That's such an overused argument for higher priced feeds ... not true though. I have paid top dollar for high kcal feeds that went straight through the dogs (referring to brands like Timberwolf, Back To Basics, Wellness CORE) AND caused their share of problems. I feed a moderately active 65lb mutt 2 cups of Dog Chow and my largest, most active 15" 28 lb Beagle eats roughly 1 2/3 - 1 1/2 cups daily during hare hunting season. That's not a lot of food when you consider I run them 2-3x weekly for about 3-4hr stretches at a time. I had the fattest, healthiest pups on Puppy Chow! They were really in perfect weight, muscle tone, great coats. Then I switched them to Wellness pup for a while and had some stunted growth issues and VERY horrendous gas/foul smelling mushy stools plus bouts of colitis
Once off the Wellness, they started growing again, stools are firm, coats are nice and thick. Just had my 5yo male who had hypoglycemia problems on CORE win first prize at a recent show - on Purina
Can't be all that bad if a dog can get as bad as he did from the hypoglycemic episode then bounce back on Vet prescribed food (SD, lol) then Purina ... But what do I know? Just have 12 dogs thriving on the stuff.
HAHA I am sure you had fat pups on puppy chow!! That like feeding Mc Donalds every day.
Interestingly starving wolves and feral dogs don't go into farmers fields and eat grain. If feeding your dogs a diet that is as low protien as to what I feed my herbivours (horses) and almost as much grain sounds good to you.. have at it.
Yes all foods can cause issues with some dogs. BUT IME people tend to feed a food for a week or two and then say its good or bad. Yet often I dont' see the 'real' result for a month or two. Detox is a bitch! I switch all my fosters over to raw. It can suck for a a few weeks, but then they start to look much better than when they came.
Purina has tested positive by an independent lab for pentobarbital.
pentobarbital in dog food
Now this was a one time test.. it would be interesting to have long term tests.. I bet there would be more show up in these cheap foods.
Now why do you care?
Well that means that animals that are euthanized with it are getting into your dog food. That means PETS. Animals slaughtered for consumption of humans such as cows and chickens and pigs are not killed with pentobarbital. Well possibly a cow if it was very sick.. but do you want to be feeding the carcass of a very sick cow to your dogs?
That brings into light 4D meats. One reason purina is so cheap (other than all the floor sweepings-LITTERALLY of graneries) is that they use 4D meats. 4D stands for Downed, Dying, Diseased or Dead (vs slaughtered) soo the meat that DOES go into the food ALL came from sick animals. YUM!
Now on to rendered stuff. If you are feeding your dog a food that is not human grade this will take a strong stomach.
Stick marks (where animals have gotten injections) are cut out around and tossed in the rendering pile. (so any residue chemicals and drugs go in.. its not safe for people) Now to make sure meat that is not fit for human consumption doesn't got back into the human food chain it is coated with crude carbolic acid, fuel oil, or citronella or a chemical known as Birkolene B (which is a trade secret so we have no idea what is in it).
So if your ingredient list lists beef tallow.. it is sickly nasty (mostly beef) parts (plus pets which is legal) that has been coated in chemicals and then is cooked to release the fats. Many of these chemicals are NOT broken down by the heating process.
So if you are still happy feeding this to your dogs read on...
Pet Food Industry magazine states that a pet food manufacturer might reject rendered material for various reasons, including the presence of foreign material (metals, hair, plastic, rubber, glass), off odor, excessive feathers, hair or hog bristles, bone chunks, mold, chemical analysis out of specification, added blood, leather, or calcium carbonate, heavy metals, pesticide contamination, improper grind or bulk density, and insect infestation.
Please note that this article states that the manufacturer might reject this material, not that it does reject this material.
sounds safe!
And with all the food recalls we know we can trust their manufacturing and food safety!
Yes dogs can survive on cheap foods. But at what cost in the long run? I know people who eat fast food every other meal and have glowing skin and great figures.. but what happens when they are fifty? Would you suggest upon seeing these people that we should recommend fast foods? What if when we switched them to a healthier diet they were unused to and they had stomach cramps, felt ill, diarrhoea etc? Would you tell them to switch back to fast food so the symptoms would go away. Or would you tell them to persevere and maybe try other healthy foods?
Is the cancer and other health risks, shorter life and such worth the ease of not finding a non chemical soup made from diseased animals to feed your dog?
Just wondering.
