Most advertising tends to show what people believe to be learned from scientists, but the information is actually just endorsing a product.
Then, slogans reinforce this with clever wording: such as 'organic', 'natural', 'no added preservatives', 'perfectly balanced', 'scientifically proved', 'veterinary approved', or other fashionable but not necessarily meaningful words.
Looking a little deeper, you may find something completely different, even alarming. And with it, a growing belief, especially amongst holistic veterinarians and animal natural therapists, that it is this that is the main cause of so many pet health problems.
Firstly, the quality of the meat. Most of this comes from rendering plants.
These are adjuncts to slaughter houses which take in and
process otherwise waste foods such as:
A recent study also found some pet foods contain toxic levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and even nuclear waste.
This 'raw material' is often then bulked out with a filler, to make the 'meat' go further. This can be anything that is low cost on the world commodity market such as:
I'm not going to bore you with the array of chemicals that are put into pet food. Pets of today don't stand a chance at a happy and normal life. Sadly, few people care about animals.
The few laws governing pet food are ineffective and rarely enforced, depending on the country. If the rendering plant adds the preservative and chemical, rather than the pet food manufacturer, they can legally claim they did not add it.
The pet food industry realizes that this end result is not very nutritious or healthy, so synthetic and isolated 'nutrients' are added. However, nutrients that are isolated are not natural and cannot be easily digested or utilized. Sometimes they can pass through undigested. Other times they can hang up in parts of the body, creating problems.
There
is growing awareness of this problem and some small pet food
companies with high ethics are emerging. However, unless you remain
ever vigilant, you will never know when they have been sold, often
to the less ethical, more economically aware companies.
- Supermarket rejects
- Waste from slaughtered animals (heads, hooves, beaks, feet, etc)
- Euthanized cats and dogs from veterinary clinics, animal shelters, zoos, waste food from restaurants, catering facilities and household kitchens.
- Dead animals (from control measures, farms, roadkill, etc)
- Meat-by-products ( not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, blood, bone, fatty tissue, stomachs and intestines freed of their contents).
A recent study also found some pet foods contain toxic levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and even nuclear waste.
This 'raw material' is often then bulked out with a filler, to make the 'meat' go further. This can be anything that is low cost on the world commodity market such as:
- Sugar
- Sawdust
- Newspaper
- Nut shells
- Soy
- Corn
- Wheat
- Melamine to mention just a few.
I'm not going to bore you with the array of chemicals that are put into pet food. Pets of today don't stand a chance at a happy and normal life. Sadly, few people care about animals.
The few laws governing pet food are ineffective and rarely enforced, depending on the country. If the rendering plant adds the preservative and chemical, rather than the pet food manufacturer, they can legally claim they did not add it.
The pet food industry realizes that this end result is not very nutritious or healthy, so synthetic and isolated 'nutrients' are added. However, nutrients that are isolated are not natural and cannot be easily digested or utilized. Sometimes they can pass through undigested. Other times they can hang up in parts of the body, creating problems.
Perhaps the sure fire way of feeding your pet quality and healthy food is to make your own, from scratch. Daunting as this sounds, once you have learned the basics, it becomes an automatic part of your life.
When you make food at home for your dog or cat, you are ensured that your pet is eating food that meets your standards, and is free of preservatives, fillers, and chemicals that are often found in commercial dog foods.
There are some tricks to the conversion process, as this can produce typical detoxing symptoms, especially in older animals. Professional guidance and help through this process is strongly recommended.
Do Supplements Have A Place In Your Dog's Diet?
Though opinions differ greatly, I believe that a healthy dog's nutritional requirements can be fulfilled with little more than food and sunshine. Calcium and Magnesium levels are generally the only two deficiency concerns when feeding a homemade dog food recipe diet.
You may supplement calcium with unflavored yogurt, white cheese, pulverized egg shells, and sardines. Vitamin D (to release the calcium) can be obtained from cod liver oil or time spent outside, in the sunshine. Magnesium is found in kelp and spinach, which are both acceptable, but only when steamed first.
I highly recommend the following supplements for your pets. I've been using them for over two decades and am happy to say, my pets never get sick. Nupro boosts your pets immune system so those little "sick bugs" can't invade their bodies, plus giving them important nutrients they need. The following are just a few words about this super product:
NUPRO dog formula is specially made to replace the vitamins, minerals and digestive enzymes that your dog does not get from the processed foods in his diet.
NUPRO cat formula provides raw vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino and fatty acids that are lacking in commercially processed foods. NUPRO is specially formulated to boost your cat's typical diet with whole, fresh and nutrient-rich ingredients.
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