m@rek

This might be shocking to some of you, as it was shocking to me.

Important fact! Remember this, no mater what people will say! Pet Food is not regulated in Canada and US, there are only some guidelines of “allowed/forbidden” content.

Important fact! Remember this, no mater what people will say! Definitions of labeled ingredients for pet food very. Ex. “meat”, “grain”, “vegetable” ….it would not necessarily be what you have in mind.

You have to do a little research on your own (use as many sources as you can). To get you started, do a search on: “pet food rendering” and read about it.
But be objective! There are “smaller” companies that produce quality pet food too.

This site caught my attention: (Food Pets Die For; a Book Excerpt )

I got angry, and sad at the same time .. that I didn’t know about it sooner. I have learned about this, one day after we lost the battle to bone cancer (13 Dec 2008). “Zorro” was 7.5 yro.

Please research, and spread this information to as many people as you can, if “big” companies loose their revenue, government will loose their taxes, maybe they will change things around. As for now it is convenient for both (disposal/profit).

Alternative:
Ask your local Butcher Shop (not the big supermarket, as they would probably not carry it .. but you may try) .. and talk to them, that you are looking for meat for your dog/cat.

When my dog got diagnosed (3 months ago) with the disease we have “instinctively” changed the food. I was getting, from a local store (Toronto, ON) “meat cut-offs” (veal, beef), something that they use for burgers, ground meets etc. for a $1.00 a pound.

Good Luck.

P.S. I used to live in Europe some time ago where the dry food for dogs was not popular and not that readily available as today; I remember dogs living for as long as 19 years and longer and dieing actually of old age not any desease! and they ate whatever their owners ate at home - home cooked meals. It was really rare to see or hear of a dog with cancer. Do you know any dogs (healthy dogs) of that age here nowadays? I don't. To me it's pretty obvious that the dog food is to blame for our dogs' shorter longevity due to acquired illnesses. Had I had this knowledge before - my dog Zorro would have been on a home cooked diet from the very beginning.

Benpaws

I completely agree with you that the dry food given to dogs is the underlying cause of so many of these illnesses. When I was young we had a poodle and my dad cooked extra lean stewing beef, free-range chicken and scrambled eggs etc. Perky was healthy and lived a long time.
Thank you so much for posting this valuable information. We indeed think that Benny got his Mast Cell cancer from the dry dog food and we completely changed his diet and he is enjoying freshly steamed vegetables, a muffin filled with antioxidants such as blueberries, cranberries etc. We purchase this from Canine Life through our local Bark & Fitz. I wish I had done this from the beginning. He is only 6.5.
Thanks again. Sorry for your very recent loss of Zorro. He was far too young to die. My prayers go out to you.

Joanne (Benpaws)

rustywhite and Daisey

I have been trying to tell all my animal loving friends this same info for the last 5 years and they all look at me like I am crazy.
When people finally figure out that everything is economically motivated and the government, all it's subsidiaries, all commercial manufacturers, etc., do not care one iota about the consumers welfare, we will see a decline in the cancer rate among animals...and people too.
After the death of my girl Daisey, we started going to the local butcher shop (Wilkes Meats here in Atlanta) and he had a special 40 lb. box of local chicken that had been "debreasted". It is the entire chicken body minus the legs, head, innards and feathers. It is clean and frozen and it is the perfect "prey" food for dogs. Ours love it. We also got some turkey legs, large pork ribs and some small babyback ribs for variety. We get a frozen pak of large sardines from Whole Foods and our dogs are doing great. To hear them crunch and crack those bones is amazing. Another myth shattered..."You shouldn't give your dog chicken bones"...hahahah...That's EXACTLY what you SHOULD be giving them. We don't give them ANY beef because of the GM and hormone injection pandemic that is so rampant in our society.
I have been to the feedlots in West Texas and some of the slaughter houses due to being in the cattle industry years and years ago. It is not a pretty site. If we could make all children go see those same sites, they would never eat a McDonalds burger again.
The only way to make a change is to start with yourself.

Great onfo and great link to article about Dog Food. I will be firing a copy to all my addresses and tell them to go viral!!!

seeya,

rusty

Benpaws

API: What's Really in Pet Food

You might be interested in what the above link has to say about Dog Food!

Joanne

jeffers

i only recently found out about the devastating way that pet food is made so my old girl hasnt really had the full benefit of it. she has improved but i would say to anyone GIVE A RAW DIET. theres loads of info available. and im with you on this because if i'd known..... my cass would have been on it from the start

poorSugar

I know what you say is true! I was amazed at what is actually in dry dog food and unfortunately it took my dog having cancer for me to start the research on everything I could. I am now making my own dog food in hopes that it will help my other dogs in the long run as well as Sugar who is dying from Lymphoma. I was amazed that there can actually be dogs in dog food , anyone can check out dog-food and a certain amount of pound dogs can be put in dog food. I can relate to your anger and sadness to this as I was shocked and I felt guilty for giving my animals this garbage sold at most stores! God I hope people everywhere who own dogs boycott these dog food manufacturers and consider alteratives for their loved pets. Thank-you for posting this.

Kumaquattro

EVERYBODY....... you must read:

M@rek's post "Foods pets die for"

and

Benpaws "What's really in pet food"

Every dog that have I owned, I have learned new things, this time it's about nutrition. I just recently lost my beloved Akita to cancer, and my next dog will never be fed food out of a can or sack !!! While researching ways to keep my dog alive, I spoke to a vet cancer specialist that told me his 2 dogs have never eaten commercial dog food, they eat what he eats, and they are very healthy. I believe feeding our pets human grade quality food will make a major difference in their health and lives. All these pet food companies care NOTHING about your pets, do you know what they really only care about?...... MONEY !!!!!

Everyone needs to educate themselves on how to read the ingredients label, then you'll see how horrible commercial pet food really is.