# Nasty Substances to Watch out for in Pet Foods



## MandyPug (Sep 21, 2008)

The following is part of an article written by Dr. Corinne Chapman from Rocky Ridge Vet Care in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is an amazing holistic vet and she promotes raw diets and the ideal diet for dogs.

"Nasty Substances to Watch for in your Pet Food

What exactly is your pet eating?

-ANIMAL FAT: rendered or extracted fat. Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed-grade animal fat. It is stabilized with powerful antioxidants to retard spoilage, and then sprayed directly onto extruded kibble to increase palatability. Mmmm… Rendering, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc, by melting."

-ARTIFICIAL COLOURING: used in pet foods, treats, and rawhide toys. Can be harmful, toxic, and definitely has NO nutritional value. Known allergic reactions in humans to: FD&C Red and Yellow no. 5 & 7 dyes. Do our pets care about the colour of their food?

-BHA & BHT: synthetic chemical preservatives that may be potentially toxic to kidneys and have been banned for use in human products. Why use them in pet food?

-BREWERS RICE: the dried extracted residue of barley malt and rice products resulting from the manufacture of wort or beer.

-BY-PRODUCTS: non-rendered, clean parts, other than MEAT, derived from slaughtered animals, produced in the course of making a primary food ingredient. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, stomachs, intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, and hoofs, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practises. By-product = NO measurable amount of meat/skeletal muscle. Where's the meat? And where's the assurance that they are practising "good processing"?

-CORN GLUTEN MEAL: the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran…Where's the nutrition?

-CORN SYRUP: used as a humectant, which gives food a dampness and flexibility. It is pure processed (ie. SUGAR), which is difficult to digest for our pets, and potentially addictive.

-DIGEST: an animal feed-grade ingredient that must be made soluble with the use of prolonged heat and moisture, or chemicals and enzymes (eg. Poultry feet= "Poultry Digest").

-DRIED EGG PRODUCT: ingredients listed as product may include an unspecified part of the product. Egg product may include eggshells, and may also not include any egg whites. What is the point?

-DRY BLOOD MEAL: a rendered product and inexpensive source of animal protein. Why not feed your pets REAL meat, vegetables, and bones?

-ETHOXYQUIN: a powerful synthetic chemical preservative known to be highly carcinogenic. It was originally used as an insecticide and pesticide, as well as a rubber stabilizer. Remember that preservatives extend the shelf life of artificial pet food for months.

-GLUTEN: the sticky substance in wheat or corn starches that gives the starch its tough elastic quality, helping to hold together the pulverized composite of animal feed-grade ingredients (and create KIBBLE!)

-MEAL: a ground or pulverized composite of rendered animal feed-grade ingredients. Still on the fence here.

-MSG: (Mono Sodium Glutamate) a flavour enhancer used to disguise inferior food quality. Known to cause potential brain and eye damage, and allergic reactions in humans.

-Propyl Gallate: a synthetic chemical preservative linked to liver damage.

-Propylene Glycol: a synthetic chemical preservative and flavour enhancer linked to kidney damage. Also used as a less-toxic version of the sweet-tasting chemical found in anti-freeze and brake fluid solvents.

-Sodium Nitrate and Nitrite: synthetic chemical preservatives and colour enhancers both known to be carcinogenic.

Thus over the past 50 years of feeding our pets processed artificial pet food, is it a surprise that there has been an increase in idiopathic (of unknown cause) disease? Why can't we prevent Epilepsy? Or Cystitis, Hypothyroidism, Obesity, Dental Disease? WE CAN!! Just like we would never feed our children Kraft Dinner and wieners as their daily meal, we need to change the way we feed our pets! Please take the steps to start feeding your pets REAL food today. A natural diet is not as difficult as it sounds. And it may save your pet's life.

Dr. Corinne Chapman, of Rocky Ridge Vet Care"


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Good Post ... thanks


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## PeanutsMommy (Dec 7, 2008)

great posting! 

i have seen a few of the artifical preservatives in human foods as well. after i learned about the dangers of artifical preservatives not only has my family and i been looking at pet food labels but human food labels as well...my furry family and real family are now on a more natural diet.

i am passing this info along to friends of the family as well. thanks!


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## GGWOODY (Jan 9, 2009)

Dr. Chapman is very misinformed and very biased...let me clear some things up. My comments below in BLUE.



MandyPug said:


> The following is part of an article written by Dr. Corinne Chapman from Rocky Ridge Vet Care in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is an amazing holistic vet and she promotes raw diets and the ideal diet for dogs.
> 
> "Nasty Substances to Watch for in your Pet Food
> 
> ...


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Actually, while glutens are proteins, they are not high quality proteins in regards to dogs and cats. I believe they should be avoided as much as possible since glutens are plant-based proteins instead of animal-based proteins and therefore much harder on the digestive system and kidneys of carnivores.


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## GGWOODY (Jan 9, 2009)

rannmiller said:


> Actually, while glutens are proteins, they are not high quality proteins in regards to dogs and cats. I believe they should be avoided as much as possible since glutens are plant-based proteins instead of animal-based proteins and therefore much harder on the digestive system and kidneys of carnivores.


Not necessarily. Dogs are omnivores and opportunistic feeders by nature, not carnivores; Felines are the only land-dwelling mammals that are obligate carnivores. As such, dogs can handle plant-based proteins fairly well...trust me, I fully support animal-based proteins over plant, but plant-based proteins have their place in a quality dog food. The NRC lists Corn "Gluten" as 95% digestible for dogs...I cannot recall off the top of my head what the NRC for total digestibility is for Wheat Gluten, but I believe it is similar.


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## MandyPug (Sep 21, 2008)

So what if the stuff on the list isn't going to make the dog drop dead on the spot, the point is that they're not OPTIMAL ingredients in dog food. Why feed something that's merely edible when you could feed something that is actually good for your dog? 
I mean there are dogs living on Ol'Roy, but that's all they're doing on it, you can tell the difference between a cheaply fed dog and one who is fed quality foods that you would never catch using any of the above ingredients in.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

GGWOODY said:


> Not necessarily. Dogs are omnivores and opportunistic feeders by nature, not carnivores;


Dogs definately are carnivores. There are a few recent threads where I point out why and what makes them carnivores and how they can't handle plant matter in it's natural state. It is completely unnatural for them to eat plant matter other than a few berries and maybe a fruit or two in season. 

The dog food industry spends millions of dollars to convince people that dogs are omnivores in order to feed them the plant based kibble they sell. If kibble was made of only animal based ingredients it would be much too expensive for people to buy.

Felines are called obligate carnivores ONLY because they cannot produce taurine internally and must eat it in their diet. Mest is the only place you can get taurine. This was just discovered a while back when kibble fed cats started dropping dead and they finally discovered that it was from lack or taurine. Now all cat kibble contains taurine. So it is a natural physiological defeciency that causes them to be called obligate carnivores. BTW: "Obligate carnivore" doesn't mean "can't eat plants" ... it mean "must have meat somewhere in the diet." Therefore cat kibble is also plant based. Dogs and cats eat the same diet.

My dogs haven't eaten any plant matter or taken dietary supplements in 6 1/2 years. If they were omnivores, they would need plant matter to remain healthy. I am on lists with thousands of other people in the same boat.


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## Rexandbaby (Aug 4, 2008)

My dogs eat all kinds of grass in the summer, and when the raspberries and blackberries are in, they take what they can. My Jack will eat our stringbeans off the plants, so some dogs seem to just love the extra.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Rexandbaby said:


> My dogs eat all kinds of grass in the summer, and when the raspberries and blackberries are in, they take what they can. My Jack will eat our stringbeans off the plants, so some dogs seem to just love the extra.


My dogs eat grass also. It either comes right back up in bile vomit or it comes out the back end a while later. In both instances it looks exactly like it did when it went in except the grass coming out the rear end is all woven into a little rope. Wonder how they do that? :smile:


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## Rexandbaby (Aug 4, 2008)

:biggrin: I had never actually given that rope thing much thought, but yeah I wonder too!:biggrin:


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## MandyPug (Sep 21, 2008)

Rexandbaby said:


> :biggrin: I had never actually given that rope thing much thought, but yeah I wonder too!:biggrin:


Don't ya know it's the dog version of tying a cherry stem in a knot? they just don't know that you're supposed to spit it out instead of swallowing! :tongue:


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