This week I decided to do the show myself. Not that all my guests haven't been wonderful - they have, but I had some things I felt like I wanted to say...hey, it's my show, Right?
I have already got some questions about this one, so I'll answer it first -
This was one of the questions;
Good evening Lisa, I was listening to your show tonight, with particular interest regarding the information about pet/dog food.
I wondered if you could let me know of some dog foods that you would recommend based on the information from your show.
Unfortunately I know very little about this and was very alarmed to hear about what some dog food can contain.
I want to provide something far more healthy for our beloved family friend and would appreciate any insight you could share.
Thank you
So, I thought that I would answer here in case anyone else had similar questions!
As I said on the show, one way to make sure that you are buying a good food for your pet is to make yourself a short list and take it with you to the pet store. I would avoid the big, chain stores - their prices are usually higher, they will usually try and sell you "their" brand of food, because they make more money on it, their staff is usually part time students, who I'm sure are great people, but they haven't the same interest in helping you find an appropriate food that a small store, where the owner works, that has more mature and knowledgeable staff will.That being said , the list you will take with you will include ingredients that you DO NOT want in whatever food you choose.
-corn
-wheat
-soy
-by-products
-meat
-poultry
-BHA, BHT, Ethoxiquin
Pretty straightforward, the only thing I'd like to explain is the "meat" and the "poultry"
If the food had real meat in it, it would tell you specifically what kind of meat was in it - it would say "beef" or "lamb", same with the poultry - if it was chicken, the label would read Chicken or chicken meal. When companies use the words meat or poultry, it is because even they themselves have no idea what the "meat" in the food is composed of - it probably came from the rendering plant, and contains a little bit of everything!
Sometimes I find that I avoid really having this conversation with people because I have had instances when I have been giving talks, and even the other presenters at these talks have had a hard time believing that everything I'm saying could possibly be true - that pet food ingredients can't be that bad. Well, they are. It makes me absolutely crazy when somebody tells me "I'm feeding X brand" is that ok. Lets look up the ingredients online I say. I type in "brand X", and this is what I find
GROUND YELLOW CORN, MEAT AND BONE MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA/BHT), WHEAT MILL RUN, WHEAT, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOUR, WHEAT FLOUR, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, RICE, VEGETABLE OIL (SOURCE OF LINOLEIC ACID), CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, VITAMINS AND MINERALS.
Corn, corn, and more corn. Why do they put so much corn in the dog food? I will talk about cat food in a minute. Corn is high in sugar, and so makes the food highly palatable - dogs and cats will both gobble it up. The corn they use in pet food is really cheap - most of it has been deemed unfit for human consumption - for various reasons. The germ has been removed, it is moldy, it is the sweepings off of the floor - it is basically all the stuff that is a by-product of making our food, (we shouldn't be eating all that corn, either) that these large, multi-national corporations used to have to pay someone to get rid of, now they all just own pet food companies, and so they throw all their garbage in there.
Corn, wheat, and soy are also some of the most highly allergenic ingredients found in food. If your animal is scratching, biting their feet, licking themselves, has little "pimple"- like eruptions, has stinky, gook filled ears, eyes that water and stain their fur, or a myriad of other, similar problems - your first step should be removing these three ingredients from their food.
Agri-business as has quite the agenda for corn, not just related to pet food, which I will not get into, but you can find more info at this link if you are so inclined. You could also just type Corn, agri-business into any search engine and find out plenty!
What is meat from the rendering plant? Why isn't it ok?
Rendering is a valuable service - if we didn't have rendering plants, our landfills would be full of rotting meat and would cause serious disease problems. So, rendering is when slaughter house waste - heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, the other parts of animals that are deemed unfit for human consumption, road kill - whole skunks; rats and raccoons, euthanized dogs and cats, expired meat from the supermarkets - still in it's plastic and styrofoam containers. This all goes into the pit. The fat separates from the meat, and is skimmed off the top - this is your "animal fat and tallow", and the remainder is used as meat and bone meal, etc. I just found this website, and it explains everything in great detail. It can be found here, and it explains the whole process, and has information specifically related to pet food. It is an American site, this one is an excerpt from a book written by a woman from London, Ontario about the Canadian rendering process. Click here.
I said I'd get back to cat food separately. Cats are different than dogs, because they are what is known as "obligate carnivores" The definition of that term as found on Wikiedia is "An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that must eat meat in order to survive. They may consume other products presented to them, especially animal products like eggs and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances like honey and syrup, but, as these items are not essential, they do not consume these on a regular basis. True carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter, and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. The domestic cat is a prime example of an obligate carnivore, as are all of the other felids."
In short then, cats NEED meat, real meat, and can't digest all the grains, and would normally only eat it to cause themselves to vomit. One of the newest things in the pet food industry is grain free kibble. There is debate about whether or not this is good for all dogs, but can be agreed upon that this is how cats should eat. Here is another label comparison;
Poultry by-product meal, ground yellow corn, wheat flour, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, brewers rice, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), fish meal, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, vitamins and minerals
vs.Deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, lake whitefish, chicken fat, sweet potato, whole eggs,deboned turkey, salmon meal, salmon and anchovy oils, salmon, natural chicken flavour, sunflower oil, sun-cured alfalfa, dried brown kelp, carrots, spinach, peas, tomatoes, apples, psyllium, dulse, glucosamine Hcl, cranberries, black currants, rosemary extract, chondroitin sulfate, sea salt.
In the second list, there is potato - which must be included for starch, or the food would not stick together in a kibble.
Do you see the difference?
What main problems develop with cats?
Obesity, kidney and bladder problems, and diabetes. In my opinion, 98% of the time these problems occur is from feeding a grain based, meat lacking, dry kibble to your cat. The other 2% I would attribute to genetic weaknesses and other environmental factors.
I would also like to say here that I believe that cats should be fed a mainly canned/raw meat diet. Cats evolved as desert animals, and their bodies are much more efficient at extracting moisture from their food than from drinking water. Drinking water is not a natural cat behaviour, and when you don;t feed dry food, you will notice that your cat will hardly ever visit the water dish.
Here are a couple of canned food ingredient lists;
Water, Chicken, Liver, Wheat Flour, Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Starch, Wheat Fiber, Chicken Liver Flavor, Sunflower Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Beef Plasma Protein, Soy Fiber, Vitamins and minerals
vs.Turkey, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Flaxseed, Squash, Cranberries, Blueberries, Zucchini, vitamins and minerals
Which one would you pick?
There is also debate about dry vs, wet food and pet dental health. The latest article I read in a veterinary journal described it the best way I have found. I don't have the article anymore, so obviously this is it paraphrased!
The thinking used to be that a kibble based diet provided benefit to dog and cat oral health by forcing pets to chew their food, and that the kibble would cause abrasive action on the teeth and gums - thereby helping to keep them clean. Some vets and other professionals have changed their minds in regards to this. Now the thinking is leaning towards the fact that by forcing animals to chew (unnatural) on a cooked (unnatural) grain based kibble (unnatural) we are actually causing more harm to their teeth. Cats and dogs bodies are designed to rip, tear, and swallow whole what they are eating. As children, we are told to make sure that we chew our food properly - because our digestive process begins in our mouth. Our saliva is full of digestive enzymes that begin to break down the food that we eat before we even swallow it. Our pets have no such capacity. So, after all this cooked grain is deposited on their teeth, their bodies actually have no way to get rid of it. Te best way to keep your pets teeth clean is to provide them with fresh, meaty bones to chew on. Yes, cats too, if you can get them to do it! If your pets mouths are already full of plaque and tartar, there are many ways, other than dental surgery to help get them clean. That is a topic for another day that I will cover soon.
So, having said all this, I still haven't answered the question, what should I feed my pet?
As the main focus of the show is to help inform and give you the information to help you make better decisions, I think that I have provided a basis on which you can begin to make these decisions better yourself. Instead of recommending specific foods, I would really like to see people look at the labels for themselves. However, I know that everybody doesn't have a lot of time to really investigate fully or themselves how to do this. What I would recommend is that people first shop at smaller stores in their area that specialize in healthy foods, go through the phone book, and call some places. Talk to the person that answers the phone for a few minutes. Do they seem knowledgeable and informed? Does the information they provide you with jive with the information I've provided here? Then visit the store and judge for yourself whether you think that the store seems mainly concerned with providing you with information or do they seem more concerned with just making a quick sale and getting you out of there? Do they ask you questions about your animal's health, breed, weight, age, medical history, or just steer you to the cat or dog food shelf? I believe that a good store will take the time (providing of course that they have the time at that moment - if there are 5 other customers, please try to understand that the person working can't devote 1/2 an hour to you at that moment! But, their intent should still be clear.)
All that being said, the best resource for helping choose the best pet food, that I have found is a publication called the "Whole Dog Journal" - they also provide info on cat food. This publication is like the "consumer Reports" of the pet world. They accept no outside advertising, and so provide unbiased opinions determined by specific criteria.
But, they will not allow me to print their list without a fee, and they charge for a subscription. (no advertising revenue!!)
So, there a couple of other lists that I trust based on my experience, and here the foods that they list that I know are available in Canada, Ontario specifically
Dog and Cat Foods
Go! Natural
Now!
Orijen
California Natural
Canidae
Felidae
Halo
Eagle Holistic Select (only this line of Eagle)
Merrick
Fromm 4 Star (only this line of Fromm)
Nature's Variety
Wellness
Holistic Blend
Urban Wolf
Urban King
Pets 4 Life
Urban Carnivore
There are others, this list is not by any means completey comprehensive, and again, I am not a vet, and would not recommend that you use any of these foods to treat a medical condition, without the advice, guidance, and knowledge of you vet as a partner in your pets health. That being said, I have had personal experience with all of these foods, and would recommend any of them as an alternative to foods whose labels read like the ones I've posted above. I, also have not recieved any money or funding from any of these companies.
Hope I've answered some questions, and given you all "food for thought" ha ha!
I am dividing this weeks show into a few different posts, as I think there is too much information on various subjects to combine it all.
Thanks for listening and reading,
Love your pet,
Lisa
So, I thought that I would answer here in case anyone else had similar questions!
As I said on the show, one way to make sure that you are buying a good food for your pet is to make yourself a short list and take it with you to the pet store. I would avoid the big, chain stores - their prices are usually higher, they will usually try and sell you "their" brand of food, because they make more money on it, their staff is usually part time students, who I'm sure are great people, but they haven't the same interest in helping you find an appropriate food that a small store, where the owner works, that has more mature and knowledgeable staff will.That being said , the list you will take with you will include ingredients that you DO NOT want in whatever food you choose.
-corn
-wheat
-soy
-by-products
-meat
-poultry
-BHA, BHT, Ethoxiquin
Pretty straightforward, the only thing I'd like to explain is the "meat" and the "poultry"
If the food had real meat in it, it would tell you specifically what kind of meat was in it - it would say "beef" or "lamb", same with the poultry - if it was chicken, the label would read Chicken or chicken meal. When companies use the words meat or poultry, it is because even they themselves have no idea what the "meat" in the food is composed of - it probably came from the rendering plant, and contains a little bit of everything!
Sometimes I find that I avoid really having this conversation with people because I have had instances when I have been giving talks, and even the other presenters at these talks have had a hard time believing that everything I'm saying could possibly be true - that pet food ingredients can't be that bad. Well, they are. It makes me absolutely crazy when somebody tells me "I'm feeding X brand" is that ok. Lets look up the ingredients online I say. I type in "brand X", and this is what I find
GROUND YELLOW CORN, MEAT AND BONE MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, ANIMAL FAT (PRESERVED WITH BHA/BHT), WHEAT MILL RUN, WHEAT, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVOUR, WHEAT FLOUR, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, RICE, VEGETABLE OIL (SOURCE OF LINOLEIC ACID), CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, VITAMINS AND MINERALS.
Corn, corn, and more corn. Why do they put so much corn in the dog food? I will talk about cat food in a minute. Corn is high in sugar, and so makes the food highly palatable - dogs and cats will both gobble it up. The corn they use in pet food is really cheap - most of it has been deemed unfit for human consumption - for various reasons. The germ has been removed, it is moldy, it is the sweepings off of the floor - it is basically all the stuff that is a by-product of making our food, (we shouldn't be eating all that corn, either) that these large, multi-national corporations used to have to pay someone to get rid of, now they all just own pet food companies, and so they throw all their garbage in there.
Corn, wheat, and soy are also some of the most highly allergenic ingredients found in food. If your animal is scratching, biting their feet, licking themselves, has little "pimple"- like eruptions, has stinky, gook filled ears, eyes that water and stain their fur, or a myriad of other, similar problems - your first step should be removing these three ingredients from their food.
Agri-business as has quite the agenda for corn, not just related to pet food, which I will not get into, but you can find more info at this link if you are so inclined. You could also just type Corn, agri-business into any search engine and find out plenty!
What is meat from the rendering plant? Why isn't it ok?
Rendering is a valuable service - if we didn't have rendering plants, our landfills would be full of rotting meat and would cause serious disease problems. So, rendering is when slaughter house waste - heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, the other parts of animals that are deemed unfit for human consumption, road kill - whole skunks; rats and raccoons, euthanized dogs and cats, expired meat from the supermarkets - still in it's plastic and styrofoam containers. This all goes into the pit. The fat separates from the meat, and is skimmed off the top - this is your "animal fat and tallow", and the remainder is used as meat and bone meal, etc. I just found this website, and it explains everything in great detail. It can be found here, and it explains the whole process, and has information specifically related to pet food. It is an American site, this one is an excerpt from a book written by a woman from London, Ontario about the Canadian rendering process. Click here.
I said I'd get back to cat food separately. Cats are different than dogs, because they are what is known as "obligate carnivores" The definition of that term as found on Wikiedia is "An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that must eat meat in order to survive. They may consume other products presented to them, especially animal products like eggs and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances like honey and syrup, but, as these items are not essential, they do not consume these on a regular basis. True carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter, and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. The domestic cat is a prime example of an obligate carnivore, as are all of the other felids."
In short then, cats NEED meat, real meat, and can't digest all the grains, and would normally only eat it to cause themselves to vomit. One of the newest things in the pet food industry is grain free kibble. There is debate about whether or not this is good for all dogs, but can be agreed upon that this is how cats should eat. Here is another label comparison;
Poultry by-product meal, ground yellow corn, wheat flour, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, brewers rice, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), fish meal, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, vitamins and minerals
vs.Deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, lake whitefish, chicken fat, sweet potato, whole eggs,deboned turkey, salmon meal, salmon and anchovy oils, salmon, natural chicken flavour, sunflower oil, sun-cured alfalfa, dried brown kelp, carrots, spinach, peas, tomatoes, apples, psyllium, dulse, glucosamine Hcl, cranberries, black currants, rosemary extract, chondroitin sulfate, sea salt.
In the second list, there is potato - which must be included for starch, or the food would not stick together in a kibble.
Do you see the difference?
What main problems develop with cats?
Obesity, kidney and bladder problems, and diabetes. In my opinion, 98% of the time these problems occur is from feeding a grain based, meat lacking, dry kibble to your cat. The other 2% I would attribute to genetic weaknesses and other environmental factors.
I would also like to say here that I believe that cats should be fed a mainly canned/raw meat diet. Cats evolved as desert animals, and their bodies are much more efficient at extracting moisture from their food than from drinking water. Drinking water is not a natural cat behaviour, and when you don;t feed dry food, you will notice that your cat will hardly ever visit the water dish.
Here are a couple of canned food ingredient lists;
Water, Chicken, Liver, Wheat Flour, Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Starch, Wheat Fiber, Chicken Liver Flavor, Sunflower Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Beef Plasma Protein, Soy Fiber, Vitamins and minerals
vs.Turkey, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Flaxseed, Squash, Cranberries, Blueberries, Zucchini, vitamins and minerals
Which one would you pick?
There is also debate about dry vs, wet food and pet dental health. The latest article I read in a veterinary journal described it the best way I have found. I don't have the article anymore, so obviously this is it paraphrased!
The thinking used to be that a kibble based diet provided benefit to dog and cat oral health by forcing pets to chew their food, and that the kibble would cause abrasive action on the teeth and gums - thereby helping to keep them clean. Some vets and other professionals have changed their minds in regards to this. Now the thinking is leaning towards the fact that by forcing animals to chew (unnatural) on a cooked (unnatural) grain based kibble (unnatural) we are actually causing more harm to their teeth. Cats and dogs bodies are designed to rip, tear, and swallow whole what they are eating. As children, we are told to make sure that we chew our food properly - because our digestive process begins in our mouth. Our saliva is full of digestive enzymes that begin to break down the food that we eat before we even swallow it. Our pets have no such capacity. So, after all this cooked grain is deposited on their teeth, their bodies actually have no way to get rid of it. Te best way to keep your pets teeth clean is to provide them with fresh, meaty bones to chew on. Yes, cats too, if you can get them to do it! If your pets mouths are already full of plaque and tartar, there are many ways, other than dental surgery to help get them clean. That is a topic for another day that I will cover soon.
So, having said all this, I still haven't answered the question, what should I feed my pet?
As the main focus of the show is to help inform and give you the information to help you make better decisions, I think that I have provided a basis on which you can begin to make these decisions better yourself. Instead of recommending specific foods, I would really like to see people look at the labels for themselves. However, I know that everybody doesn't have a lot of time to really investigate fully or themselves how to do this. What I would recommend is that people first shop at smaller stores in their area that specialize in healthy foods, go through the phone book, and call some places. Talk to the person that answers the phone for a few minutes. Do they seem knowledgeable and informed? Does the information they provide you with jive with the information I've provided here? Then visit the store and judge for yourself whether you think that the store seems mainly concerned with providing you with information or do they seem more concerned with just making a quick sale and getting you out of there? Do they ask you questions about your animal's health, breed, weight, age, medical history, or just steer you to the cat or dog food shelf? I believe that a good store will take the time (providing of course that they have the time at that moment - if there are 5 other customers, please try to understand that the person working can't devote 1/2 an hour to you at that moment! But, their intent should still be clear.)
All that being said, the best resource for helping choose the best pet food, that I have found is a publication called the "Whole Dog Journal" - they also provide info on cat food. This publication is like the "consumer Reports" of the pet world. They accept no outside advertising, and so provide unbiased opinions determined by specific criteria.
But, they will not allow me to print their list without a fee, and they charge for a subscription. (no advertising revenue!!)
So, there a couple of other lists that I trust based on my experience, and here the foods that they list that I know are available in Canada, Ontario specifically
Dog and Cat Foods
Go! Natural
Now!
Orijen
California Natural
Canidae
Felidae
Halo
Eagle Holistic Select (only this line of Eagle)
Merrick
Fromm 4 Star (only this line of Fromm)
Nature's Variety
Wellness
Holistic Blend
Urban Wolf
Urban King
Pets 4 Life
Urban Carnivore
There are others, this list is not by any means completey comprehensive, and again, I am not a vet, and would not recommend that you use any of these foods to treat a medical condition, without the advice, guidance, and knowledge of you vet as a partner in your pets health. That being said, I have had personal experience with all of these foods, and would recommend any of them as an alternative to foods whose labels read like the ones I've posted above. I, also have not recieved any money or funding from any of these companies.
Hope I've answered some questions, and given you all "food for thought" ha ha!
I am dividing this weeks show into a few different posts, as I think there is too much information on various subjects to combine it all.
Thanks for listening and reading,
Love your pet,
Lisa
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