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Healthy Paws wishes to share with you

Like most pet owners, you want to feed your pet only the best. After all, what you put in his dish will play a major factor over his health than most other decisions you will make. With literally hundreds of varieties and types of food available these days, how does one choose a truly healthy food? Do you simply go to your local pet super-store and pick up a food that strategic marketing has led you to believe is nutritional? Or do you maybe stop in to your Veterinarian’s office for some dietary advice and a bag of whatever they may sell in the waiting room? Many pet owners simply continue feeding their pet the same brand that the breeder or rescue group originally sent them home with. These all may seem like reasonable ways to determine that a food is good enough, but educating yourself about your pet’s diet will allow you to make better decisions regarding what goes in his bowl and perhaps extend your loving pet’s life. Convincing some that commercial pet food giants sell inferior quality pet foods can be described as difficult as pulling teeth. They’ll say that dogs and cats aren’t dying from eating commercial foods. But according to many holistic veterinarians, dogs and cats are indeed dying from inferior diets; they just aren’t dying right away. Most vets will tell you that there is an ongoing rise in allergies, autoimmune diseases, cancers, and degenerative conditions affecting internal organ function. Just because a dog or cat doesn’t show signs of a nutritional deficiency, doesn’t mean he is completely healthy. Poor quality ingredients are more accessible to having contamination issues as we have witnessed in the news media in the month of March, 2007. The American Association of Feed Control Officials, or AAFCO, has put in place guidelines that manufacturers must follow in order to state that their product is formulated to meet nutrient profiles for all life stages. These profiles are based on decade old tests that determined at what point a dog or cat suffers a deficiency when a specific nutrient level is decreased, sort of setting a minimum daily allowance for canines and felines. However, these tests are not about what is optimum for our pets. The acceptable range of nutrient levels into which a food must fall is huge to say the least. Most reputable manufacturers don’t like the AAFCO standards. They do benefit the pet food giants, however, allowing them to use low quality ingredients while legally being able to state their food is nutritionally complete. Hence, they can throw around the word, nutrition, so easily on their food packaging and in their commercials.

To determine for yourself if a particular food is indeed healthy, you need to look at its ingredient label and be able to tell the difference between the good, the bad, and the avoid at all cost (like Hydrochloric Acid or Meat/Bone Meal). High quality dog foods are made with whole protein source ingredients such as whole, fresh meats or single source meat meal. If a food label states that it contains Chicken, Lamb, or Beef then legally it must contain just that; “the clean non-rendered flesh” from that specific animal. Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal, or Beef Meal is cooked and dried but is still only the actual meat. Both of these ingredients are considered healthy and nutritious and have nothing foreign added to them. High quality pet food companies go above the AAFCO standards and use such protein sources as stated above. Most set even higher standards and choose to have their pet food plants monitored by the FDA. It is when you get to By-Products or By-Product Meal that you should start to worry. This is made of things other than the meaty muscle tissue of the applicable protein source and may contain, among other things, “lungs, kidney, spleen, brain, blood, bone, and intestines free from their content accept in such amounts that are unavoidable.” By-Products, no matter the source, are inferior protein sources and should be avoided. Internal organs themselves can be highly nutritious on their own, however, and many quality foods may list Beef Hearts or Chicken Liver among their ingredients. It is when these ingredients are lumped into a By-Product description that they should not be used. A “Digest” is also very nasty. This is basically By-Products that have been treated with heat and water to create a slurry. Then you have Meat/Bone Meal, that is the worst, it can contain recycled road kill or euthanized pets from vets. Yuck. When it comes to the actual source of a meat protein, only select a food that specifies the animal it came from. Poultry Meal, for example, is inferior to Chicken Meal. Poultry can indicate a whole variety of sources: chicken, duck, turkey, goose, etc. Grains should also be whole and play a small role in your pet’s diet. When you see Brown Rice, Rye, Barley, or Whole Wheat these are the entire grain itself used in the product. Many foods contain lower quality grain fragments, such as Brewer’s Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Peanut Hulls, and Wheat Middlings. These are the remnants of our own food industries and have had the nutritional content stripped for human use. They offer no benefit and are considered cheap fillers at best. Corn and Wheat are found to be the biggest culprits when it comes to common allergens in cats and dogs, better to be avoided. Chemical preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and sweeteners should all be avoided also. The most common chemical preservatives (BHA, BHT, and Ethoxyquin) have all been blamed for causing liver and kidney problems as well as cancer. Mixed Tocopherals (Vitamin E and C) are the most commonly used natural preservatives. These are used inside a fat source to prevent all natural pet foods from spoiling. Just make sure that the fat source is animal specific, and not Poultry Fat or Animal Fat. Sucrose-sugar additive low quality pet food companies rely on sweeteners to help “addict” pets to their dry foods. Added sugar can affect the absorption of other nutrients. Artificial sweeteners can be linked to aggression and hyperactivity. Foods high in sugar, which a dog or cat don’t require, can be linked to the increasing amount of diabetes in our pets recently. The quantity of these ingredients is also important. The order in which they appear on the label is based on how much weight they contribute to the finished product in relation to the other ingredients. Meats should always be first or second, preferably with two or three meats in the first five ingredients. If a food lists a meat source first, and nothing but grains and vegetables afterward, the meat is more than likely the minority.

Many consumers have been taught that canned foods should play a limited role in a dogs diet and that a good dry food provides all they need. In fact, a high quality canned food offers benefits not available in a dry kibble. For one, no matter the quality, a dry food can’t ever be much more than 50% meat due to the manufacturing process involved. Dogs and cats are carnivorous animals and should have a diet of 75% meat or more. Before the advent of processed pet foods, we fed our dogs leftovers from the kitchen and cats ate the rats out of the fields; whole foods, primarily meat. Canines and felines in the wild consume almost meat exclusively. When was the last time you saw a wolf hunting for rice and wheat? A high quality canned food that uses only whole meats, vegetables, and grains, is a very healthy source of nutrition. It is highly palatable, easy to digest, and the moisture aids in digestion and kidney function. They typically have no preservatives, and do not increase stool volumes. Again, this rule generally only pertains to a quality product. Cats should never be fed solely a dry food. Many cats do not drink enough water, and this can be supplemented through the moisture in a good canned food, while fulfilling their greater need for a meat based diet.

Raw foods are gaining popularity among canine and feline owners at a rapid pace. These foods are just that – raw. Uncooked whole meat and vegetable formulas that most closely replicate what a dog or cat would eat in the wild. They are typically grain free, as it is believed by many that grains are an almost unnecessary component to dog or cat foods. Unlike us, canines and felines do not need a lot of complex carbohydrates, certainly not in the amounts they encounter when fed a dry kibble alone. Raw foods are safe, clean, and relatively easy to use and bring out the best in a dog. They improve skin and coat, decrease body, breath, and stool odors, and help in preventing diseases while improving the vitality of the animal.

We’ve all heard it before, that changing your dog or cat’s food causes digestion problems and isn’t healthy. In fact, changing your pets diet has several benefits. A dog or cat that is fed one food for it’s entire life is only ever exposed to the protein sources in that particular food. This can increase the chances of the dog or cat becoming sensitive or allergic to those very ingredients. A dog or cat that is offered several different foods does not have quite the same risk of over-exposure. Even though all foods must meet certain standards, every food has levels of key nutrients that vary quite drastically from one another. Feeding only one food can cause the dog or cat to have significantly higher levels of certain nutrients while not enough of others. Varying their diet will give them a better balance of these nutrients, and prevent deficiencies. Changing their diet every few months between three or four foods from different manufacturers containing different ingredients is easy and safe to do. Simply mix the foods, starting with ¾ of the original and ¼ of the new for 3 or 4 days, ½ and ½ for 3 or 4 days, and ¼ of the original and ¾ of the new for 3 or 4 days. This will allow their digestive system to adjust to the new ingredients. There is no one brand that is the best for every animal. Dogs, like people, are all different and what is good for one may not work for another. Try several different types and stay vigilant for signs that a food is disagreeing with them. Just use this information and your best judgment to decide if a food is truly healthy enough for your best friend!

This is a brief list of foods containing questionable ingredients, along with what specifically makes them unworthy of canine and feline consumption. There are many more foods out there that would fit easily into this category. If you’re not sure about one, just read the ingredient label. If you can buy a food in a grocery store or mass market chain such as Petsmart, Petco, Walmart or Target, it should generally be avoided.
KIBBLES’N BITS Homestyle: Hydrochloric Acid and Propylene Glycol than Chicken
IAMS Lamb&Rice:Brewer’s Rice, Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal
IAMS CHUNK / Mini CHUNKS: Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal
EUKANUBA Lamb & Rice: Brewers Rice, Corn Meal
EUKANUBA Adult Maintenance: Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Brewers Rice
SCIENCE DIET Adult Maintenance: Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Animal Fat, Brewers Rice
SCIENCE DIET Nature’s Best: Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat *Only the 3rd SCIENCE DIET Lamb & Rice: Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat
NUTRO Natural Choice Lamb & Rice: Poultry Fat
NUTRO Max: Poultry Fat, Corn Gluten Meal
NUTRO Natural Choice Ultra: Poultry Fat
NATURES RECIPE Venison: Poultry Fat, Animal Digest
BIL-JAC Select Adult: Chicken By-Products (#1 ingredient), Chicken By-Product Meal
NUTRA NUGGETS Adult: Chicken By-Product Meal (#1 ingredient)
NUTRA NUGGETS Lamb: Brewers Rice, Turkey By-Product Meal
PURINA ONE Lamb: Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Animal Fat / Digest
PURINA ONE Beef: Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Beef Tallow
PRO PLAN Chicken: Brewers Rice, Poultry By-Product Meal, Beef Tallow, Corn Bran
BENEFUL: Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Beef Tallow, Sugar, Sorbitol, Animal Digest
PEDIGREE Complete: Meat/Bone Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Fat *Contains 2 Chemical Preservatives
Also for the record-Iams & Eukanuba are owned by the same company and do cruel animal testing. Please see for yourself on a website PETA was kind enough to post. www.iamscruelty.com If that doesn’t speak a thousand words on why you shouldn’t sponsor that company, I don’t know what else to tell you.

Many veterinarians offer foods that are available through their offices only that are used to treat specific ailments. While some of these are effective, most are made from low quality ingredients and contain multiple chemical preservatives. Often the low quality ingredients and preservatives will cause some other damage to your pet in the long term. If your Vet suggests these products, be sure to examine the label for ingredient integrity. If it doesn’t sound good, seek out another brand. Most Hill’s Brand Prescription Diets, for example, have few redeeming qualities. Most Vet’s diets can be easily replaced by a premium quality pet food. Never be afraid to ask for a second opinion! Just for the record, most veterinarian’s only get four hours of nutritional training in their seven years of vet training and often it is taught from an outside pet food company(Hills Science Diet). One last note about veterinarians, they are not god! They too are human beings and most have huge college loans to payback. So, think about their intentions when they are being too insistent on your dog or cat being on their pet food.

Your pet will eat less of the healthier food due to no fillers, and in turn, have less waste(poop). Your pet is likely to have less vet visits and live a longer life. Your pet’s coat will be shinier and shed less.

Give only purified water. If you would not drink it, don’t give it to your pet.
Do your research on vaccinations. They are really not required every year. In fact, as your pet gets older, vaccinations actually can harm more then help. Watch where you walk your dog. Pesticides are used in parks and maybe even your neighbor’s yard. Take precaution where you take your dog for a walk. You may be doing harm to your dog’s system. I suggest walking your dog on cement.
Don’t believe anything or everything you hear from anyone! Do your own research and homework. There are many companies out there that do not see your pet as a member of your household. Challenge anything that doesn’t sound right. And just because the Jones’ down the street think that a product or veterinarian is good, doesn’t mean it is. Also, a veterinarian can be good but one day gets too old and should retire. So, if you see your vet doesn’t seem to have the zest they used to have, maybe it is time to find a new veterinarian.