Good Pet Food Equals No Animal By-Products

I would like to do you a favor that my vet did for me. Upon a visit with a new vet one of the first questions she asked us was, "what type of dog food do you feed your dogs?" I don't even remember what brand but I do remember we did not go so far as the store brands such as Old Roy (images of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation always popped into my mind) and thought we were doing pretty well with what could be described as a premium brand. She suggested very strongly to us to change our dog food. She said it didn't matter which brand, only to pay attention to the ingredients and make sure animal by-products were not on the list. I had never heard of such a thing and thought all dog food was generally the same. She told us we would see a difference in our dogs weight, coat, energy and amount of dog poo in the yard. To be honest with ya the dog poo is what got my attention. I had always worried about our dogs because it had seemed the food just ran out of them. She said the dogs cannot digest a lot of the "filler" that is in dog food and therefore they were not getting the nutrition they needed. Sold. Straight from the vet's office we went directly to a local pet store (you can not get non-animal by-product food from a regular store). We braced and budgeted ourselves for the higher price per bag but wanted to give our dogs the best chance at being healthy. Wow! What a change! Our pups had to adjust to being fed twice a day instead of three or four but once the daily habit of going to the food bowl was broken and dinner times were established they did very well. Better even! They filled in with muscle and their coats became fuller. They got full very quick and their waste was even healthier looking. Our dog budget only changed minimally because they were eating less.

Go to your dog food bag right now. What is on that ingredient list? If it has animal by-products please read on. I welcome any questions you may have. If you are already on the band wagon - congratulations and if you have time I would love to read your comment, let me know what brand you use and your experience with your animals.

In the small town I am from there is a commercial pet food processing plant. Driving by this plant the smell which seeps into my car causes a gag reflex and I hope the stoplight next to it is never, ever red. The cloud of stench clung to me all day long. In fact I would go out of my way to steer clear of this plant because of this smell. I don't have a sensitive nose. I can drive by a pig farm and not flinch. My nostrils barely quiver if a skunk explores too close to our house. But a dog food plant - blech.

Advertising can be misleading - we all know this. Look at any bag of pet food and you practically want to chow down yourself. They even go so far to appeal to our get healthy attitudes and advertise broccoli and carrots! Many claim "100% nutritionally complete and balanced". Sadly if these companies would provide pictures of what was really in your pet food you would never want to pour the kibble into your pets bowl.

One of the first ingredients on your typical bag of pet food is going to be meat by-products. By-products are what is left over after processing animals for human food consumption. Heads, feet, bones, intestines, organs and whatever else that might get thrown in the heap. Pet food manufacturers can purchase these products at a minimal price. Many of these left-overs do not provide proper nutrition for our pets and are not even digestible. By-products can also be animals not fit for humans to eat. It can be anything from roadkill to disabled or diseased livestock. Some companies have even used deceased pets! Whatever chemical or disease that may have killed or disabled these animals are now being consumed by your pet. This is the protein and if it is first on the list of ingredients it provides the highest weight inside the pet food recipe!

Usually the second ingredient on your typical dog food bag is going to be some type of grain. Like I said before, a lot of advertising for pet foods will tout some sort of grain to be healthy for your dog. You see a fat ear of corn or a crunchy carrot and automatically you think of a yummy fulfilling dinner. Not so for your animal. These products are only fillers. They make your pet feel full without the needed protein necessary for a healthy body. For instance, soy products do not agree well with your pet's digestive track yet many times you will see soy protein on an ingredient list. Our minds automatically think of our own soy products bein so good for us, why wouldn't they be good for our pets? Another sneaky little trick these manufacturers will do is list "ground yellow corn and corn gluten meal". The manufacturers can list both of these ingredients separately and below the meat by-product on the ingredient list but combined together two products of corn weigh more than any protein they may get from the by-products. Ugh.

Usually at dinnertime most animals wolf down what is put in their bowl and look up for more. How can a food composed mostly of grains and unappetizing by-products taste good? Grease. To give this food a good, appetizing smell and get the animals eat, the pellets are coated in grease. The grease also holds any type of flavoring the manufacturer may add to the food. We aren't talking about a good dose of bacon grease any animal will drool over. This is the rendered fat left over from food processing plants.

**As of this publishing date the FDA listed approximately 1014 entries of pet food recalls.**

First of all I want to refer you to your veterinarian. Ask questions about what would be the healthiest diet for your pet. They are professionals and know your pet therefore they can take special considerations of your pet's needs.

Some people choose to make their animal's meals. You can find balanced diet information on the internet and also talk to your vet. Homemade diets are going to mimic a carnivore's diet as closely to possible to what their bodies are made for. Kudo's to any owner who has the time and energy to make meals for their pets every day.

I on the other hand depend on manufactured food. So how do I pick the best one? Here are some tips to consider:

• Make sure the label says, "AAFCO guaranteed". These are an independent group who regulates dog food. DO NOT rely on this label though as regular commercial dog food can be guaranteed by the AAFCO also.
• Look on the ingredient list. Make sure their are no by-products. Make sure the first ingredient is a named meat. Chicken. Lamb. Beef.
• Most often a good choice of food will tout "natural" or "organic". Don't rely on this completely and still read the ingredient list.

When I made the change I of course went to my local store and started looking on ingredient lists. To my frustration ALL of the provided pet foods had animal by-products. I found what I needed at a pet store and haven't turned back.

To leave you guys with a laugh I want to tell you how I ended my research. I went downstairs to our dog food container. Picked out a fresh square of kibble. I couldn't pop it into my mouth but did take a nibble. Well that was a wimpy nibble so popped it into my mouth. My dog watched me with a big smile as I chewed. It tasted like a meaty graham cracker. No grease. Kind of dry. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Would you be willing to go to your dog's food and do the same?