Processed Pet Foods and Diseases in Dogs - Page 1

An article by Dr. Becker on the Mercola web site about processed dog foods.  Yes I know Mercola sells stuff but so does your veterinarian and the wonderful people who make Beneful and puppy chow.  Dr. Becker does not however sell dog food and the truth about feeding highly processed at high heat dog foods is not pretty and never has been.  My personal experience is that I feed as much human grade raw and lightly cooked meats to my dogs as possible and thus far they respond to every additional amount fed with greater health and vitality.  Puppies in particular need the highest quality food possible during gestation and growth up to 18 months or longer.  Kidney diseases and other problems associated with human foods related to AGE ( Advanced Glycation End Products ) products formed during industrial processing.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2015/12/10/processed-pet-food-causes-disease.aspx?e_cid=20151210Z1_PetsNL_art_1&utm_source=petsnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20151210Z1&et_cid=DM92004&et_rid=1257246417

• Dr. Danielle Conway, the first American Holistic Veterinary Medical Foundation (AHVMF) fellowship recipient, is putting all her holistic medicine training to work helping very sick animal patients
• Dr. Conway, who plans to become a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, is also developing a veterinary nutrition program with an integrative focus
• She has completed a pilot study that proves the presence of health-damaging compounds (advanced glycation end products) in processed pet food

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_glycation_end-product

AGE products can be increased in humans by smoking and cooking food with dry methods such as heat .. BBQ, smoking, frying.  Boiling and wet cooking in water or steam promotes fewer AGE products.

This subject is such a frustrating one :(

All the information is right in front of us..... but yet kibble is still being pushed on people and dogs everywhere :((

We have been feeding raw for over five years, and the dogs are just in fantastic shape.

Although I am not a nutritionist myself, I have two very good friends that are....and they both feed raw and support raw.

Our puppies are raised on raw, and I send the puppies home with raw food,
I try to provide clients with as much information as possible and also give them access
to Nutritionists for further advice and consult.....

it is INEVITABLE that as soon as they take their puppies to the Vet...either just for a routine visit
or for vaccines, that all heck breaks loose.... like the phone and the computer explode, because the Vet tells them they are murdering their new puppy with raw food and the puppy MUST eat kibble.......
it is just so sad, no matter how hard you try and how much information you provide, I have actually sent the above link to people as well as many other similar studies...... but people will always take the advice of their Vet....its such an uphill battle.
I have some super clients...that are "closet raw feeders" because they won't tell their Vet for fear of the backlash.
They really believe they are making the best choice for their dog... but have to hide it!!

My Daughter is in University, doing a Masters in Animal Health Sciences and Minor in Nutrition.... so her major project for this semester was to develop a dog food formula..... they could pick whatever Life Stage they wanted, so she chose Large Breed puppies. Honestly I was so excited, I thought , gees this will be great and really something helpful to me too.... if she does a Raw model for puppies that would be terrific. So when they had to present to the Professor for approval what their choice was, she wasn't allowed to chose Raw... not an option, not appropriate..... had to do a kibble :(

I am really lucky because my Vets actually support Raw, two of them are Breeders and they both feed raw themselves.... but they are sure in the minority...

The thing my vet always brings up concerning raw food is the danger of brittle bones puncturing the stomach or intestines. None of them have ever recommended against raw food, they just site that as a danger. Are there any published studies actually showing injuries related to this? Is it really an issue? Are there studies showing levels of kidney problems in dogs?

Bones become brittle when cooked or after heat or long term sun exposure. Raw bones not consumed in a few days should be picked up and thrown away before they become brittle. The most dangerous bones are those in cooked food such as chicken or fish bones. Kidney problems in humans and animals are wide spread. Processed foods especially packaged industrial foods are usually cooked and dried or sterilized. Frozen foods MAY be better depending on the processing the ingredients get before freezing. AGE products are a real concern for both humans and animals. Eat some dog food or some dog biscuits some time and see how they taste and feel in your mouth. If you take a piece of bacon and cook it until it is totally black and crisp that comes closest to what dry kibble dog food is like. Of course there are some dehydrated dog foods and high end dog foods that are better. Don't expect price or ingredients to inform you as to processing or AGE products in your dog food. Royal Corn in a Bag and Beneful of AGE products are brands that rely on advertising more than quality to sell dog food and science Diet is about the science of making money from crap dog foods.

I think it is a combination of some poor breeding (profit only breeders, breeders that take no consideration of the functionality or genetic health of what they are breeding, etc) and very poor dog food.  Especially the dog food.  It says something when dog food is killing dogs and still being sold by stores and pushed by uneducated veterinarians (the last vet I visited promoted Science Diet as the best).  It is telling when companies put into dog food those products that are not even fit for fertilizer of food designated for human consumption.  More chemical companies and big name companies that have been cited for EPA violations are purchasing pet food manufacturing companies.  I will try to find the article that supports this to post if anyone is interested.

I think we can all recognize that there are substances in processed dog foods which are harmful to our dog's health and lifespan. There are a lot of concentrated toxins in dog foods that would never be allowed in human food but are not even tested for in dog food. Heavy metals and concentrated toxins such as the AGE ( Advanced Glycation End Products ) are not even tested for in dog foods. Many of the processed bone and meat products in dry dog kibble go through several cycles of heat and cooking before the finished product is in the bag. The fact that dry dog foods must have vitamins and essential nutrients added as one of the last steps before bagging is testimony to the fact that most products in dry dog kibble or very much over processed and are nutrient poor. I'm pretty sure that I could survive on a diet of honey nut cheerios and Special K but I would not do well and would likely have more and more serious health problems on such a diet.  It is also worth noting that the content list of Frosted Flakes or Lucky Charms do not have any ingredients which make a 14oz box worth $3-$4 per box  ... pretty much 50 cents worth of ingredients and a dollars worth of advertising per box.

What kind of raw bones are best and least likely to splinter? How do you ensure your dog will not get Salmonella infections, etc. from raw foods and bones? Also, do you buy the meat from butcher shops or slaughter your own cows, etc. to feed raw. I know you can buy raw at Pet Smart, etc. but I really don't trust them. Then again I don't trust all of the dry dog food producers. I only use five star dog food. I top off my dog's dry food with cooked meats such as chicken, beef and fish. There is no doubt that raw is better, but many people, like me, aren't sure how to feed raw. I will say my male shepherd is extremely healthy, smart, athletic and graded excellent hips with OFA. He is three years old, and I want him to live a healthy life and as long as possible. I surely don't want to cut his life short by feeding him dry dog food.

honestly...I think people put too much pressure on themselves by stressing so much about the "perfect" raw...I don't think dogs are as breakable as we think.

look at children... I think I raised pretty nice healthy children, they are all athletic, my son is actually a really great athlete. I think I cooked a lot of terrific healthy meals, but they did also eat Lucky Charms and we did go thru McDonalds drive thru! and we all loved Kraft Dinner. It goes back to drinking out of the garden hose and SURVIVING.

Dogs are dogs... they can eat pretty much anything raw, and you know to us the idea of "fermented" raw just sounds terrible... but its actually awesome for them...

they can eat any RAW bone, raw bones are very unlikely to splinter. as Bubba said the danger for splintering is in heat.
If you want to try raw, then talk to your local butcher or abattoir, quite often you can get everything you need at very realistic prices, but you would need a freezer as they generally sell in 40lb boxes. We buy chicken (neck, backs, carcasses) for approx. 45 cents/lb, organs are more, but just because there boxes are so much heavier. Pork is more expensive (always freeze first) approx. 1.30 /lb, we get beef anywhere from 66 cents-1.00/lbs
we raise our our lamb and turkeys, so not sure just how much that would be. We also get game meats, but you need to freeze first as well.
I think this would compare to about 1.64-1.80 per pounds for premium kibbles..I am not hundred percent sure.

there are lots of great websites out there to give you an outline

if you di try it.. good luck :)

Emmitt - Thank you very much for all your suggestions. I appreciate you taking the time to explain how you feed raw!