer, immune deficiency syndrome, liver cancer, chronic diarrhea. This is frightening. However, the simple truth is this can be avoided by simply being aware. When purchasing pet food, it's best to follow the same rule for dog food that we follow for our own food; if you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't eat it. This is where ethoxyquin becomes the problem. Ethoxyquin is a quinoline-based antioxidant that is used as both a food preservative and a pesticide. It is pretty commonly used as a preservative in pet foods to prevent the rancidification of fats. Should the mush left over after the ethanol process (distillers grains) be fed to farm animals and our pets? Many carriers have introduced or are considering the use of these in their products as well! The allergies that most dogs have to present formulations of pet food will be magnified by the use of this waste material. Ethoxyquin and similar ingredients are harmful and can prove to be fatal if ingested over a long period of time.
Fish meal, chicken meal, beef meal all sound like tasty ingredients at first glance. Here is the sick part, the term "meal" indicates that any part of the animal could be used. For example, including bones, organs, feet, or even skin. Yes, the meal is actually a mixture that may consist of numerous fillers from any or all of the parts mentioned. Meat meals are generally not as digestible as muscle meat and actually have a poor balance of amino acids. Fish meal is especially dangerous, because if it is decided that the fish is not fit for human consumption, then it must be preserved with ethoxyquin. So, unless the dog food's ingredients label specifically lists "human grade" fish or fish meal, it is likely that the food contains ethoxyquin. Which then becomes part of the initial concern of complications due to the chemical poisoning.
Like in our food, the most used, abused and over processed filler is Corn. Same goes for the dog food industry. Corn is cheap for dog food manufacturers, so they use a lot of it, in all forms. Most of the corn products in dog food are so processed that they are devoid of nutritional value. Protein from corn is a poor substitute for animal-based proteins. If you want a quality dog food, the first ingredients should always be whole, animal-based proteins, not corn! This even holds true to human table food.
Needless to say there has to be other more viable and healthy options. Most recently we purchased the chow (pictured) to experiment with the benefits and if there is really a noticeable effect. This particular chow is organic, however there are many that are not and still may contain healthy and beneficial ingredients for consumption which is really the ultimate purpose of nutrition. Per their website, this particular chow does NOT use chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or steroids. There are no chemical additives or artificial preservatives (Chemical antioxidants) such as ethoxyquin, BHT or BHA, that were designed to extend the shelf life and reduce fat spoilage (rancidity) of pet foods that may cause allergic reactions and affect liver and kidney functions. There is also no wheat or corn.
As long as the main ingredients is not any type of "meal" and there is no indication of the use of Ethoxyquin, that is definitely a proactive step in ensuring the health and longevity of the lifespan. Taking the time to read the label can be make the difference of health and happiness for our pets.
CC
