Unfit For Consumption
Did you know that the average dog food could contain meat from diseased animals, bones, nervous tissues, skin, organs, hair, ligaments, and even spoiled meat and the bodies of other pets?
Most of the "good" meat that makes its way into dog and cat food has long since been processed so heavily that all its nutritive value is gone. If you see ingredients on your dog's food bag like "animal meal" or "poultry broth", you shouldn't imagine the sort of thing you'd eat.
Animal meals are what's left after all the meat and fat have been processed out of a carcass - any carcass at all. The remainder is ground and dried, producing a "meal" that's similar in texture to ground grains. The broths in dog food are similarly unpleasant, made up of processed carcasses from all kinds of animals, in all kinds of condition.
Not Illegal
Unfortunately, none of this is against the law. We're used to fairly good rules about what can and can't go into human food, and we're used to those laws being reasonably well enforced. The regulations about what can be put into pet food are much looser, and may not be enforced at all.
That means that almost anything could end up in your dog's food, and that the labels on the package that claim it's "healthy and balanced" have little to no meaning. All that those words mean, in a legal sense, is that those foods contain a particular percentage of fat, protein, and added minerals and vitamins.
Additives
We've all heard of recent pet food recalls caused by wheat gluten poisoned with melamine from China. However, that's not the only additive that's in pet food, and plenty of them are extremely dangerous as well. Preservatives that aren't allowed in human food and cause serious illness in workers exposed to them are extremely common in dog food. Over time, they can cause cancer, illness, liver and kidney failure and many other problems. The food you give to your pet could be causing him or her to become sick.
Not Just Cheap Foods
It's not just cheap pet food that's the problem, either. There's no regulation on high end or organic foods, as well. While these pet food may be of higher quality, we have no way of knowing whether they use the same ingredients as their cheaper relatives or not. That can make it hard to find a food that's good for your dog, even if it's one recommended by your vet.
What Can You Do?
There are a number of options. The first is to learn to read your dog's food labels. Ingredients higher on the label are present in greater quantities, so look for named meats high on the list - not meals or broths, and not generic words like "poultry" "meat" or "fish", but named species and types.
Learn the preservatives and additives that can hurt your dog's health, and avoid foods that are heavy on grains.
Click Here for a special report that outlines exactly which dog foods could be killing your dog. Make sure you know the best dog foods you can feed your dog and make sure your pooch is in safe hands.
Tags: dog training, pets, dog food, healthy dog food, natural dog food, best dog foods, bad dog food