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How to tell if your Cat is plotting to kill you,...
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Review: EVO Turkey and Chicken Grain-Free Cat Food |  When I bought this food to test for my cats, one of them couldn't wait, and tore the bag apart before I could even open it. Later, when I checked their feeding station, the EVO bowl was empty, and the bowl next to it was still half-full of another brand. Okay, my cats loved the taste of EVO. However, there are a a couple of reasons why I wouldn't recommend feeding this food to some cats. One of them is that, although Innova advertises it as low-calorie, the kcal/cup (caloric measurement) is much higher than a few other grain-free dry foods, so caregivers of obese cats should probably look elsewhere. Read my full review to learn more about EVO Turkey and Chicken Grain-Free Cat Food.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of PriceGrabber
...Read Full Post | | 2/22/2012 3:29:03 PM |
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Therapy Dogs: Animals Helping People | 
I'm always happy to see my pets, as I am sure you are. But, when I've been sick or just had a tough day, being around animals makes it all seem so much better. My critters are my natural stress relievers. Just the simple act of petting an animal can be as soothing as a bubble bath, and I'm guessing many of you feel the same. Experts say that animals can lower blood pressure and improve overall health. Animal assisted therapy is based on this premise, and it works! Therapy dogs are becoming an increasingly common sight in hospitals, nursing homes and similar facilities. They patiently sit with people as if they understand the good they are doing. Some therapy dogs are trained to listen to children read - and they genuinely seem to enjoy it.
Therapy dogs are part of a specially trained and tested human/dog therapy team. However, when "off duty," most therapy dogs are simply pets. No special breeding is required to be a therapy dog, just a great temperament and a love for children, adults and other animals. Could your dog be a future therapy dog? Think about how much your dog brightens your day, then consider how nice it would be to share that joy with others through animal assisted therapy. The power of animal assisted therapy never ceases to amaze me.
Have you got an uplifting dog story? Share your tales of canine inspiration! It can be about a therapy dog or anything else that you find touching.
Photo © iStockphoto.com/suemack | | 2/20/2012 2:19:08 PM |
Westminster Dog Show - Day One Recap | 
The first day of the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has come to an end, and the much anticipated Best in Show competition is just a day away. Did your favorite breed place tonight? Dogs from four out of the seven groups have competed for Best of Group (Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding). The remaining three groups (Sporting, Working, Terrier) will have their Best of Group judging tomorrow evening. Group winners go on to compete for the ultimate title of Best in Show. ...Read Full Post | | 2/13/2012 6:03:39 PM |
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How to Stop This Rapidly-Spreading Cat Virus...
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Dog and Cat Pals Cuddle at Naptime | Luke, the orange tabby, and Tally, the beagle mix are inseparable at naptime. Watch as they interrupt their snoozefest just long enough to give each other a reassuring hug before they drift off to sleep again.  | | 2/22/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Dropping Just a Few Pounds Gives Lame Dogs a New Leash on Life |
By Dr. Becker
A recent study of obese dogs with osteoarthritis and lameness proved how little effort it can take to vastly improve the quality of life of overfed, disabled pets.
The purpose of the study, conducted at the Small Animal Hospital at the University of Glasgow Veterinary School in Scotland, was to evaluate both subjectively and objectively the effect of weight loss on lameness.
The results of this elegantly simple 18 week study are fantastic.
Every parent of an overweight dog who suffers with arthritis and has difficulty walking, running, and being the physically active animal he was born to be, should be extremely excited by this news.
The Dogs
The study involved 14 family dogs including a Border Collie, a Bearded Collie, a Rottweiler, a Springer Spaniel, two Staffordshire Bull Terriers, two mixed breed dogs and six Labrador Retrievers.
The ages of the dogs ranged from 10 months to 13 years, with a mean of about 7 years.
The dogs were from 20 to 34 percent above ideal body weight, with an average of 24 percent.
Five dogs had bilateral hip dysplasia and secondary osteoarthritis (OA).
Two dogs had unilateral (single) hip dysplasia and secondary OA.
One of the two had a total hip replacement.
Only one dog of the 14 had a clearly identified cause of OA and hip dysplasia.
One dog had osteoarthritis in both hips and elbows; one had it in both elbows and one hip. Both these dogs had primarily forelimb lameness.
Seven dogs had the greatest degree of lameness in a forelimb and the other seven had a bigger problem with a hind limb. These were the limbs used to monitor progress in decreasing lameness during the study.
The Study
The dogs' body weight and pelvic circumference were measured at the beginning of the study, along with severity of lameness.
Lameness was evaluated using three different measures – a numeric rating scale (NRS), a visual analogue scale (VAS) (both of which are subjective measures), and a kinetic gait analysis (objective measure).
The dogs were placed on a weight loss program using commercially available food. Owners were instructed not to change the dogs' level of exercise for the duration of the study.
They were evaluated by the same person every 2 weeks for 12 weeks, then 4 weeks apart for the final 2 visits. Weight, pelvic circumference and severity of lameness at a walk and at a trot were measured at each visit.
The Results
Starting with visit 3, body weights were significantly decreased from starting weights.
Starting with visit 5, pelvic circumference was significantly reduced from starting measurements.
By the final visit, the dogs had lost on average 8.85 percent of their initial body weight. The pelvic circumference of the dogs was reduced on average almost 7 percent.
From visit 2 on, VAS lameness scores for both walking and trotting significantly improved week by week.
At visit 5, significant improvement in NRS lameness scores for trotting was seen.
At the end of the study, 82 percent of the dogs showed improvement in lameness.
The results indicate that when an overweight dog reaches about a 6 percent decrease in body weight, lameness is significantly decreased. Additional improvement is seen as additional weight is lost.
Kinetic gait analysis showed decreased lameness at a body weight reduction threshold of just under 9 percent.
So these results confirm that an obese dog with osteoarthritis can have noticeable improvement in lameness after losing just 6 to 9 percent of body weight.
Applying These Study Results at Home
Let's say the ideal average weight for a Labrador retriever is 70 pounds. And let's say your Lab weighs in at about 88 pounds, which is 25 percent over the ideal.
Chances are if your overweight dog doesn't already have some obvious arthritis and lameness, those issues are right around the corner. Bigger dogs, as we know, tend to have more joint and movement problems than the little guys.
Now let's say you put your dog on a portion-controlled, balanced, species-appropriate diet, with a weight loss goal of .5 to 1 percent of body weight per week. In as little as 6 to 7 weeks, with a weight reduction of between 5 and 6 pounds (about 6 percent of 88 pounds) over that period, you will have significantly reduced the stress on your dog's joints and improved his ability to walk, run and move around freely and comfortably.
Or ... let's say you have a sturdy Maltese whose ideal weight should be about 7 pounds. But your little guy is 30 percent heavier than he should be, tipping the scales at a little over 9 pounds. This is an obese Maltese.
Hard to believe a 9 pound dog is technically obese, but the smaller the animal, the quicker those ounces and pounds add up.
Using the .5 to 1 percent reduction in body weight per week goal, in 5 to 6 weeks your little munchkin will be a not quite svelte 8.5 pounds, and his little legs will have a much easier time helping him bounce around your house.
In another 6 weeks he'll be under 8 pounds, and you just keep up the good work until he's at his ideal weight and no longer at high risk for developing (or worsening) arthritis, lameness, and a host of other weight related health problems.
Feeding Tips
The commercially available food used in the University of Glasgow study was a 'prescription' diet dog food I absolutely do not recommend.
I also don't recommend non-prescription weight management or 'low fat' diets.
Your favorite canine should be fed balanced, species-appropriate nutrition, not the carb and fiber filled junk marketed as good for overweight dogs. In my experience those formulas aren't good for any dog, fat, lean or somewhere in between.
Portion control is another key element in helping your pet lose weight. For lots of information and suggestions on getting excess weight off your dog, view my 2-part video series:
Part 1 ... Why Heavy Dogs Are Becoming the Norm
Part 2 ... How to Help Your Chunky Dog Release Excess Pounds
 | | 2/22/2012 1:00:00 AM |
If Your Pet is Pawing at Her Eyes or Squinting, This Could Be the Reason | By Dr. Becker
The cornea is the outermost covering or layer of your dog's1 or cat's eye2.
All other parts of the eye, including the iris and pupil, lay behind it.
The cornea is transparent and admits light into the eye.
It also serves as a barrier to protect the inside of the eye from bacteria, chemicals, foreign objects – anything that could cause damage and interfere with vision.
The cornea is actually composed of four layers.
The outermost layer is the epithelium.
Below the epithelium lays the basement membrane.
Next is the stroma, which comprises most of the thickness of the cornea.
The innermost layer is called Descemet's membrane.
Causes of Corneal Ulcers
Corneal ulcers are wounds to the cornea usually caused by an abrasion, scratch, puncture or other trauma to the eye.
Other causes can include a foreign body in the eye, a chemical burn, infection, lack of adequate tears, inability to completely close the eyelids, entropion (where the eyelid folds inward), disease, and facial nerve paralysis.
These ulcers, sometimes called ulcerative keratitis, are a common eye injury in dogs and cats.
They can cause a great deal of irritation and discomfort for your pet.
A corneal ulcer can involve one layer up to all four layers. A mild or superficial ulcer involves just the epithelium. Ulcers are considered severe or deep when they also impact the middle and innermost layers of the cornea.
Superficial ulcers result in loss of a part of the epithelium. Deeper ulcers involving the stroma can cause significant scarring and perforation of the cornea.
When an ulcer extends through the stroma to the Descemet's membrane, a condition known as Descemetoceles, the problem is quite serious and can result in perforation.
The location of a corneal ulcer depends to some extent on what is causing it. An ulcer caused by trauma to the eye, dry eyes, bulging eyes or a paralyzed facial nerve are most often located in the center of the cornea.
If there is foreign matter trapped beneath the third eyelid, the corneal ulcer is usually seen toward the inside of the eye near the nose.
If there is entropion or a wayward eyelash rubbing against the eye, the ulcer will often be seen in the peripheral cornea.
An immune-mediated disease of the eye can cause ulcers at the borders of the cornea.
Symptoms
Because sensitive nerves are exposed when the cornea is injured, you may notice your pet's eye running or tearing more than normal, and she may also squint or paw at her eye.
There can be sensitivity to light, a noticeable film over the eye, discharge, or a red, inflamed, painful appearance. Your pet may also try to keep the painful eye closed.
Corneal ulcers are more common in dogs, but cats develop them as well.
Certain pets – those with flat faces (brachycephalic breeds) – are more prone to corneal ulcers. These breeds include the Boxer, Boston terrier, Bulldog, Pekingese, Pug, Shih tzu, and any breed of dog or cat with a short, flat muzzle and prominent eyes.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis involves a thorough examination of the eye and cornea, and direct observation of the ulcer using a diagnostic stain. The stain or dye will allow visualization of erosions, ulcers or other injuries to the cornea. It will also indicate how deep the ulcer is into the layers of the cornea.
Staining the eye also helps rule out other eye conditions with similar symptoms to corneal ulcers.
Other tests can include a dry eye test, analysis of facial nerve function, cultures to look for bacteria or fungi, and blood tests to check for the presence of viral infection.
Unless your pet's corneal ulcer is mild (involving only the outer layer) and not caused by an underlying condition – or unless your veterinarian is very skilled in treating eye conditions – I recommend you ask for a referral to a veterinary ophthalmologist3 or other eye specialist.
Treatment
Treatment of a corneal ulcer will depend to some extent on what caused the injury. Underlying conditions like dry eye, and infection or disease must be resolved or treated along with the corneal injury to prevent recurrence of the ulcer.
Treatment can include topical antibiotic therapy, pain medication and drugs to control eye muscle spasms.
Superficial ulcers can usually be healed in a week or less. During treatment, your pet may be fitted with one of those annoying plastic neck collars to keep his paws away from his eyes.
Deeper, more serious ulcers may require sutures, conjunctival grafts, conjunctival flaps, the insertion of soft contact lenses, or even a corneal transplant.
Ineffective, counterproductive treatments include oral antibiotics. They can't be absorbed in sufficient concentration to effectively treat or prevent infections of the cornea.
Topical corticosteroids and anesthetics should also be avoided because they can prevent healing and often make the ulcer worse.
Melting Ulcers
Melting ulcers are a type of corneal ulcer in which the stroma layer progressively dissolves.
This type of ulcer is most often seen in pets with an infection, either bacterial or fungal. The infection produces enzymes that break down the corneal stroma.
Complete loss of the stroma can occur in as little as 24 hours in these cases.
Treatment includes antibiotics, drugs to inhibit the action of destructive enzymes, and sometimes surgery.
Refractory Corneal Ulcers
Also known as indolent ulcers or Boxer ulcers, these are a type of superficial ulcer that doesn't heal well and tends to recur.
Refractory ulcers are thought to be caused by an abnormality in the basement membrane layer of the cornea. They weaken the epithelium surrounding them, which can be easily peeled back.
Refractory corneal ulcers are usually seen in middle aged or older dogs and tend to develop in both eyes at different times. They are seen in a wide variety of breeds.
These ulcers can take months to heal. Topical antibiotics and pain medications are given on an as-needed basis. Other topical treatments found to be useful include glycosaminoglycans, chondroitin sulfate, N-acetylcysteine, and Aminocaproic acid solutions that are made specifically to be put in the eye.
Loose epithelium must be removed (under topical anesthesia) to allow healing to progress.
Sometimes more invasive treatment is required, including a keratotomy, which involves cutting or piercing the cornea to promote attachment of new epithelium.
References:
 | | 2/22/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Static Dog | Adorable little Fay finds her new family absolutely electrifying!  | | 2/20/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Are Rats Capable of Empathy? | By Dr. Becker
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the University of Chicago have demonstrated that empathy probably plays a role in the helping behavior of rats.
According to Discovery News:
Given a choice between munching on a tasty chocolate treat or helping a fellow rat escape from a restraint, test rodents often preferred to liberate a pal in need, indicating that their empathy for others was reward enough.
Rats Keep Trying Til They Learn How to Free Their Trapped Friends
First the rats were housed together in pairs for two weeks.
Then they were moved to new cages in which one of the pair was placed in a restraining device while the other remained free to move about the cage.
The free rats could see and hear their restrained friends, and they were clearly agitated.
It took the free rats from three to seven days to figure out how to open the door to the restraints holding the other rats.
Once they learned how to do it, freeing their buddies was the first thing they did each time they were put in the cage.
Distinguishing Between Stuffed Toys and the Real Thing
Next the researchers put toy stuffed rats in the restraints to see if the free rats would repeat the behavior of immediately opening the door. They did not, which proved the rats were able to distinguish between their cage mates and stuffed toys.
According to author Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal:
"These rats are learning because they are motivated by something internal. We're not showing them how to open the door, they don't get any previous exposure on opening the door, and it's hard to open the door. But they keep trying and trying, and it eventually works."
Free Rats Singularly Motivated to Help Cage Mates
The researchers were also able to establish that the free rats weren't motivated by a need for companionship or other self-interest.
When the cages were set up such that the trapped rat, when set free by the unrestrained rat, would be funneled into a separate enclosure, the rats still opened the doors to the restraints.
The researchers concluded the free rats were interested only in ending the distress of the restrained rats.
Piles of Chocolate Chips Less Important Than Trapped Rat Buddies
In a final test, the rats were tempted with chocolate, which they were known to prefer over rat chow. In control experiments, when rats were alone in their cages with no cage mate (restrained or otherwise), they ate every last piece of chocolate they were given.
The researchers put piles of chocolate chips in the cages. Even if the free rats sampled a few pieces of chocolate before heading for the door to the restraint, they invariably made it a priority to free their cage mates and then allowed them to eat the rest of the candy.
"It said to us that essentially helping their cage mate is on a par with chocolate. He can hog the entire chocolate stash if he want(s) to, and he does not. We were shocked," said study co-author Peggy Mason.
Are Female Rats More Empathetic than Males?
When researchers switched the rats' roles, putting the formerly free rats in restraints, all six female rats became door openers, compared with 17 of 24 males.
Study authors concluded this behavior is consistent with the idea that females in general are more empathetic than males.
Since not all the rats came to the rescue of their cage mates, according to study authors, the next step could be to look for a biological source of the behavioral differences between the door-openers and non-openers.
This study only further supports my belief that rats make amazing pets. They are intelligent, gentle and empathic, now proven by science.
 | | 2/20/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Why Puppies Should Be Handled with Plenty of TLC | By Dr. Becker
In this video and part 2 which will be available next week, I’ll be discussing the problem of bone diseases in growing puppies.
This week in part 1 of 2, I want to talk about angular limb deformities.
Angular Limb Deformities: What They Are and How They Happen
An angular limb deformity is a bone growth problem that causes the limb to develop in a curved or crooked direction rather than straight.1,2
These limb deformities occur in young, developing animals as a result of some sort of trauma to the growth plate in the leg.
Often the trauma is caused by a puppy being hit by a car, stepped on, dropped, or injured in some other way.
However, sometimes an angular limb deformity is the result of premature closing of the growth plates.
Certain breeds, for example the basset hound, Shih tzu and dachshund, are genetically predisposed to premature growth plate closure.
Many of these dogs have short, slightly crooked legs.
And while this leg development is technically normal for some of these breeds, the problem is sometimes so pronounced it can cause lameness.
Why Growing Puppies Are So Vulnerable
Most of your dog’s growth occurs between four and eight months of age.
The bones grow and lengthen -- a process made possible by the growth plates at the end of long limb bones.
When a puppy reaches about one year old, the growth plates seal closed. After natural closure of these plates, an injury to the leg won’t result in the overwhelming damage or deformity seen in younger dogs.
However, if an immature growth plate – which is often softer than other parts of the bone – becomes injured, the damaged cells stop growing. Meanwhile, the uninjured cells continue to grow.
Since growth plate injuries typically occur on one side of the plate or the other, the damaged side of the bone quits growing, but the healthy side continues to grow. This is how the bone ends up anything but straight.
How a Curved or Bowed Limb Develops
The most common angular limb deformity occurs in a puppy’s forearm, which has a two-bone system comprised of the ulna and the radius.3
If the growth plate of either of these bones is injured (usually it’s the ulna), the damaged bone will stop growing, but the other bone in the two-bone system will continue to grow.
The damaged, no-longer-growing bone acts like a rubber band, putting tension on the growing bone. This causes the healthy bone to bow, curve or rotate as it continues to develop. In some worst-case scenarios, the bone can develop all three deformities – it can bow, curve AND rotate.
Younger dogs whose bones are still growing – especially large and giant breed puppies – are at much greater risk for developing a severe deformity than older animals after a traumatic injury.
If the problem isn’t diagnosed quickly and corrected with surgery, there can be much bigger problems in the future for the injured puppy.
Abnormal limb deformities result in abnormal joint movement, which can be quite painful for the dog.
Arthritis is another common outcome, along with the inability to move normally.
If the deformity is severe and is left untreated, a dog can actually lose all function in the affected limb.
Diagnosing Growth Plate Damage
If you have a young, growing puppy and you know she’s been injured, it’s important to get her seen by your veterinarian right away.
Early diagnosis of traumatic bone injuries is essential if your pup is to have a good treatment outcome.
Crushing injuries that damage the cells of the growth plate aren’t picked up on x-rays. In addition, it can take a few weeks after your puppy is injured for an angular limb deformity to start to become obvious.
So it’s extremely important to know if your pet has sustained an injury, and you also need to continuously compare the length and straightness of a potentially damaged leg to the length and straightness of the uninjured leg.
If you detect any developing differences between the two legs, you should seek immediate veterinary care.
Treatment Options
In some cases, surgery is necessary to make every effort to straighten the damaged bone. In severe cases, often multiple surgeries will be required.
The type of surgery will depend on the injury, which bone is damaged, your dog’s age, and how much growing she still has left to do.
There are two primary types of procedures performed to correct angular limb deformities.
For young dogs with forelimb damage and plenty of growing left to do, often the ulna (which is usually the injured bone) will be cut and detached from the radius. This allows the radius to straighten and the limb to grow normally.
In older dogs that are at or very close to their full adult size, the corrective surgery often performed is called an osteotomy.4 An osteotomy involves cutting both the ulna and radius at the point of the greatest curvature. The radius is then straightened, which allows for proper alignment of the elbow and wrist joints.
This procedure requires about four to six weeks for healing, and during this period it’s really important your dog remains strictly confined to limit mobility. This will insure efficient healing and the best outcome post-surgery.
Some dogs will require a second surgery called a limb lengthening procedure in addition to the surgery to straighten the leg.
Prevention
Needless to say, the goal of any pet owner should be to avoid trauma to a growing puppy altogether.
This is why veterinarians warn new puppy parents not to engage their pets in rigorous jumping or other very strenuous exercises until all the growth plates have had time to close and seal.
Many proactive veterinarians, including me, encourage pet owners to provide high-risk breed puppies with joint support (glycosaminoglycans) or chondroprotective agents (for example, chondroitin) to help reduce damage to growth plates.
I also highly recommend having your growing puppy regularly adjusted by a licensed animal chiropractor5 to keep the limbs and joints properly aligned. This can serve as a sort of insurance plan in case trauma to a growth plate does occur. Stress from injury is minimized when the body is in proper alignment.
Stay tuned next week for part 2 of this 2-part series on bone growth problems in puppies and young dogs. I’ll be discussing the diseases known as panosteitis, hypertrophic osteodystrophy, and osteochondritis dissecans.
References:
 | | 2/20/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Is Every Trip to the Vet Traumatic for Your Pet? This Service Could Be for You | By Dr. Becker
A growing number of pet owners are turning to mobile veterinarians or 'vets on wheels' to care for furry family members.
Mobile vet clinics can be an ideal solution for families with pets who are:
- Shy, scared or skittish
- Elderly
- Large breed dogs with mobility problems
- Aggressive
Having your vet come to you instead of the other way around can also be a blessing for:
- Multi-pet households
- People with hectic or unpredictable schedules
- Couples with a new baby or young children at home
- Shut-ins, senior citizens, and people who don't drive
- Breeders who don't want to expose very young animals to other patients
Why Some Pet Owners Prefer Mobile to Brick-and-Mortar Vet Clinics
Many family pets, especially cats, experience extreme, debilitating stress when they must travel even a short distance. It's not unusual for a very distressed, frightened cat or dog to vomit or lose bladder or bowel control on car rides to and from the vet's office.
With a vet-on-wheels, the travel your pet endures is no more than a short walk down the driveway to the waiting mobile vet unit.
Lots of pets and their owners find waiting around for the vet during a clinic visit unnerving. When your vet comes to you, you're waiting in the comfort of your own home, and your pet remains calm.
Families with several pets can get everyone wellness-checked at the same time. This avoids multiple vet appointments or trying to wrangle several pets at once to, from and at the veterinary clinic.
Often, examining a pet in his own environment is more helpful and productive than attempting to diagnose a problem when the animal is stressed out during a visit to the vet.
Also, having your vet come to you lowers the risk your pet will be exposed to diseases that may be lurking in a clinic waiting room. This is a tremendous advantage if your pet is very young, elderly or has a weakened immune system.
Many owners who are facing the death of a beloved companion prefer to have their pet euthanized at home, surrounded by family members.
Potential Drawbacks to Using a Mobile Veterinary Service
While there are a number of benefits to using a mobile veterinary service, there are also some drawbacks you should be prepared for if you decide to look into the service for your pet.
- Availability of services. While mobile vet units seem to be catching on with both new DVMs and those who want to expand their existing practices, there are still many more brick-and-mortar veterinary practices than there are clinics on wheels. If you don’t already know of a mobile vet in your area, I recommend either Googling the information or contacting your state veterinary medical association1 for assistance. You can also check the listings at the American Association of Housecall Veterinarians2 or the AAHV3.
In addition, currently most mobile DVMs are the equivalent of primary care doctors for humans. In other words, you won't find veterinary specialists aboard a mobile unit, nor are you apt to find integrative or holistic vets, or specialists in pet chiropractic, acupuncture or physical rehabilitation.
- Appointment scheduling. Due to travel, set-up time and other peculiarities of operating a mobile vet clinic, DVMs-on-wheels are able to see far fewer patients each day than their counterparts in regular practice. You could run into a situation where appointments are booked far in advance, which may or may not work with your needs or the needs of your pet.
- Cost. Mobile veterinary services are typically more expensive than the same services at traditional veterinary clinics. Travel to and from appointments carries its own expense, and each mobile call takes considerably longer than regular clinic visits. Mobile vets have no choice but to charge higher fees for the convenience of bringing their clinic to their patients rather than the other way around.
- Limited services. While some mobile veterinary units are well-equipped to perform an amazing menu of medical services, many are limited to just a few types of exams and procedures. If your pet is very ill or requires a specialist, a mobile unit probably isn't the way to go. Mobile clinics are also not typically equipped to handle emergencies.
REFERENCES:
 | | 2/17/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Touched By a Wild Mountain Gorilla | Watch this amazing once in a lifetime encounter with a troop of wild mountain gorillas near Bwindi National Park, Uganda. | | 2/17/2012 1:00:00 AM |
Maybe NOW More Cat Parents Will Make the Switch from Dry Food | By Dr. Becker
More evidence has emerged linking dry food diets and feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD).
A study was conducted at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine to evaluate urethral obstruction (UO), which is an extremely common, life-threatening condition in cats.
The urethra is a small tube through which urine flows from your cat's bladder to the outside of the body.
Urethral obstructions are usually mineral crystals or stones, or plugs of inflammatory material that form in the kidneys (a process known as urolithiasis), pass down into the bladder, and get stuck in the urethra, blocking the passage of urine from the body.
The urethra in male cats is longer and narrower than in females, so obstructions are more often seen in males.
Once a blockage develops in the urethra, the kidneys continue to produce urine and the urine starts building up in the bladder.
This is not only painful for the cat, it can also quickly interfere with kidney function.
The job of the kidneys is to flush waste from the body, and when they aren't working properly, toxins accumulate in the bloodstream.
Feline urethral obstructions, if not treated promptly, can result in death in a matter of days.
Risk Factors for Urethral Obstruction in Cats
According to many, no research to date has nailed down precisely the risk factors involved in the formation of urethral plugs in kitties.
Some reports indicate certain breeds are predisposed to stone formation, including Persians, Himalayans, Russian Blues Siamese, Birman and the Egyptian Mau.
It is also thought a cat's environment carries risk factors for diseases of the lower urinary tract, specifically stressful living conditions, living indoors only, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and spaying/neutering.
For some reason, a dry food-only diet isn't emphasized in most studies as a significant risk factor for development of feline lower urinary tract disease, including urethral obstruction. I find this absolutely mystifying, given what we know about the crucial role dietary moisture content plays in feline physiology.
The Jerusalem Study
The Jerusalem study, published last year in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, took another look at risk factors for urethral obstruction, clinical signs, outcomes and recurrence rates in 82 cats with UO and 82 control cats.
The kitties diagnosed with urethral obstruction had some interesting things in common, including:
- They were significantly younger than the control cats; 82 percent were between 1 and 7 years old.
- They were significantly heavier.
- More were indoor-only cats than in the control group.
- And… most were fed dry food only (68 out of 82, or 83 percent)… 14 ate a combination of wet and dry food… and exactly none were fed a diet of wet food only.
In the control group of 82 cats without urethral obstruction, who also happened to be older and leaner than the sick cats, a little over half were fed dry food only, 42 percent ate both wet and dry food, and 3 out of 82 were fed only wet food.
An Earlier Enlightening Study
Another very interesting study1 was done several years ago to measure the effect of feeding a specific type of food (designed to increase the acidity of urine) to cats with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC). (FIC is another of the diseases of the lower urinary tract.)
Some of the cats were fed a canned formulation of the food, and some were fed a dry formulation.
The result?
After 1 year on the canned food, only 11 percent of FIC cats had a recurrence of the condition.
Recurrence in the dry food group after a year was 39 percent.
This study was conducted by the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition. Since Waltham is a pet food company2, it's safe to assume the primary intent of the study was to find a product that could be sold specifically for cats with lower urinary tract disease.
In my opinion, what was important in this outcome wasn't the urinary acidifying feature of Waltham's formula -- it was how much better the canned food-fed cats fared than the poor kitties fed the dry formulation of the same food.
Why Isn't Dry Cat Food Being Clearly Identified as a Risk Factor for FLUTD?
The Waltham study was published in 1999. The Jerusalem study was published just last year – a dozen years later. Several other studies on the subject of feline lower urinary tract disease have been conducted in the meantime.
And yet many in the traditional veterinary community seem unwilling to acknowledge the clear evidence that dietary moisture is incredibly important to urinary tract health in cats.
We know how felines are designed and how they live in the wild. And we have multiple studies showing cats with lower urinary tract disease, in particular, benefit from high moisture content diets.
It is absolutely baffling to me why more veterinarians aren't strongly encouraging all their cat-owning clients to transition their pets away from dry diets in the direction of food with a high moisture content.
For example, at a veterinary internal medicine symposium in 2011, an associate professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine presented a paper titled, Risk factors in feline lower urinary tract disease3. She cited both the Waltham and Jerusalem studies (and 19 others).
Here is an excerpt from her conclusion/recommendation:
"For both cats with urolithiasis and those with FIC, a diet high in moisture may be best, assuming the owner is willing to feed it and the cat is willing to eat it. A high moisture diet is recommended for cats with stones to decrease the urine concentration of mineral precursors and is the cornerstone of therapy for urolithiasis in human … and veterinary medicine. Increasing the water content for cats with FIC may help improve clinical signs by encouraging frequent voidings."
This isn't my idea of a ringing endorsement for the benefits of feeding FIC cats high moisture content diets.
But she does, at least, follow up with this suggestion:
"Increasing water content in the diet can be achieved most easily by feeding a canned diet; the canned food should be placed in a separate container next to the cat's regular diet. If the canned food is not consumed, water can be added to the dry kibble to achieve higher moisture content, although 85% moisture is difficult to attain using this method."
And I was also encouraged by this comment on the Jerusalem study by Dr. Indu Mani, Editor of Clinician's Brief:
"This study is very useful to the practicing clinician. Cats with UO are common in the clinical setting. Any interventional behaviors or techniques to potentially decrease UO prevalence are welcome in the clinical setting. Emphasis on optimal body weight and canned food intake as treatment recommendations is important in the management of many chronic feline diseases."
—Indu Mani, DVM, DSc
Why Your Cat's Food Should Be Loaded with Moisture
Water is essential for all life forms.
Your cat doesn't have a strong thirst drive compared to other species. Kitties are designed to get almost all the water they need from the food they eat.
Healthy cats don't lap up water like other animals do. Many kitties are obsessed with moving water, of course, but they're more interested in watching it or playing in it than drinking it.
With very few exceptions, only cats with underlying disease will drink a lot of water. Often the disease involves their lower urinary tract, especially if they are suffering from chronic, moderate dehydration thanks to a primarily dry food diet.
Cats in the wild hunt prey, and prey consists of about 75 percent water. Canned cat food contains at least that much moisture. Dry food, on the other hand, contains only about one tenth of that amount.
If you're feeding your kitty mostly dry food, he's probably drinking more water than he would if his diet was high in moisture content. But as a general rule, cats on dry food diets consume only about half the water cats on moisture-rich diets consume.
Now think for a minute about your cat's lower urinary tract – specifically the bladder and kidneys, which need to be flushed constantly with adequate quantities of urine.
It's easy to imagine the growing stress on those vital organs when your kitty's body is operating on half the amount of water it requires to function normally – day in and day out, for months, years, or a lifetime.
A Word about Other Risk Factors for FLUTD/UO
In addition to the key finding from the Jerusalem study that the majority of cats who developed urethral obstruction were fed dry food only, obesity and indoor living were also significant factors.
Living indoors doesn't have to be unhealthy for cats, and in fact, your kitty is much safer living inside. But housecats do need environmental enrichment to be optimally healthy.
The following articles offer some great tips on how to make your environment feline-friendly:
Obesity in cats tends to go hand-in-hand with a sedentary lifestyle and a dry food diet, especially if your kitty enjoys an all-day all-he-can-eat buffet (also known as free-feeding).
If your cat is overweight, it's really important for his overall health and quality of life that you slim him down – but it must be done very, very gradually to avoid a life-threatening case of hepatic lipidosis. My Valuable Tips for Helping Your Heavy Cat video and article gives you all the information you need to diet your kitty safely.
REFERENCES:
 | | 2/17/2012 1:00:00 AM |
10 Benefits of Adopting an Older Pet | By Dr. Becker
Recently I discussed the problem of hard-to-adopt shelter pets.
At the top of the list of dogs and cats languishing in shelters across the U.S. are older animals.
It makes me terribly sad to know these poor animals are frightened, disoriented, and waiting anxiously in their kennels for their families to come back and collect them.
And it's sadder still to know many of these pets will never leave the shelter... unless more adoptive families are willing to give them a second look.
10 Great Reasons to Open Your Heart to a Senior Pet
- Older dogs have manners. Unlike puppies, many grown-up dogs have spent years living with a family and being socialized to life with humans.
They may have received obedience training and respond to commands like Sit, Stay, and Down.
Many are house trained and it takes a matter of hours or a day or two to help them learn the potty rules in their new home.
- Senior pets are less destructive. Most older adoptive pets are well past the search-and-destroy phase.
You don't need to worry so much about finding your favorite pair of shoes or a table leg chewed beyond recognition. Chances are your senior kitty has no urge to overturn your potted plant or shred the handmade quilt your grandma gave you.
- What you see is what you get. A senior pet holds no surprises as to how big he might get, what color his adult coat will be, or whether his hips will be healthy. A senior pet comes to you with his own history, which makes his future much more predictable than that of an 8-week old puppy or kitten.
- You can teach an old dog new tricks. Adult dogs can focus on the task at hand (unlike many of their much younger counterparts). If your adopted older pet needs to learn a few things in her new life with you, not to worry. Enroll her in an obedience class, contact a trainer, or go the do-it-yourself route. Older dogs are more attentive than puppies, and more eager to please their humans.
- You can custom order your senior pet. If you're looking for a short-haired cat, for example, or a kitty with no history of dental disease, you can search until you find an older pet with exactly those attributes. If you already have a cat and need your adoptive dog to get along with cats, again, you'll have a much better chance of finding an older adoptive dog who is a perfect companion for your family.
- You can adopt a purebred pet if you want. If you really love a certain breed of dog or cat, chances are there's a breed rescue club that can point you in the direction of older purebred pets in need of homes.
- Senior pets are great company for senior citizens. Many elderly people find the calm presence of an older pet very comforting. They appreciate having a companion who is also 'getting up there' in age, doesn't mind hearing the same stories again and again, and is content to move through life at a slower speed.
- Older pets are relaxing to hang out with. Senior dogs and cats have all the basics down and aren't full of wild energy to burn. Because you're not constantly chasing around or cleaning up after your older pet, you have a lot more time to spend finding fun things to do or just relaxing together.
- Adopted senior pets are grateful for your kindness. Somehow, older pets seem to know you gave them a home when no one else would. Many new owners form a close bond very quickly with their senior dog or cat, because the pet shows them a level of attention and devotion that is unique to older adopted animals.
- You can be a hero to a deserving dog or cat. Almost without exception, people who adopt older animals feel a special sense of pride and purpose in opening their heart to a hard-to-place pet. Doing a good thing really does make you feel good!
Meet Mason, Dr. Becker's recently rescued 11 year-old kitty
 | | 2/15/2012 1:00:00 AM |
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Animals are dying from microchip implants
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French Bulldog Adopts 6 Wild Baby Piglets [VIDEO] | | And who says the French can't be friendly folk!? Six darling little piglets have found a new surrogate mom in a sweet-natured, maternal eight-year old French bulldog named Baby. The Lehnitz animal sanctuary outside Berlin told MSNBC that Baby took straight to the 3-day old wild boar piglets when they were brought in last Saturday, shivering from cold. According to sanctuary workers, Baby ran over and started snuggling the furry little striped piggies to keep them warm as soon as they were brought in, even though they're nearly her size! According to MSNBC, Baby has remained by their side, making... | | 2/16/2012 6:54:21 PM |
Pekingese Poof-Ball Reigns Supreme at Westminster 2012 (Exclusive Photos) | | Four-legged Puff-ball Declared Champ of Westminster 2012 Malachy the Pekingese, (who made his debut right here on Animal Planet's Breed Selector Guide BTW!) fetched best in show Tuesday night, becoming America's top dog of 2012 at Westminster and marking the the fourth time a Peke won at Westminster, and the first since 1990. Check Out More Exclusive Photos of Malachy Here > [See: Behind the Scenes at Westminster] This darling ambulatory pom-pom beat out a Dalmatian, German shepherd, Doberman pinscher, Irish setter, a Kerry blue terrier and wire-haired dachshund at the showdown held at Madison Square Garden. Malachy was clearly... | | 2/15/2012 1:51:48 PM |
Dog of Ancient Aztecs Newest Breed at Westminster | | Keith Barraclough/DCL NEW YORK, Feb 13, 2012 (AFP) - It has been around for over 3,000 years, but Mexico's famous, usually hairless, "Xolo" dog is making a big splash as a "new breed" at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show here this week. [See a Complete List of the American Kennel Club's Dog Breeds] Tiny Chabella, descended from a breed the Aztecs considered sacred, is representing the Xoloitzcuintli (which means "hairless dog" or more broadly "dog of the god Xolotl") for the first time at the show. The event packs Madison Square Garden and is considered the second-oldest US sporting... | | 2/14/2012 5:11:33 PM |
Gigantor River Worm Spotted in Iceland? [VIDEO] | | A massive snakelike creature was captured on video this week by an amateur cameraman slithering through the icy waters of Lake Lagarfljot in Iceland. Resembling a cross between a monster worm from hell and a loch ness monster, locals and the world alike are befuddled by what is dwelling just beneath the surface. What the heck is a Lagarfljot river worm? Ginormous ring worm? Could this be the legendary Lagarfljot river worm? The 25-mile long lake is well known in Icelandic folklore for housing Lagarfljót's Worm, the Icelandic version of the Loch Ness Monster, with tales being told of the... | | 2/8/2012 7:11:52 PM |
Entirely Purple Squirrel Found in Jersey Shore Backyard | | Purple Squirrel Mystifies the Masses An entirely purple squirrel, fur and all, was found in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania last weekend by Percy and Connie Emert. And when we say purple, we mean completely purple - as in, every hair on this squirrel's body is purple - he doesn't just have purple highlights. Connie Emert was the first to spot the purple squirrel on her property, but upon sharing this news with other friends no one believed her. "I kept telling my husband I saw a purple one out in the yard. 'Oh sure you did' he kept telling me," Emert... | | 2/8/2012 3:13:00 AM |
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The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food
by Jessica Smith, citizen journalist
If you check the labels on grocery store foods, you've probably already begun to see that the list of ingredients doesn't always tell the whole truth about what's in your food. The same goes for your pets' food. Behind innocent-sounding words like "meat byproducts" and "meat meal" are horrific manufacturing practices that would turn your stomach. The nutritional considerations of pet foods go beyond the sources of meat in them. Pet food manufacturers add dangerous preservatives and vitamin fortifications that actually make your pets' food less healthy.
What mysterious "meat byproducts" really are
Let's start with what usually appears as the protein source and the primary ingredient in pet food: Meat byproducts or meat meal. Both are euphemisms for the parts of animals that wouldn't be considered meat by any smart consumer. The well-known phrase "meat byproducts" is a misnomer since these byproducts contain little, if any, meat. These are the parts of the animal left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. "Chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption," writes Henry Pasternak in Healing Animals with Nature's Cures.
Meat meal can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption. This can include zoo animals, road kill, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled, dying) livestock. Most shockingly, this also can include dogs and cats. That's right, your pets could be cannibals. Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser writes, "Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their pet food, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog and cat food every week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, ''but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."
How roadkill ends up in Fido's food bowl
The process that turns these animals and animal parts into pet food is also disgusting. After all, it takes a lot to turn roadkill into something owners feel good about pouring into their pets' bowls. Ann M. Martin describes the process in Food Pets Die For: "At the rendering plant a machine slowly grinds the entire mess in huge vats. Then this product is cooked at temperatures between 220 degrees Fahrenheit and 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to one hour. The mixture is centrifuged (spun at a high speed) and the grease (or tallow) rises to the top and it is removed from the mixture. The grease becomes the source of animal fat in most pet foods. Oftentimes, when you open a standard can of dog food, you will see a top layer of fat. The centrifuged product is the source of that fat, which is meant to entice a hungry dog or cat. After the grease is removed in the rendering process, the remaining material is dried. Meat meal, and meat and bone meal are the end product of this process. This dried material is usually found in dry pet food."
Chemical dangers lurk in commercial pet food
Rendering practices aren't just gross; they're also dangerous for your pets. The chemicals used to euthanize zoo animals, dogs and cats can survive the cooking process, which means these chemicals end up in pet food, and ultimately, in your pet. Martin writes, "Euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic because sodium pentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, some veterinarians and animal advocates have known about the potential danger of sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated." In short, that means the poisons designed to kill pets are the same ones being fed to them.
Now that you know pet food manufacturers will seemingly go to any length to fill their foods with the cheapest sources of protein they can find, you probably won't be surprised to find out that the other ingredients in pet foods aren't much better. Cheap grain fillers, cellulose to bulk up the food, preservatives and poorly monitored vitamin and mineral supplements round out the recipe. In Healing Pets with Nature's Miracle Cures, Henry Pasternak writes, "Remember, pet foods are primarily processed, grain-based diets. These foods are 'fortified' with synthetic B vitamins, which can cause a subclinical B vitamin deficiency." Martin mentions in Food Pets Die For that one bag of dog food was overloaded with so much zinc that she had to take her dog to the vet because he became ill. She took the bag of food to an independent lab to verify that the zinc content of the food was 20 times the recommended daily allowance for dogs.
Preservatives in dog and cat foods keep the foods seemingly fresh for long periods of time: "Unfortunately, harmful chemical preservatives and other artificial additives are the norm in most pet foods. Some are intentionally added by the manufacturer, while others come from the herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides used by farmers to boost crop yields," Pasternak writes. While some pet food companies have decided to use less harmful preservatives and natural preservatives, most pet food companies don't find these ingredients to be cost effective.
So what should you do with this information? Many pet owners are discovering there are more natural alternatives to commercial pet food. Natural health food stores usually stock a few varieties of organic or all-natural pet foods. There are other owners who go even further and prepare their pets' foods from real, whole ingredients. Though this might not be for everyone, some owners say it's worth the peace of mind, and it helps them feel closer to their animal companions. Be aware though, that once your pet finds out what real, whole foods take like, they may not want to go back: "I used to feed my cat canned or dry pet food, but now I prepare her food from fresh ingredients. She thrives on raw meat," writes Debra Lynn Dadd in Home Safe Home. "She will eat canned or dry food if it is a natural brand, but if I give her pet food from the supermarket, she paws around it like she's trying to cover up something in her litter box."
The experts speak on pet food processing:
Most veterinarians acquire their only knowledge on pet nutrition in elective classes in veterinary school. These classes may only last a few weeks and are often taught by representatives from pet food companies. Hill's, lams, and Purina are the largest contributors for these courses. In addition, pet food companies even donate food to the vet students for their own companion animals. This practice has become so widespread among pet food companies that the veterinary school at Colorado State University made this an agenda item for an Executive Committee meeting in 2000. "Discussion was held on how to handle dealing with pet food companies and their donations of pet food to the university," according to the Executive - Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 21
Dry food has its advantages. In fact, the dry pet food you buy in the supermarket is manufactured for your convenience as much as Fifi's and Fluffy's health. It's the nibble-at -will, no-can-opening, no-greasy-spoon, no-smelly-bowl, no-budget-busting pet food. It has lower levels of fat than canned meat because the fat seeps through the paper bags (you don't want that greasy bag on your car upholstery or in your kitchen cabinet). Fifi and Fluffy get to eat more for your money, thus getting pleasantly full tummies, while less protein, fat and digestibility keep their figures from becoming unbecomingly porcine.
Everyday Health Tips by Prevention Magazine, page 346
Fats are necessary for good health and disease prevention. Here again, fats should be raw or unrefined—not processed. Meat, fish, eggs, or milk in their natural states are the best sources of fat. The pet food industry prepares some pet foods with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids that are claimed to be effective for treating various inflammatory diseases. However, omega-3 fatty acids are quite sensitive to heat and are destroyed and easily become rancid during processing. Cod liver oil can be added to pet foods. It is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamin A. Proteins
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 77
They don't need "special" diets. Your typical pet will do nicely on typical pet food. "There are a lot of marketing gimmicks in the pet food industry that aren't necessarily in the best interest of the dog," says Dr. Donoghue. It's not always a good idea, for example, to reduce protein in the diet of a healthy old dog.
Everyday Health Tips by Prevention Magazine, page 348
Sodium Pentobarbital:
As I discuss elsewhere, euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic because sodium pentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, some veterinarians and animal advocates have known about the potential danger of sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated. The "Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Panel on Euthanasia," states, "In euthanasia of animals intended for human or animal food, chemical agents that result in tissue residue cannot be used."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 57
Another staple of the Tenderer's diet, in addition to farm animals, is euthanized pets-the six or seven million dogs and cats that are killed in animal shelters every year. The city of Los Angeles alone, for example, sends some two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to a rendering plant every month. Added to the blend are the euthanized catch of animal control agencies, and roadkill. (Roadkill is not collected daily, and in the summer, the better roadkill collection crews can generally smell it before they can see it) When this gruesome mix is ground and steam-cooked, the lighter, fatty material floating to the top gets refined for use in such products as cosmetics, lubricants, soaps, candles, and waxes. The heavier protein material is dried and pulverized into a brown powder—about a quarter of which consists of fecal material. The powder is used as an additive to almost all pet food as well as to livestock feed. Farmers call it "protein concentrates." In 1995, five million tons of processed slaughterhouse leftovers were sold for animal feed in the United States. I used to feed tons of the stuff to my own livestock. It never concerned me that I was feeding cattle to cattle.
Mad Cowboy By Howard F Lyman, page 12
Pet owners are horrified to learn that rendered cats and dogs can be legally recycled back into pet food. At times, this outrage leads consumers to seek change. One case in point is Valley Protein, a rendering company that operates in twenty-two states in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States. In the first edition of Food Pets Die For, I wrote about the Baltimore City Paper reporter Van Smith who described what he observed at the Valley Protein Rendering Plant in 1995. His article was replete with photos of barrels of dead dogs and cats about to be rendered. Smith reported that there are "thousands of dead dogs, cats, raccoons, possums, deer, foxes, snakes, and the rest that local animal shelters and roadkill patrols must dispose of each month." In that same article, Smith observed, "In a gruesomely ironic twist, most inedible dead animal parts, including dead pets, end up in feed used to fatten future generations of their kind."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 147
Pets used in Pet Food:
While researching and writing, there were times that I was absolutely horrified with what I discovered. There were other times when I was extremely frustrated with the run-around I received from government agencies, organizations involved with the pet food industry, the rendering industry, and at times, veterinary research centers. What has kept me going is the hope that pet owners will read my findings and be convinced that their pets' health is directly related to what they eat—and that most commercial pet foods are garbage. The most objectionable source of protein for pet food is euthanized cats and dogs. It is not uncommon for thousands of euthanized dogs and cats to be delivered to rendering plants, daily, and thrown into the rendering vat—collars, I.D. tags, and plastic bags—to become part of this material called "meat meal."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 153
Extensive records had to be kept on the disposition of various animal proteins, and feeds that were now prohibited for cattle had to be clearly labeled as such. There were no new restrictions, however, on what could be fed to poultry, hogs, zoo animals, or pets. Indeed, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the National Food Processors Association, and the pet food Institute successfully lobbied against any new labeling requirement for pet foods. These industry groups rightly worried that the FDA's proposed warning label — "Do not feed to ruminants" — might alarm consumers about what their pets were actually being fed.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, page 275
The current FDA feed rules are primarily concerned with efficiency and utility, not public health. They allow cattle to be fed pigs, pigs to be fed cattle, cattle to be fed poultry, and poultry to be fed cattle. They allow dogs and cats to be fed dogs and cats. Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their pet food, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog and cat food every week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, "but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, page 288 Ingredients in Pet Food:
One of the dirty little secrets kept by the pet food industry is that some by-products also contain substances such as abscesses and cancerous material. In my opinion, feeding slaughterhouse wastes to animals increases their chances of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases. Some meat, especially glandular tissue, may contain high levels of hormones, which may also cause serious health problems including cancer. Unlike bacteria and viruses, these hormones are not destroyed by the high temperatures or pressure cooking used in the manufacture of pet food. Cats seem to be most adversely affected by high hormone levels.
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
PET CARE Many pet foods claim to be " 100% nutritionally complete and balanced." This claim legally can be made and printed on commercial products based on information studies using isolated nutrients and not whole foods, or by feeding the complete pet food to animals for several weeks to determine whether it prevents obvious disease or malnutrition. Although motivated by an interest to assure quality for the consumer, these tests ignore important nutritional issues and give both producer and consumer a false sense of knowledge and security. Measuring a food's merit by levels of isolated nutrients tells only a partial story. There are more than forty known, essential nutrients, and more than fifty other nutrients are under investigation. Thus, making sure a food contains appropriate amounts of only a dozen of these nutrients can't possibly assure that a food is "complete."
Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd, page 413
Harmful components (and ingredients) found in Pet food:
Unfortunately, harmful chemical preservatives and other artificial additives are the norm in most pet foods. Some are intentionally added by the manufacturer, while others come from the herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides used by farmers to boost crop yields. Many pet foods advertised as "preservative-free" do, in fact, contain preservatives. As the law is currently written, manufacturers don't have to list preservatives that they themselves did not add. Many preservatives make their way into pet food at rendering plants before the meat is even sent to the manufacturer. An analysis of several pet foods labeled "chemical free" or "all natural ingredients" found synthetic antioxidants in all samples. With continued use, low levels of these synthetic antioxidants may build up in the tissues; inges-tion of small doses over time may be just as toxic as a single large dose. About 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides, and 30 percent of all insecticides are considered to be cancer causing in and of themselves.6-7
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
Under AAFCO guidelines, acceptable meat by-product can include animal lungs, spleens, kidneys, brains, livers, blood, bones, low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Livers can be infested with worms (liver flukes) or diseased with cirrhosis. Lungs can be filled with pneumonia. If an animal is diseased and declared unfit for human consumption, the carcass is acceptable for pet food. Even parts of animals, such as "stick marks,"—the area of the body where animals have been injected with antibiotics, hormones, or other drugs—are cut from the carcasses intended for human consumption and used for meat by-product for pet food.
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 153
Commission warned that a series of mysterious dog ailments at kennels in Michigan may be the result of fluoride contamination of pet foods. They noticed a high incidence of deformed puppies and pointed out that chronic effects of fluoride poisoning may not be noticeable for a long time.
Fluoride The Aging Factor by John Yiamouyiannis, page 16
After 45 weeks of producing fertile eggs plagued by hunger, debeaking, detoeing, decombing, toxic ammonia, and diseases, these breeder chickens are "liquidated" and turned into human animal "food" and nonhuman animal "feed" and pet food products.
Prisoned Chickens Poisoned Eggs by Karen Davis PhD, page 93
She sees the problem all the time in older canines and felines, "usually those eight years or older." She blames the commercial pet foods and owners' irresponsibility for most of it. "There is just too much sugar in everything. You can't buy a decent brand of [pet] food anymore without there being some kind of sugar in it. An animal's system will rebel just like the human body does when excess sugar is taken into it. The same autoimmune disorder that attacks human pancreatic cells that make insulin destroys the insulin-producing capabilities in our dogs and cats."
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 87
Just as products for kids carry the same dangers as I their adult counterparts, products for pets have the same I hazards as their human counterparts—pet food contains the same carcinogenic pesticide residues, and the pesticides used in flea collars are as toxic as the pesticides used to kill any other insects. And just as babies and children are more susceptible to the effects of toxic exposures than adults, so too are animals more susceptible to the effects of toxic exposures than humans.
Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd, page 341
Slaughterhouses also provide renderers with the leftovers from slaughtered animals not fit for human consumption. Before these animal parts and by-product used for pet food are shipped from the slaughterhouse to the rendering plant, the by-product is "denatured." This means that crude carbolic acid, cresylic disinfectant, or citronella, is sprayed on the product. In the case of a whole beef or swine carcass that has been condemned, the denaturing product is injected into the entire carcass. If meat inspectors condemn only parts of an animal, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that "before an approved denaturing agent is applied, the product must be freely slashed so that pieces are less than 4" in diameter. This allows the denaturant to contact all parts of the product."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 18
Both animal-care professionals weren't at all reticent about vocalizing their strong opinions about this matter. Dr. Tejinder: "There are way too many chemicals in pet food that no one knows the side effects of. And the rancid fat that is used to cook a lot of this food that pets eat only complicates things more." Dr. Stefanatos: "The pesticides, preservatives, and additives in pet food reprogram the organs so their functions behave differently. No one knows the full extent of the problem, but it's there, nevertheless." The Nature of Animal Diabetes
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 88
Mad Cow and Other diseases:
Those of us who are intimately acquainted with what goes into commercial pet foods have no problem discerning where a good majority of liver disorders originate. In their January 1998 newsletter, Love of Animals, Dr. Bob Goldstein and his wife, Susan, featured an interesting article entitled, "The Truth About Canned Dog and Cat Foods." They note that many so-called "naturally preserved" pet foods contain meat by-products that usually come "from diseased cows or sick chickens." "These are terrible foods" they warn their readers. And the fact that they contain chemical preservatives (to keep the high fat content from going rancid) and artificial coloring agents and dyes (for eye appeal of pet owners), not to mention appetite stimulants (salt, sugar, glucose, sucrose, fructose, phosphoric acid) only makes their impact upon the average animal liver that much more deadly.
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 204
Cattle—dead, diseased, dying and disabled (4-D)—can legally be rendered and used in pet foods in the United States and in Canada. Rendering will not eradicate any of the TSEs, including the chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, and roadkill, which can also be rendered for use in pet food. The U.S. government believes it is safe to render diseased cattle for use in pet foods because this practice does not affect humans since we don't eat dogs and cats. But rendering diseased cattle into pet food does potentially endanger our animal companions. This is already happening in Europe. If dogs and cats succumb to a TSE disease, would their owners know the actual cause?
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 100
Although you won't see it on the label, since it is often added at the rendering plant and not by the manufacturer, ethoxyquin (EQ) is used to preserve most dry pet food. First used as a rubber stabilizer, EQ is the most powerful of all preservatives and may be the most toxic. Originally, it was permitted in livestock food. So since pet food is considered animal feed, the use of EQ is also permitted in pet food. The fish industry uses high levels of EQ; factory workers exposed to it exhibited side effects similar to those of agent orange: a dramatic rise in liver or kidney damage, cancerous skin lesions, hair loss, blindness, leukemia, fetal abnormalities, and chronic diarrhea. In animals, EQ has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome; spleen, stomach, and liver cancers; and a host of allergies.
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
In Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats (Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, Inc., 1995), the author, a renowned veterinarian, lists a number of other factors that could expose a family dog or cat to possible carcinogens. "These include," he writes, "… consuming pet foods high in organ meats and meat meal (concentrators of pesticides, and growth hormones used to fatten cattle, which can promote cancer growth) as well as in preservatives and artificial colors known to cause cancer in lab animals."
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 78
The true horrors of pet food revealed: Prepare to be shocked by what goes into dog food and cat food
by Jessica Smith, citizen journalist
If you check the labels on grocery store foods, you've probably already begun to see that the list of ingredients doesn't always tell the whole truth about what's in your food. The same goes for your pets' food. Behind innocent-sounding words like "meat byproducts" and "meat meal" are horrific manufacturing practices that would turn your stomach. The nutritional considerations of pet foods go beyond the sources of meat in them. Pet food manufacturers add dangerous preservatives and vitamin fortifications that actually make your pets' food less healthy.
What mysterious "meat byproducts" really are
Let's start with what usually appears as the protein source and the primary ingredient in pet food: Meat byproducts or meat meal. Both are euphemisms for the parts of animals that wouldn't be considered meat by any smart consumer. The well-known phrase "meat byproducts" is a misnomer since these byproducts contain little, if any, meat. These are the parts of the animal left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. "Chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption," writes Henry Pasternak in Healing Animals with Nature's Cures.
Meat meal can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption. This can include zoo animals, road kill, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled, dying) livestock. Most shockingly, this also can include dogs and cats. That's right, your pets could be cannibals. Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser writes, "Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their pet food, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog and cat food every week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, ''but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."
How roadkill ends up in Fido's food bowl
The process that turns these animals and animal parts into pet food is also disgusting. After all, it takes a lot to turn roadkill into something owners feel good about pouring into their pets' bowls. Ann M. Martin describes the process in Food Pets Die For: "At the rendering plant a machine slowly grinds the entire mess in huge vats. Then this product is cooked at temperatures between 220 degrees Fahrenheit and 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to one hour. The mixture is centrifuged (spun at a high speed) and the grease (or tallow) rises to the top and it is removed from the mixture. The grease becomes the source of animal fat in most pet foods. Oftentimes, when you open a standard can of dog food, you will see a top layer of fat. The centrifuged product is the source of that fat, which is meant to entice a hungry dog or cat. After the grease is removed in the rendering process, the remaining material is dried. Meat meal, and meat and bone meal are the end product of this process. This dried material is usually found in dry pet food."
Chemical dangers lurk in commercial pet food
Rendering practices aren't just gross; they're also dangerous for your pets. The chemicals used to euthanize zoo animals, dogs and cats can survive the cooking process, which means these chemicals end up in pet food, and ultimately, in your pet. Martin writes, "Euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic because sodium pentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, some veterinarians and animal advocates have known about the potential danger of sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated." In short, that means the poisons designed to kill pets are the same ones being fed to them.
Now that you know pet food manufacturers will seemingly go to any length to fill their foods with the cheapest sources of protein they can find, you probably won't be surprised to find out that the other ingredients in pet foods aren't much better. Cheap grain fillers, cellulose to bulk up the food, preservatives and poorly monitored vitamin and mineral supplements round out the recipe. In Healing Pets with Nature's Miracle Cures, Henry Pasternak writes, "Remember, pet foods are primarily processed, grain-based diets. These foods are 'fortified' with synthetic B vitamins, which can cause a subclinical B vitamin deficiency." Martin mentions in Food Pets Die For that one bag of dog food was overloaded with so much zinc that she had to take her dog to the vet because he became ill. She took the bag of food to an independent lab to verify that the zinc content of the food was 20 times the recommended daily allowance for dogs.
Preservatives in dog and cat foods keep the foods seemingly fresh for long periods of time: "Unfortunately, harmful chemical preservatives and other artificial additives are the norm in most pet foods. Some are intentionally added by the manufacturer, while others come from the herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides used by farmers to boost crop yields," Pasternak writes. While some pet food companies have decided to use less harmful preservatives and natural preservatives, most pet food companies don't find these ingredients to be cost effective.
So what should you do with this information? Many pet owners are discovering there are more natural alternatives to commercial pet food. Natural health food stores usually stock a few varieties of organic or all-natural pet foods. There are other owners who go even further and prepare their pets' foods from real, whole ingredients. Though this might not be for everyone, some owners say it's worth the peace of mind, and it helps them feel closer to their animal companions. Be aware though, that once your pet finds out what real, whole foods take like, they may not want to go back: "I used to feed my cat canned or dry pet food, but now I prepare her food from fresh ingredients. She thrives on raw meat," writes Debra Lynn Dadd in Home Safe Home. "She will eat canned or dry food if it is a natural brand, but if I give her pet food from the supermarket, she paws around it like she's trying to cover up something in her litter box."
The experts speak on pet food processing:
Most veterinarians acquire their only knowledge on pet nutrition in elective classes in veterinary school. These classes may only last a few weeks and are often taught by representatives from pet food companies. Hill's, lams, and Purina are the largest contributors for these courses. In addition, pet food companies even donate food to the vet students for their own companion animals. This practice has become so widespread among pet food companies that the veterinary school at Colorado State University made this an agenda item for an Executive Committee meeting in 2000. "Discussion was held on how to handle dealing with pet food companies and their donations of pet food to the university," according to the Executive - Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 21
Dry food has its advantages. In fact, the dry pet food you buy in the supermarket is manufactured for your convenience as much as Fifi's and Fluffy's health. It's the nibble-at -will, no-can-opening, no-greasy-spoon, no-smelly-bowl, no-budget-busting pet food. It has lower levels of fat than canned meat because the fat seeps through the paper bags (you don't want that greasy bag on your car upholstery or in your kitchen cabinet). Fifi and Fluffy get to eat more for your money, thus getting pleasantly full tummies, while less protein, fat and digestibility keep their figures from becoming unbecomingly porcine.
Everyday Health Tips by Prevention Magazine, page 346
Fats are necessary for good health and disease prevention. Here again, fats should be raw or unrefined—not processed. Meat, fish, eggs, or milk in their natural states are the best sources of fat. The pet food industry prepares some pet foods with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids that are claimed to be effective for treating various inflammatory diseases. However, omega-3 fatty acids are quite sensitive to heat and are destroyed and easily become rancid during processing. Cod liver oil can be added to pet foods. It is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamin A. Proteins
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 77
They don't need "special" diets. Your typical pet will do nicely on typical pet food. "There are a lot of marketing gimmicks in the pet food industry that aren't necessarily in the best interest of the dog," says Dr. Donoghue. It's not always a good idea, for example, to reduce protein in the diet of a healthy old dog.
Everyday Health Tips by Prevention Magazine, page 348
Sodium Pentobarbital:
As I discuss elsewhere, euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic because sodium pentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, some veterinarians and animal advocates have known about the potential danger of sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated. The "Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Panel on Euthanasia," states, "In euthanasia of animals intended for human or animal food, chemical agents that result in tissue residue cannot be used."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 57
Another staple of the Tenderer's diet, in addition to farm animals, is euthanized pets-the six or seven million dogs and cats that are killed in animal shelters every year. The city of Los Angeles alone, for example, sends some two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to a rendering plant every month. Added to the blend are the euthanized catch of animal control agencies, and roadkill. (Roadkill is not collected daily, and in the summer, the better roadkill collection crews can generally smell it before they can see it) When this gruesome mix is ground and steam-cooked, the lighter, fatty material floating to the top gets refined for use in such products as cosmetics, lubricants, soaps, candles, and waxes. The heavier protein material is dried and pulverized into a brown powder—about a quarter of which consists of fecal material. The powder is used as an additive to almost all pet food as well as to livestock feed. Farmers call it "protein concentrates." In 1995, five million tons of processed slaughterhouse leftovers were sold for animal feed in the United States. I used to feed tons of the stuff to my own livestock. It never concerned me that I was feeding cattle to cattle.
Mad Cowboy By Howard F Lyman, page 12
Pet owners are horrified to learn that rendered cats and dogs can be legally recycled back into pet food. At times, this outrage leads consumers to seek change. One case in point is Valley Protein, a rendering company that operates in twenty-two states in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the United States. In the first edition of Food Pets Die For, I wrote about the Baltimore City Paper reporter Van Smith who described what he observed at the Valley Protein Rendering Plant in 1995. His article was replete with photos of barrels of dead dogs and cats about to be rendered. Smith reported that there are "thousands of dead dogs, cats, raccoons, possums, deer, foxes, snakes, and the rest that local animal shelters and roadkill patrols must dispose of each month." In that same article, Smith observed, "In a gruesomely ironic twist, most inedible dead animal parts, including dead pets, end up in feed used to fatten future generations of their kind."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 147
Pets used in Pet Food:
While researching and writing, there were times that I was absolutely horrified with what I discovered. There were other times when I was extremely frustrated with the run-around I received from government agencies, organizations involved with the pet food industry, the rendering industry, and at times, veterinary research centers. What has kept me going is the hope that pet owners will read my findings and be convinced that their pets' health is directly related to what they eat—and that most commercial pet foods are garbage. The most objectionable source of protein for pet food is euthanized cats and dogs. It is not uncommon for thousands of euthanized dogs and cats to be delivered to rendering plants, daily, and thrown into the rendering vat—collars, I.D. tags, and plastic bags—to become part of this material called "meat meal."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 153
Extensive records had to be kept on the disposition of various animal proteins, and feeds that were now prohibited for cattle had to be clearly labeled as such. There were no new restrictions, however, on what could be fed to poultry, hogs, zoo animals, or pets. Indeed, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the National Food Processors Association, and the pet food Institute successfully lobbied against any new labeling requirement for pet foods. These industry groups rightly worried that the FDA's proposed warning label — "Do not feed to ruminants" — might alarm consumers about what their pets were actually being fed.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, page 275
The current FDA feed rules are primarily concerned with efficiency and utility, not public health. They allow cattle to be fed pigs, pigs to be fed cattle, cattle to be fed poultry, and poultry to be fed cattle. They allow dogs and cats to be fed dogs and cats. Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their pet food, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog and cat food every week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, "but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, page 288 Ingredients in Pet Food:
One of the dirty little secrets kept by the pet food industry is that some by-products also contain substances such as abscesses and cancerous material. In my opinion, feeding slaughterhouse wastes to animals increases their chances of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases. Some meat, especially glandular tissue, may contain high levels of hormones, which may also cause serious health problems including cancer. Unlike bacteria and viruses, these hormones are not destroyed by the high temperatures or pressure cooking used in the manufacture of pet food. Cats seem to be most adversely affected by high hormone levels.
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
PET CARE Many pet foods claim to be " 100% nutritionally complete and balanced." This claim legally can be made and printed on commercial products based on information studies using isolated nutrients and not whole foods, or by feeding the complete pet food to animals for several weeks to determine whether it prevents obvious disease or malnutrition. Although motivated by an interest to assure quality for the consumer, these tests ignore important nutritional issues and give both producer and consumer a false sense of knowledge and security. Measuring a food's merit by levels of isolated nutrients tells only a partial story. There are more than forty known, essential nutrients, and more than fifty other nutrients are under investigation. Thus, making sure a food contains appropriate amounts of only a dozen of these nutrients can't possibly assure that a food is "complete."
Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd, page 413
Harmful components (and ingredients) found in Pet food:
Unfortunately, harmful chemical preservatives and other artificial additives are the norm in most pet foods. Some are intentionally added by the manufacturer, while others come from the herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides used by farmers to boost crop yields. Many pet foods advertised as "preservative-free" do, in fact, contain preservatives. As the law is currently written, manufacturers don't have to list preservatives that they themselves did not add. Many preservatives make their way into pet food at rendering plants before the meat is even sent to the manufacturer. An analysis of several pet foods labeled "chemical free" or "all natural ingredients" found synthetic antioxidants in all samples. With continued use, low levels of these synthetic antioxidants may build up in the tissues; inges-tion of small doses over time may be just as toxic as a single large dose. About 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides, and 30 percent of all insecticides are considered to be cancer causing in and of themselves.6-7
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
Under AAFCO guidelines, acceptable meat by-product can include animal lungs, spleens, kidneys, brains, livers, blood, bones, low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Livers can be infested with worms (liver flukes) or diseased with cirrhosis. Lungs can be filled with pneumonia. If an animal is diseased and declared unfit for human consumption, the carcass is acceptable for pet food. Even parts of animals, such as "stick marks,"—the area of the body where animals have been injected with antibiotics, hormones, or other drugs—are cut from the carcasses intended for human consumption and used for meat by-product for pet food.
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 153
Commission warned that a series of mysterious dog ailments at kennels in Michigan may be the result of fluoride contamination of pet foods. They noticed a high incidence of deformed puppies and pointed out that chronic effects of fluoride poisoning may not be noticeable for a long time.
Fluoride The Aging Factor by John Yiamouyiannis, page 16
After 45 weeks of producing fertile eggs plagued by hunger, debeaking, detoeing, decombing, toxic ammonia, and diseases, these breeder chickens are "liquidated" and turned into human animal "food" and nonhuman animal "feed" and pet food products.
Prisoned Chickens Poisoned Eggs by Karen Davis PhD, page 93
She sees the problem all the time in older canines and felines, "usually those eight years or older." She blames the commercial pet foods and owners' irresponsibility for most of it. "There is just too much sugar in everything. You can't buy a decent brand of [pet] food anymore without there being some kind of sugar in it. An animal's system will rebel just like the human body does when excess sugar is taken into it. The same autoimmune disorder that attacks human pancreatic cells that make insulin destroys the insulin-producing capabilities in our dogs and cats."
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 87
Just as products for kids carry the same dangers as I their adult counterparts, products for pets have the same I hazards as their human counterparts—pet food contains the same carcinogenic pesticide residues, and the pesticides used in flea collars are as toxic as the pesticides used to kill any other insects. And just as babies and children are more susceptible to the effects of toxic exposures than adults, so too are animals more susceptible to the effects of toxic exposures than humans.
Home Safe Home by Debra Lynn Dadd, page 341
Slaughterhouses also provide renderers with the leftovers from slaughtered animals not fit for human consumption. Before these animal parts and by-product used for pet food are shipped from the slaughterhouse to the rendering plant, the by-product is "denatured." This means that crude carbolic acid, cresylic disinfectant, or citronella, is sprayed on the product. In the case of a whole beef or swine carcass that has been condemned, the denaturing product is injected into the entire carcass. If meat inspectors condemn only parts of an animal, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires that "before an approved denaturing agent is applied, the product must be freely slashed so that pieces are less than 4" in diameter. This allows the denaturant to contact all parts of the product."
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 18
Both animal-care professionals weren't at all reticent about vocalizing their strong opinions about this matter. Dr. Tejinder: "There are way too many chemicals in pet food that no one knows the side effects of. And the rancid fat that is used to cook a lot of this food that pets eat only complicates things more." Dr. Stefanatos: "The pesticides, preservatives, and additives in pet food reprogram the organs so their functions behave differently. No one knows the full extent of the problem, but it's there, nevertheless." The Nature of Animal Diabetes
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 88
Mad Cow and Other diseases:
Those of us who are intimately acquainted with what goes into commercial pet foods have no problem discerning where a good majority of liver disorders originate. In their January 1998 newsletter, Love of Animals, Dr. Bob Goldstein and his wife, Susan, featured an interesting article entitled, "The Truth About Canned Dog and Cat Foods." They note that many so-called "naturally preserved" pet foods contain meat by-products that usually come "from diseased cows or sick chickens." "These are terrible foods" they warn their readers. And the fact that they contain chemical preservatives (to keep the high fat content from going rancid) and artificial coloring agents and dyes (for eye appeal of pet owners), not to mention appetite stimulants (salt, sugar, glucose, sucrose, fructose, phosphoric acid) only makes their impact upon the average animal liver that much more deadly.
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 204
Cattle—dead, diseased, dying and disabled (4-D)—can legally be rendered and used in pet foods in the United States and in Canada. Rendering will not eradicate any of the TSEs, including the chronic wasting disease in deer, elk, and roadkill, which can also be rendered for use in pet food. The U.S. government believes it is safe to render diseased cattle for use in pet foods because this practice does not affect humans since we don't eat dogs and cats. But rendering diseased cattle into pet food does potentially endanger our animal companions. This is already happening in Europe. If dogs and cats succumb to a TSE disease, would their owners know the actual cause?
Food Pets Die For by Ann N Martin, page 100
Although you won't see it on the label, since it is often added at the rendering plant and not by the manufacturer, ethoxyquin (EQ) is used to preserve most dry pet food. First used as a rubber stabilizer, EQ is the most powerful of all preservatives and may be the most toxic. Originally, it was permitted in livestock food. So since pet food is considered animal feed, the use of EQ is also permitted in pet food. The fish industry uses high levels of EQ; factory workers exposed to it exhibited side effects similar to those of agent orange: a dramatic rise in liver or kidney damage, cancerous skin lesions, hair loss, blindness, leukemia, fetal abnormalities, and chronic diarrhea. In animals, EQ has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome; spleen, stomach, and liver cancers; and a host of allergies.
Healing Pets With Nature's Miracle Cures By Henry Pasternak DVM CVA, page 11
In Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats (Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, Inc., 1995), the author, a renowned veterinarian, lists a number of other factors that could expose a family dog or cat to possible carcinogens. "These include," he writes, "… consuming pet foods high in organ meats and meat meal (concentrators of pesticides, and growth hormones used to fatten cattle, which can promote cancer growth) as well as in preservatives and artificial colors known to cause cancer in lab animals."
Natural Pet Cures by Dr John Heinerman, page 78
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