What is safe to feed our pets?

With the massive Menu Foods pet food recall making headline news, many pet owners are confused about what is safe to feed their pets. Their assumption that commercial dog and cat foods are both safe and healthy has been shattered. For the first time, many owners are learning that the pet food industry is unregulated, unlike the human food industry. While there are standards for how ingredients are listed on labels (such as listing them by weight), there are no standards for the quality of the ingredients in pet food as the recent pet food recall demonstrates. In fact, the pet food industry exists, in part, to make a profit on the food that is not fit for human consumption. It is no coincidence that most pet foods are made by huge conglomerates that also produce human food products.

Statistics show that the life span of America's companion animals is now half what it was in the 1950's and 1960's. Nearly 50 percent of natural deaths in older cats and dogs are attributed to cancer. To help prevent your pet from becoming a statistic, click on the happy dog below. Give your pet the fountain of youth and holistically help prevent cancer! For a FREE report on What Pet Food Companies Don't Want you to Know, sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

Actually, the Menu Foods recall is not the first recall of pet food; it is just the most widespread. This time, thousands of pets are dying rather than a few dozen or a few hundred as in the past. There have been smaller recalls previously, such as the Diamond Pet Food recall in 2005 when aflatoxin was discovered in a product manufactured at their facility in Gaston, South Carolina. (Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus, on corn and other crops. It is also commonly found in peanuts.)

What is happening to our pets' food? Why all the recent recalls? There have always been problems with pet foods. It was inevitable that one day these problems would become widespread and the sources of these problems exposed. We feel the reason these problems have suddenly reached critical mass, in part, is due to the easy dissemination of information with the Internet and the ability to sort through massive animal cases in a national database. Also, people are more concerned now about what their pets are eating, due to the increased status of the family pet. Pets are no longer "just a dog" but a full-fledged member of the family. Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald (Animal Planet) stated that a survey was conducted in 1957 posing the question: Do you consider your pet(s) a part of your family? The same survey was repeated in 2004. Here are the results.

Clearly society's values have changed. If people think of their pet as a member of the family, then why are we feeding them food unfit for human consumption? It is no longer acceptable to have even just 10-15 pets die from contaminated food any more than it is to have our children's school lunch snacks contaminated. So, what can you do to safeguard your pets' food?

Dr. Jean Hofve (www.LittleBigCat.com) recommends avoiding wheat or corn products of any type when selecting pet foods. They can be contaminated with pesticides, molds and other toxins. Also, corn is commonly genetically modified. Following this rule increases the safety of what you feed—many recalls involve contaminated grains. For instance, the Menu Foods recall involved wheat gluten contaminated with the plastic melamine. The Diamond Foods recall involved contaminated corn. We do not feed our pets any food or treats with wheat, corn or soy products in them. For up-to-date pet food recall information, go to Dr. Jean Hofve's webpage: www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=petfoodrecallinformation.

Dr. Jean Hofve also has an excellent series of audio books on how to feed your dog or cat: How NOT to Kill Your Cat or Dog - What the Heck Do We Feed Them Now? Go to this page to order: How NOT to Kill Your Pet. 

Dogs and cats are both carnivores, designed to eat whole prey animals, not grains. However, grains are widely used in pet foods because they are cheap fillers and sources of protein. Despite what the commercials say, pet foods were not invented to improve the health of dogs and cats—they were invented for our convenience and to make money. They have only been widely used since the middle of the 20th century. We now think that feeding dry kibble is the "normal" way to feed our pets and anyone who does otherwise is coddling their pet or just plain weird. Even many veterinarians scold their clients for feeding something other than an "approved" commercial pet food. However, commercial pet foods have been fed for less than 100 years out of the thousands of years that humans have had pets. How did our pets survive before then? Dogs were fed raw bones from the butcher and table scraps. Cats typically lived outside and hunted and were fed table scraps as well. If they lived on farms, they also drank raw milk, a very healthy food. In other countries where pet foods are less widely used (such as Italy), people often cook for their dogs, just as they do for their children.

Cats were domesticated by the Egyptians to protect their granaries from rodents. They were the perfect animal for the job since, as pure carnivores, they ignored the grain and feasted on the rodents. And yet today we insist on feeding these descendants of the African wildcat dry kibble that contains more grain than meat because it is cheaper and more convenient. In fact, people think they are "spoiling" their cat if they feed it canned food rather than kibble. For an excellent reference on why cats should not eat dry kibble, read Dr. Jean Hofve's article Why Cats Need Canned Food. While dogs are more omnivorous than cats (obligate carnivores needing 70-90% meat), their diet should still be 60-80% meat with limited grains. So, why are we feeding dry kibble, which cannot be manufactured with more than 50% meat because it literally gums up the kibble making machines? Dry kibble is nutritionally equivalent to feeding meat-flavored cookies to our pets.

To learn more about the problems with commercial pet foods and the many options for feeding our dogs, we highly recommend the film Eat, Drink, Wag Your Tail, available on DVD from Optimum Choices. This very entertaining and professionally-produced film also features an extensive interview by Dr. Richard Pitcairn, one of the most highly respected holistic veterinarians in the country. You can also learn more by reading our Holistic Choices e-Book on Optimum nutrition for dogs and cats.

Click pictures to order from our website

In our e-Book we discuss the following nutritional myths:

• Dry kibble cleans pets' teeth
• Raisins are healthy training treats for dogs
• Raw food is a dangerous "fad diet"
• Commercial pet foods provide a healthy, balanced diet

All these myths and other holistic questions are discussed in Optimum Choices' new e-Book, Optimum nutrition for dogs and cats. Based on our 75+ years of holistic experience, we utilize our scientific degrees to research what dogs and cats are really designed to eat. We compare our commercial pet foods with the diet nature designed our pets to eat. By looking at the nutrient deficient foods we serve our pets, you will understand why our pets have a higher cancer rate now than humans. According to the Morris Animal Foundation, nearly 50 percent of natural deaths in older cats and dogs are attributed to cancer (63% for Golden Retrievers, Kali’s Wish Cancer Foundation). We go on to explain why most holistic vets recommend a home-cooked or raw meat diet for dogs and cats.

If you cannot do a home-cooked or raw meat diet, we suggest you visit your local natural pet supply store for suggestions on brands to purchase. If you don't have a store near you or you would like home-delivered food, we suggest Life's Abundance pet food from HealthyPetNet. The HealthyPetNet company recently sent the following information about the pet food recall:

We have had several inquiries regarding our foods, since Life’s Abundance contains “whole brown rice”. Some consumers are confused, as the newly recalled Natural Balance foods include “brown rice” in their names. However, the contaminated ingredient is not brown rice; instead, it is “Rice Protein Concentrate”. None of our products include this ingredient.

Additionally, it is believed that this contaminated ingredient, like the wheat gluten involved in prior recalls, was imported from China. We use only human-quality ingredients from U.S. sources in our foods. There is no chance that this ingredient came into contact with any of our products.

We are fully confident that our foods, as well as all of our products, are completely safe. All of the products covered in the recalls of recent weeks included either wheat gluten or rice protein concentrate (and possibly corn gluten) in their formulas. We consider these ingredients to be unnecessary fillers, and as you know, we do not use fillers in any of our foods.

We continue to maintain very strict quality control measures in the manufacture of all of our foods, treats, care products and supplements. As we have noted previously, we devote a great deal of energy into using only the best vendors in the market, so that only the highest quality ingredients are included in our products.

ALL HealthyPetNet products are completely safe.

If these expert dietary suggestions seem like too much trouble or cost too much money, think about this final parting thought:

	"Those who cannot find the time and money to feed their pets healthy food now, will be obliged to find the time and money later for expensive veterinary care."

Go to top.

Send e-mail to Webmaster@OptimumChoices.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 Optimum Choices, LLC
Last modified: 03/23/08