Healthy Dog Food
Posted by Rae and Mark on Jul 20, 2010
OK, so you’ve decided against a raw diet for dogs.
Now what?
You already know that there’s plenty of choice out there when it comes to dog food, whether it’s dry or canned / wet food you’re looking for, but how do you ensure that the food you buy for your pet is a healthy dog food?
Our preference is for dry dog food, and that’s what we’ve given our dogs for many, many years now.
Most people will go to their local supermarket and pick up whatever catches their eye and/or is the cheapest price.
Some will go for the so-called “premium brands”, thinking that they’re doing their dogs a favour by giving them a better quality food.
But the sad truth is that, almost all commercial dog food (i.e. the type you’ll find at most supermarkets), is really not that good for dogs - they contain ingredients that range from unnecessary to downright dangerous and even potentially lethal.
When we’re looking for a good dry dog food for our own dogs, then we make sure that none of the following ingredients are anywhere near the top of the list: -chicken or turkey (in any form), corn, soy and wheat, not to mention chemicals with unpronounceable names.
Why?
Poultry products are well known for harbouring dangerous bacteria such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and e.Coli. It is because of the risk of such bacteria that we never recommend feeding any chicken, turkey, duck, goose or other poultry products, in any shape or form (e.g. no broth, no eggs, no baby food), to dogs suffering from Canine Parvovirus, or even any other ailment.
In the course of helping to treat over 3,780 dogs for Parvo, we’re seeing more and more cases where they develop Parvo-like symptoms, except it turns out to be Campylobacter, which they almost always contract from eating some form of poultry, whether it’s a raw food diet or whether they’ve been digging in the trash and finding meat that’s going off. (And, by the way, if you treat a dog that has Campylobacter the same way you would treat it for Parvo, then it’s the wrong way to go about it and it can cause you to lose your pet.)
Corn is hard for dogs to digest, while soy and wheat can often cause allergies, which you obviously want to avoid.
If you check the labels on many popular brands, then you’ll find one or more of these ingredients right at the top of the list.
Here are some of the well-known brands of dog food that people are reporting having problems with:
- Alpo
- Beneful
- Blue Buffalo
- Canidae
- Del Monte
- Diamond Dog Food
- Iams
- Kirkland
- Nutro
- Ol Roy
- Pedigree
- Purina
- Royal Canin
- Science Diet
One of these dogs foods, Nutro, was even contaminated with the deadly bacteria Campylobacter, which in our experience, is even more lethal than Parvo.
The list of dog food brands above is not exhaustive, so if you want to see if the dog food you are using has problems you weren’t aware of, then check out the Consumer Affairs website.
One of the problems seems to be that the big corporates (e.g. Proctor & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Mars) are buying up smaller, independent dog food manufacturers, and because profits come before anything else, the ingredients are being changed so that the food costs less to make so that the company can make more money.
There is, of course, a victim in all this - and that’s your dog!
If you really want to know what sort of junk and toxic chemicals you are feeding your dog, then we highly recommend reading “Dog Food Secrets” - you will end up being both educated and angered that companies can get away with feeding dogs this sort of stuff.
Did you know, for example, that they even “recycle” dogs who’ve already died of dangerous viruses and bacteria such as Parvo and Campylobacter?
Such dogs are frequently sent to the rendering plants, where they end up back in the dog food.
That’s right - your dog could be cannibalising the processed remains of diseased dogs! (And the scary part is that they may not have cooked the dog food high enough or long enough to kill of the bacteria, which is why brand new bags of dog food may already be contaminated with bacteria such as Campylobacter.)
However, this doesn’t just affect dogs - cats are also experiencing major problems with many cats foods as well, and some are even dying!
So, you’re probably wondering what food we give to our own dogs.
Well, after plenty of research, we went for a dog food called Triumph - we found no bad reviews of it, the ingredients all looked reasonable (although, of course, we use the lamb and brown rice flavour - not the chicken one), and so far, it’s been working out really well.
But whichever brand you choose, please do your research first, because your dog’s life depends on it.
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Salmonella In Dogs
Posted by Rae and Mark on Nov 3, 2009
Most people have some Salmonella information - for example, they at least know that it is a bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea, or worse.
As with many viruses, bacteria and germs, the people most at risk are the very young, the very old, pregnant women and the infirm, which is why these groups of people are usually advised to stay away from products such as raw or undercooked eggs.
And Salmonella is not just restricted to humans - animals can be infected by it too.
So, what about Salmonella in dogs?
Well, as with humans, it is the very young (i.e. puppies) who are most at risk, mainly because they don’t have fully-developed immune systems.
Adult dogs, on the other hand, very rarely get Salmonella poisoning …
… but there is one notable exception, and it is sadly becoming less of a rarity.
The culprit?
The ever-increasing popularity of the raw food diet (aka BARF diet).
The problem is that, in spite of what adherents to this diet will tell you, food does need to be cooked properly to kill bacteria, as well as bacterial toxins and parasites.
One study showed that as much as 80% of food samples contained Salmonella bacteria, and that 30% of the dogs in that study were shedding these bacteria in their feces.
Now, it could well be that the dogs may not themselves have exhibited signs of Salmonella poisoning, but their stools may contain more than enough bacteria to infect other animals (or even humans) for up to six weeks.
Symptoms of Salmonella in dogs include diarrhea, which is caused by the bacteria secreting toxins which is, in itself, not pleasant for you or your dog.
But it can be much worse than just a runny tummy - the bacteria can damage the intestinal tract, in the same way that the Canine Parvovirus operates (and which can look very similar to Salmonella poisoning), and then invade the rest of the body, causing sepsis (i.e. blood poisoning) and additional complications.
So, this is one reason why we do not recommend a raw food diet for dogs, and why, when treating dogs that do have Parvo, for example, we always tell the owners not to give their sick dogs any poultry-based products, whether it be chicken, turkey or some other bird, and whether the meat be raw, cooked, in soup / broth, in baby food or in any form whatsoever.
With production quality standards clearly being insufficient, Salmonella poisoning in dogs is a real risk, and it’s not one that we believe is worth taking.
There was a time when humans too didn’t cook their food, but would you seriously consider feeding your children raw meat that could harbour any number of harmful, or even lethal, bacteria?
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About Us
Posted by Rae and Mark on Mar 5, 2009
RawDietForDogs.net is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of the BARF raw food diet for dogs and in particular, our recommendation for a safer way to feed your dog, Drs. Foster & Smith dry dog food.
On this site, you will find helpful reviews, information, tips and much more. Check back here frequently to see new updates to the information found here.
You can navigate through the site by using the menus on the right of the page. Also, don’t hesitate to follow the links you see in bold throughout each post to learn more about the product(s) being spoken about.
We hope you find the information we provide valuable and helpful.
All the best,
Rae & Mark
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Contact Us
Posted by Rae and Mark on Mar 5, 2009
If you have any questions regarding the content on this site, about the products that are mentioned, or any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact us at the following address. We’d also love to hear any feedback on the site if you’ve found it helpful or have some ideas about how we can improve the site in some way.
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Privacy Policy
Posted by Rae and Mark on Mar 5, 2009
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