Processed foods for "Struvite Crystals in her urine"....

[magicre]

uh, I didn't say you should put sawdust in food. I think you misinterpreted what I said, and looking back at what I wrote maybe I stated it unclearly......cellulose is an insoluble fibre that is sourced from a plant cell wall. Because sawdust comes from wood, the cells that make up sawdust CONTAIN cellulose. Just like the cells of every plant material on the planet. So companies that don't use cellulose started spreading rumors that companies that DO use cellulose are putting sawdust in their food. Using cellulose in a diet is not the same as putting sawdust in a diet.

NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT: the benefits of insoluble fibre such as cellulose include: aid in the natural exfoliation of intestinal cells, promotes peristalsis, and can help 'bulk up' stools if there is fibre responsive colitis, anal gland issues, or if you have an animal on a weight loss program and they're hungry, it can help to make them feel more full. You cannot substitute fibre for vegetables and whole grains. Fibre is not digestible. Vegetables and whole grains are digestible and provide a plethora of beneficial nutrients to the body.

Is that better?

It's true, cellulose comes from a plant cell wall, which may (or may not, depending on the company) include wood, but again, it's not a filler, it's an insoluble fibre broken down into teeny tiny bits. It doesn't supply energy or vitamins or minerals, but insoluble fibre is important for digestive health, someone in another thread was talking about how important it insoluble fibre is for natural exfoliation of intestinal cells, it also promotes peristalsis, and can help 'bulk up' stools if there is fibre responsive colitis, anal gland issues,

you can see how one would be confused by the words bolded....and i was kind of injecting a little humour into this very serious discussion.

unfortunately, what you say is true. there is sawdust in certain dog foods that are processed.

so, we can talk about what dogs need until the cows come home and i will absolutely agree or agree to disagree if vegetables and fruits and grains are included in what you think dogs need.

however, i have serious doubts about conditions at these manufacturing plants.....these are not rumours.

with e.coli running rampant in human food, salmonella not a stranger to bags of kibble, surely you can understand why many of us would rather be in control of what we and our dogs eat.

surely you can understand that i would not feed my family food from a box, nor would i feed a dog food out of a bag, regardless of the ingredients.

i see the problem, not in trying to quantify and qualify all of the ingredients in dog food and what they can and can't do or will or will not do for your dog.

trials and panels mean nothing if the food is no longer recognised as food.

eating enriched flour contributes to diabetes. eating kibble does too.

we have become a nation of separateness......defining an ingredient for what it does to benefit our dogs, rather than look at the entire nutrient panel of a whole food for the benefit of our animal.

feed whole prey. feed prey model. feed barf. what they have in common is that chicken looks like chicken, veggies are broken down so the cellulose wall is broken not eliminated for digestion....fruits i won't comment on...and grains well, if you must.

but feed the real food. that's what i'm saying. all the studies in the world touting a certain vitamin cannot cannot cannot replace the real deal.

[mythbuster]

yes, I can see how what I said was misinterpreted... I knew what I was thinking... it just didn't come out right.

however, i have serious doubts about conditions at these manufacturing plants.....these are not rumours.

I agree wholeheartedly 100%. I am extremely particular about who I'm willing to support as a company, and have visited manufacturing plants. When people talk about diet choices, the first thing I discuss is quality control and safety. There are a lot of 'bad practices' going on, and a lot of the highly regarded companies are the worst offenders IMO. There are not a lot of companies doing it right.

eating enriched flour contributes to diabetes. eating kibble does too.

Can you show me a study that proves this? The ones I am aware of actually disprove this.

When you talk 'processed food', processed in the pet food sense means something entirely different than the human food sense. For people, processed food is created for convenience and flavor. Almost never for nutrition. We can agree to disagree about the appropriateness of different diets, but don't confuse the terminology between the two, you cannot compare processed human food to processed pet food.