What's Really In Dog Food

     As winter approaches you might notice that your favorite companion is acting strangely, favoring one leg, sleeping too much, refusing to walk very far or not eating enough. Since he can't tell you what's wrong he might be suffering from bone/joint problems and perhaps for some time without you knowing it. So you readily make an appointment with the vet. But how do you know if the drugs your vet prescribed for you pet's joint problems are safe?

     New evidence reveals what is really in pet foods as well as what is missing from it. The truth about commercial pet food, which is manufactured by a largely unregulated handful of multi-national corporations, is ugly and may cause you to give up some comfortable assumptions. In fact, some of the ingredients can make your pet more susceptible to joint problems and many other degenerative disorders. Even worse, they may be shortening your pet's life.

     Fortunately, the explosion in medical research investigating natural solutions to age related degenerative problems can benefit your best friend. Broad spectrum, all natural formulas are being created that help reduce the aches and pains of dogs' joints and help to rebuild their infrastructures. The best nutritional formulas for pets also offer the key nutrients that are often lacking from the so-called "complete" dog food brands.

     Alot of commercial pet food is made up of slaughterhouse waste and moldy, contaminated grains that are considered unfit for human consumption. Mysteriously labeled "by-products" are in reality, a deadly mixture of contaminated heads, toenails, bones, blood, pus, intestines, chicken feathers, hair and lungs. Unless it says specifically "chicken by products" or "meat by products" you can safely assume there is nothing good in that particular food. The foods labeled with the source of the by products are much safer.

     Unfortunately, other dogs and cats are another source of meat you won't find mentioned on pet food labels. They've been euthanized via drugs at our nation's animal shelters and sent to rendering plants, a fact that has been substantiated by the American Veterinary Association. According to Dr. Belfield, the sodium pentobarbital used to put pets to sleep survives the rendering process and ends up as a toxin in your pet's food.

     In addition, "fat stabilizers'' are often used to prevent food from turning rancid. The common chemicals in fat stabilizers are BHA and BHT, both of which are known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction. Tests have also shown adverse reproductive, brain, behavioral and allergic reactions to these chemical additives. All of this spells damaged and painful bones and joints for your dog.

      Propylene glycol, a first cousin to antifreeze, is found in many semi-moist dog foods and causes the fatal destruction of red blood cells. Anything that jeopardizes the flow of rich, oxygenated blood compromises all the tissue in the body, especially in the joints.

WHO'S IN CHARGE?

     Many experts believe that since the advent of commercial pet foods, great harm has been done to dogs as a species. These things were virtually unknown when dogs used to roam and kill their own food. Arthritis, heart disease and cancer rates among these pets have skyrocketed.

     Shocking but true, the pet food industry is unregulated by government bodies. "few government regulations exist. In the rendering process, no testing is conducted to detect drugs, pathogens, heavy metals, or pesticides" all implicated in your dog's bone/joint misery.

So with all that said, be sure to read the ingredients label to see what is actually in your dog food. The all natural foods and the pricier ones generally don't have the by products in them. You can indeed find some reasonably priced foods though with great ingredients. Look around. You might have to try a couple of different foods to see which one your dog does best on. If his coat is shiney, he has abundant energy, he eats it readily and stays lean you are feeding the correct food for him.