Expert: Ali - 6/9/2009

Question
This is my first cat, Joey, neutered 7 yr old 20 lb. Maine Coon X, (awesome, very smart and sociable cat). He used to be indoor/outdoor but due to his getting into trouble (eating rats, birds, cat fights, etc) so has been an indoor cat for over a year. Always uses litter box. He is very vocal and makes yowling noises sometime before using litter box. Yesterday a hallway rug was flipped over a bit, thought the dogs did it. Upon flipping over, found cat poop - long (several inches) and when picking up noticed it was dry and hard. Poor kitty.
Was he trying to tell me something? He eats only Blue Adult chicken dry cat food. Does not like wet food. Used to feed him tuna (not for over a year though) so I gave him some tuna and he seems better. Must cats have wet food or tuna? What can I give him to relive the dryness? Tuna can't be good for him all the time but he is now yelling for it. Any help appreciated for a first time cat person.

Answer
Mary,

I am a firm believer that good nutrition plays a significant role in terms of ensuring longer, healthier lives for our cats. Many commercially available cat foods actually contain ingredients that cats aren't designed to digest and convert into useable energy. For tens of thousands (and likely much longer) all cats have evolved and survived on a diet largely made up of meat. For domestic cats their prey is often small mammals and birds and I really think it's best to try and stick as close to nature as possible when it comes to feeding nutritious, species appropriate food to our cats.

I suspect that your little man is trying to tell you that he's constipated. I'm sure that between us we can find a way to help Joey feel much better. Constipation is often related to improper diet or dehydration - both of these issues can cause some awfully serious health problems for cats. I routinely refer pet parents to a web site set up by a veterinarian wanting to educate kitty caregivers about the unique nutritional needs of their feline friends as well as the serious health problems that can arise when a cat's nutritional requirements aren't properly met over a significant amount of time, www.catinfo.org is a good starting place for pet parents looking to educate themselves and provide the best possible diet for their much loved feline companion. My middle cat sometimes gets constipated, it doesn’t seem to matter what he’s eating. We’ve found that there are a few inexpensive, effective ways to help him get things moving again - 1-2 tablespoons of pure canned pumpkin per day, a small serving of cow’s milk (1-2 teaspoons twice daily, this works because most cats are lactose intolerant and drinking milk normally cause diarrea - in a cat with constipation it simply gets things moving again), access to a pot of cat grass or catnip (other favorites in our household include allowing the cat to eat several fresh, organic baby spinach leaves or other greens as often as the cat wants and as much as he would like each time) he can chew on at will and some commercially available hairball remedies work (if your cat doesn’t like them you can try 1-2 teaspoons of butter/margarine, but you have to account for that by reducing his daily rations to avoid unwanted weight gain).

In order to help you understand how my experiences have contributed to my comfort level with most commercially produced pet foods and my concerns about the legislation in place for pet food manufacturers to follow I have to tell you a bit about how recent events have changed my overall view of how safe pet foods are or aren't. My eldest cat, MC almost lost her life during the massive scale Menu Foods pet food recalls as a direct result of eating what I believed to be a high quality, safe food that ended up being tainted with melamine. MC became desperately sick in a 2-3 day period and we rushed her to the 24 hour emergency vet clinic at 2 am early on her 3rd day of vomiting and just not acting like herself.

We were stunned by MC's diagnosis after the initial blood test results came back - my little girl had severe acute renal failure, the emergency vet said that kidney failure wasn't uncommon in middle aged cats. MC was only 8 years old and we were told that in all likelihood we'd have to euthanize my little girl within the next few days, shortly after that the news about the Menu Foods pet food recall hit the news. We opted out of a $1700 vet bill for 4-5 hours of observation and fluids at the emergency vet clinic, instead we called my vet's answering service as soon as they were willing to page her at home.

When our vet called back and we brought her up to speed regarding MC's condition, the blood results and the prognosis we were given at the emergency vet she recommended that we bring our baby girl into the clinic to start treatment and see if her kidneys would recover with some supportive care. Our family vet is a holistic veterinarian who uses homeopathy along with conventional medicine (or instead of a pharmaceutical approach depending on what's appropriate in any given case). MC was immediately placed on IV fluids and they didn't want her eating at all for a day or two until she'd gone without vomiting for a day or so. I'm convinced that the combination of IV fluids, several homeopathic remedies, the TLC our vet and her staff provided during her hospitalization and the fact that I went to visit MC all played important roles in her recovery and ultimately her long term survival.

The Menu Foods recall happened because an ingredient imported from China was tainted with melamine. Thousands of cats and dogs died as a direct result of eating tainted food, many more require ongoing home nursing care as well as regular blood tests to monitor their kidney function. I have yet to hear about a cat as lucky as MC was, her kidneys were in awful shape and her health declined in such a short period of time that it took us by surprise, however as of earlier this month my little girl had a blood test to monitor her kidney values and we've almost successfully weaned her off of her fluids. As far as I know, no other pet has been so lucky and managed to heal after the incredible toxic insult to their kidneys. If you'd like to hear about the latest news regarding the Menu Foods recall you may want to check out defendourpets.org - the site was created by a concerned citizen as a means of getting petitions out there and helping to raise awareness about the Menu Foods disaster and how that's affected thousands, if not tens of thousands of pets throughout North America.

MC's recovery is truly miraculous, unlike many other pets affected by tainted food she doesn't have to eat an expensive prescription diet, in fact she doesn't require any kind of special diet, however I'm far less comfortable with the idea of feeding most pet foods available on the shelves of pet supply stores so my cats now eat a combination of a well balanced homemade raw diet and one of two commercially produced, high quality, holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients. These foods have never been recalled which helps me to feel more confident recommending them to other pet parents. Since my baby girl was lucky enough to survive her run in with unsafe commercially prepared foods I've really lost a significant amount of faith in the pet food industry, my precious girl was very fortunate - although her condition was very serious after her initial diagnosis she's somehow managed to use hybrid vigour to her advantage and essentially heal completely, in fact she purrs all the time now and she's happier now than she's been in quite awhile.

In my opinion the massive Menu Foods recall of 2007 was a disaster waiting to happen and without significant, meaningful changes to the regulations in the pet food industry I have no doubt that another disaster of this scale or worse is in our future. Before the Menu Foods recall I was feeding my cats a well known (and supposedly high quality) cat food that many veterinarians were recommending, I really believed that cost was an indication of the quality of ingredients that went into my cats’ food. Then my whole view changed within a short period after my eldest cat was diagnosed with severe acute renal failure and I was told that I’d likely have to euthanize her because the chances that she’d survive and become my healthy, happy girl again were low. I learned the hard way that paying premium prices didn‘t necessarily indicate premium quality. I thought I‘d done my best to protect the safety of my cats by going with well known, high quality foods recommended by veterinarians and taking the time to call companies, speak with representatives and ask any questions that I had. If I wasn’t satisfied with the answers I wouldn’t feed that particular brand of food.

Like many pet parents I never once thought that the actual safety of the food was something that I had to worry about as a pet parent provided that I fed high quality foods - I was wrong and it almost cost my oldest cat her life. Fortunately my little girl beat the odds and no longer requires supportive nursing care or a special prescription diet, but she came about as close as she could have to dying without actually doing so.
In hindsight I thought it was odd that so many major companies claimed to use only human grade ingredients in their manufacturing process. Many pet parents look to their veterinarians to recommend high quality diets for their pets without realizing that the amount of training vets receive about nutrition is negligible at best. After the Menu Foods recall I lost all faith in the pet food industry, I felt betrayed by their obvious lack of accountability when products were tainted, their slow response to remove poisoned food from retail shelves and ultimately their insistence that this was an isolated event. I decided to do my own research and find out whatever I could to make sure that my cats were not going to be put in harm’s way because of my lack of information. My aim when a concerned pet parent asks about the nutritional needs of their cat or kitten is to provide pet parents with information I didn’t have so that they can reduce their pet’s risk of becoming seriously ill or dying as a direct result of inadequate, species inappropriate, poor quality or even dangerous diets.

One major myth is that pet food manufacturers use human grade ingredients - this isn’t normally the case, pet food companies use the term ‘human grade‘ to refer to parts of food animals that would be discarded if they weren‘t used in pet foods. Unfortunately the pet food industry doesn‘t stop there when it comes to misleading the average pet guardian - I‘ve included an eye opening, somewhat disturbing article at the end of this answer that I hope will give you some information to help decode the terms routinely used on pet food labels. Many pet food companies provide their products to veterinarians free or at a nominal cost, in return the vet recommends feeding the pet food manufacturer’s products and often sells them at a substantial profit. In some cases pet food companies pay veterinarians a tidy sum if they promote and recommend their products within the clinic. Because of the fact that vets have minimal training in nutrition, they often receive some sort of compensation for recommending pet foods and lastly a vet makes money if my pet gets sick I’m not at all comfortable with feeding foods simply because they’re advertised or recommended in a vet clinic. Although the pet food industry claims that it’s tightly regulated I think that the 2007 recall clearly shows evidence that suggests a serious lack of accountability to consumers. After the massive recall of pet foods ranging from supposedly premium pet store generics like Authority, Performatrin,  and Blue Buffalo to well known brands available in pet supply stores such as Eukanuba, Evolve, Hartz, Natural Balance, Nutro, Royal Canin prescription diets like Medi Cal, and certain formulas of Hill’s Science Diet as well as less expensive (and supposedly lower quality) pet foods available in grocery stores such as Iams, Lick Your Chops, Master Choice, Pounce, President’s Choice, Price Chopper, Sophisticat, Special Kitty, Triumph, Western Family, Winn Dixie and many more pet food brands the reason for the recall became public - an ingredient imported from China had somehow become tainted with melamine. According to information on a website (defendourpets.org) launched to advocate for changes to the pet food industry in an attempt to ensure that commercially produced pet foods are safe for our pets the ingredient imported from China and included in most pet food brands was deliberately laced with melamine in an attempt to get more profit for less product....If this is the case then the pet food industry should be ashamed of itself, this is a clear indication that profit comes before quality and safety in the pet food industry which isn't acceptable in my mind.

Tainted pet foods caused the deaths of thousands of pets (some figures suggest tens of thousands or more because the food had been tainted for awhile before being discovered). For pets who have managed to survive maintaining their health now requires ongoing support at home in the form of injections of subcutaneous fluids daily and prescription diets. In my opinion this pet food recall illustrated the lack of  real safety standards or regulations with regards to the quality, safety and health benefits going into the pet food we serve our much loved pets. The pet food industry is one of very few industries that regulates themselves - in my opinion that’s somewhat equivalent to asking a cat to watch a free roaming mouse for a few minutes while you clean their cage - largely useless and quite dangerous. I still live with the guilt that I didn’t do more to find out how safe the pet food I fed my cats really was. MC ate tainted food that caused her kidneys to fail quite dramatically, she endured being hospitalized, force fed, daily injections of fluids to support her kidneys and the reality is that eating tainted food almost cost my cat her life - that's just not okay with me on any level. I want to prevent anyone else from experiencing the anxiety, anguish, fear and uncertainty of wondering if they could have done something to prevent a serious issue like renal failure as well as the guilt that goes along with that whole experience.

In my experience most pet parents are amazed at how much change they see in their cats when they feed their cat with his/her nutritional needs in mind. I would recommend that you consider checking out this website, it's one my vet recommended to me after the Menu Foods recall - the address is catinfo.org. This web site was launched by a veterinarian who wants to educate pet parents about the nutritional requirements of cats and how best to meet your cat's needs, this vet also has information and recommendations on topics like basic cat care. It's not unusual for cats eating many commercially produced pet foods to have difficulty with vomiting/diarrhea - in some cases it's because the manufacturer has changed the ingredients without notice so that they can use the cheapest possible ingredients and increase the profits that they and everyone else in the chain of people involved from manufacturer to retailer receive. In some cats vomiting/diarrhea indicates a sensitivity to a chemical, preservative or ingredient in the food. Royal Canin is recognized by some as a high quality food, however feeding a lite food means that there are more grains and cheap fillers used that cats just aren't able to digest/get any nutrition from. There are better options out there in terms of quality and value for your money.

I don't recommend feeding lower quality foods because I don't believe they're properly formulated to meet a cat's complex nutritional needs and beyond that I'm just not convinced that most of these foods are safe to feed our pets since the laws really haven't changed much since the Menu Foods recall. Lower quality diets can increase a cat's chances of becoming obese or overweight because some cats will continue to eat in spite of being full because they feel like something's missing - and often times the cat's right. Manufacturers are using low quality ingredients and they're also trying to use grains/starches as fillers - this isn't appropriate for cats, they're true carnivores which means that in order to be healthy they must eat a meat based diet, not food made mostly from soy or grain. Many cat foods labelled 'All natural', 'Premium', 'Vet recommended', etc actually aren‘t, there‘s a serious lack of regulations surrounding labelling in the pet food industry - if you want to feed commercially available foods it‘s best to take your time and do the research. An inappropriate diet can lead to obesity or other serious health problems that can result in fatal complications. Obesity can lead to serious medical problems in cats including heart disease, diabetes, and an increased risk of developing obstructions in their urinary tract.

In today's world the convenience of commercial pet foods leads many pet parents to feed their pets canned/dry foods. Pet parents have been told for years that commercially produced pet foods are the only good option for our pets and these products provide the safest, most balanced option in terms of giving our much loved furry family members the best nutrition possible to maintain their overall health throughout our pet's lifetime. Many vets recommend pet foods that are grain or soy based - the problem with that is that cats aren't able to digest their plant based diets so these foods just don't provide our feline companions with what they need in order to live longer, healthier lives.

All cats, regardless of size or breed are obligate or true carnivores, this means that all cats must eat a high quality meat based diet in order to be healthy. Long before we domesticated cats they had successfully evolved over thousands of years by hunting, killing and eating prey animals. Cats do get small amounts of grains, nuts, vegetable matter and seeds by eating the partially digested stomach contents of their prey, that provides them with vitamins, minerals and fibre to help them stay healthy. Many pet parents believe that commercially available cat foods are the only option when it comes to providing a cat with the best nutrition, the reality: this just isn't true. Folks say that pets are living longer, healthier lives and they attribute that statistic to the foods that line the shelves of pet supply stores, if that's the case why are vets are seeing increased incidences of renal failure, diabetes, obesity, cancers and other serious problems in mixed and pure bred cats/kittens. My theory about why pets are living longer is twofold, pets aren't allowed to roam freely as they once were which means that the number of animals dying because they've eaten something poisonous or they've been hit by a car is lower than it was many years ago.

The pet food industry has few standards or guidelines to follow in terms of what is and isn't acceptable to put in pet food - this means that companies have been and for the most part still aren't taking responsibility for the quality of ingredients they include in pet food. In my opinion allowing pet food manufacturers to decide what's acceptable without stringent standards dictating the type and quality of ingredients end up in pet food which is somewhat like a cat guarding a bird's nest - bad things can happen quickly. The pet food recall touched our household and has left behind a permanent mark - my eldest resident cat almost lost her life as a result of eating tainted food during the Menu Foods pet food recall. I was feeding a high quality cat food that was supposedly vet recommended. I learned a heartbreaking lesson the day that my baby girl almost died - just because the label says the food is high quality, premium or vet recommended doesn't mean it's nutritious, species appropriate or even safe. Over the last couple of years my kitty has required ongoing medical care in order to maintain kidney function and I've lived with tremendous guilt caused by the fact that my baby girl has suffered through hospitalization, frequent blood work, and routine injections of fluids under her skin because I fed her food that was poisoned. I've been left with a healthy distrust for the safety of foods manufactured by a poorly regulated pet food industry or anyone else who stands to profit from my fur kids get sick.

Within the pet food industry there's been a substantial change in the way that pet food companies advertise. During the last 20-30 years the pet food industry has run many campaigns that appeal to pet lovers because they make it sound as though they understand that pets are family members and the only way to treat family members is to provide them with the best quality foods available. If only the pet food industry was really forced to live up to their clever advertising campaigns. Over the last two years I've learned that the pet food manufacturers are more concerned with making a profit than they are with the long term health and safety of our pets. Consider this; many pet food manufacturers don't actually make pet food as their primary product, many companies make things like soap, shampoo, anti-perspirant, cleaning products and feminine hygiene products. Many folks believe that pet food manufacturers must follow stringent guidelines that ensure the safety and quality of their products, however experience has shown that's just not the case.


You might find that switching your cat over to a commercially available raw diet such as Feline pride or trying out high quality holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients such as Wellness or Spot's Stew alleviates your kitty's diarrhea after several days to a week (the cat's system has to get rid of the junk that's hanging out there). For the moment it's a good idea to give your cat a tbsp or so of plain, organic, unsweetened yogurt twice daily, this will help alleviate the diarrhea because yogurt contains beneficial bacteria normally found in a mammal's healthy digestive tract.

Feeding cats a properly balanced raw homemade diet made from high quality organic ingredients, is healthier for them than many commercially available diets, in fact it’s probably as close to the food they'd be eating if they were given their choice, but it can be expensive to purchase high quality ingredients and the equipment needed to properly prepare the food. I recommend that pet parents who are interested in feeding their cats homemade raw diets do extensive research before diving in. If preparing a homemade diet for your cat isn’t something you can manage a good alternative to seriously consider trying is a commercially available raw cat food like Feline Pride to see how your cats respond. Some cats will need some time to get used to the idea and the switch over will have to happen gradually. A few simple tricks can make things easier for your cats - for instance making the switch over from dry food to canned before you switch them over to a completely raw diet is going to make things easier. My first experience with feeding raw food was somewhat impulsive - I was preparing boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts for supper and I had an extra one, so I cut it into small pieces and placed some onto the plate - two out of three didn’t get the concept, my youngest cat dove in wholeheartedly without question, in fact she still begs for raw meat when I prepare meals. My other two cats took some time and tested the bounds of my patience, but they now enjoy small frequent meals made up of a balanced, raw diet I make myself - I recommend the recipe at catinfo.org. In addition to using the recipe on that website I’ve found it best to freeze the prepared diet in portion sized pieces - ice cube trays work wonderfully, once the meal is frozen you can store the cubes in a ziploc bag to defrost on an as needed basis.

I only feel safe recommending two brands of commercially produced canned/dry food because I believe these companies are committed to providing a higher quality food than most of the major pet food manufacturers. Wellness and Spot's Stew by Halo are high quality holistic cat foods made from human grade ingredients, Wellness is designed to be fed as a combination of canned/dry (at least the last time I checked it out) while Spot's Stew can be made up entirely of canned or dry food. Both of these foods are available in canned and dry forms. When my 3 resident cats were just eating Spot's Stew a 6 lb bag lasted about a month or so, the food costs roughly $25 CAN and that breaks down to a cost of about 28 cents per cat each day to feed them a high quality food. I have included the ingredient list for Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat by Halo so that you can compare the quality of the ingredients with the food you're currently feeding. The ingredient list of Spot's Stew Sensitive Cat is as follows: Turkey, Pea Protein, Whole Dried Eggs, Oats, Pearled Barley, Pea Flour, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Flaxseed, Salmon Oil, Pea Fiber, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Blueberries, Green Beans, Carrots, Cranberries, Zucchini, Alfalfa, Inulin, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Salt, Folic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Bitartrate, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Ribflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.

There's a serious gap between what people believe veterinarians actually know about nutrition and what they've been taught - I was shocked to find that for the most part vets receive minimal training in nutrition and learning more about this important aspect of caring for our pets is left up to the vet. It's been my experience that many vets recommend feeding cats inadequate, species inappropriate diets because they aren't taking the time to consider what cats have evolved to eat, instead they're taught to believe that the only option to ensure that cats are getting complete nutrition is to feed them any one of several highly processed canned/dry foods commercially available and labelled as "premium" are scientifically balanced to ensure good health. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth and if you'd like I can send a disturbing and somewhat eye opening article about the pet food industry's dirty little secrets - essentially it tells you exactly what ends up in pet foods, and what the various terms often found in the ingredient list actually mean.  Many people believe that commercially available cat foods are the only option when it comes to providing a cat with the best nutrition, the reality: this just isn't true. Folks say that pets are living longer, healthier lives and they attribute that statistic to the foods that line the shelves of pet supply stores, if that's the case why are vets are seeing increased incidences of renal failure, diabetes, obesity, cancers and other serious problems in mixed and pure bred cats/kittens. My theory about why pets are living longer is twofold, pets aren't allowed to roam freely as they once were which means that the number of animals dying because they've eaten something poisonous or they've been hit by a car is lower than it was many years ago. There's also been a significant change in the way we as a society in North America views pets, they're no longer posessions but members of our families - as such many receive basic preventative health care, medical conditions are diagnosed earlier than they were many years ago and in the majority of cases these ailments aren't allowed to become life threatening and because they're caught earlier than they would have been 5, 10, 15 or even 25+ years ago the pets are treated with medication, the appropriate therapeutic tools are used. If anything I believe that nutrition related problems are costing more and more pets their lives and this won't likely change unless we stand up and fight for changes to the FDA's quality standards for the pet food industry or boycott the multi-million (or more) dollar a year market by making our pet's own food instead of buying it.

I have taken the liberty to include a rather eye opening article that I think somewhat sums up the dirty little secrets of the pet food industry. Sadly although many pet food manufacturers claim that they have included nothing but the best and healthiest ingredients this is usually not the case. Often times ingredients change without notice based on what’s cheapest at that time, especially when you are talking about the cheaper foods commonly sold in grocery stores. I have done my own research into making homemade food for my cats although I must say that this would be a rather expensive and time consuming option just due to the fact that cats require fairly complex nutrition and getting it wrong could cost them their life or cause very serious health problems. I found the article below on a pet care website - bear in mind this article hasn’t been checked for accuracy, it sums up a general view of many pet foods claiming to be “nutritionally complete” or “whole food that your pets need” that market their product in grocery stores with minimal cost. Another revealing fact is that many pet food manufacturers don’t manufacture pet food as their primary product - for instance Procter and Gamble makes Eukanuba and Iams pet foods - they also make soap, shampoo, household cleaners, personal hygiene products like anti-perspirant….Given that their primary focus isn’t on manufacturing a whole pet food with ingredients designed to promote optimum health I have concerns about their food and the potential for other products to end up inside a bag of pet food just as they did during the recent Menu Foods recall of most pet food brands as a result of pets becoming seriously ill and dying because there were ingredients like melamine found in a substandard ingredient from China.

“Whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fresh grains and all the wholesome nutrition your dog or cat will ever need.”

These are the images pet food manufacturers promulgate through the media and advertising. This is what the $10 billion per year U.S. pet food industry wants consumers to believe they are buying when they purchase their products.

This report explores the differences between what consumers think they are buying compared to what they are actually getting. This document focuses in very general terms on the most visible name brands -- the pet food labels that are mass distributed to supermarkets and grocery stores -- but there are many smaller, more highly respected brands that may be guilty of the same offenses.

What most consumers are unaware of is that the pet food industry is an extension of the human food industry, also known as the agriculture industry. Pet food provides a place for slaughterhouse waste and grains considered "unfit for human consumption" to be turned into profit. This waste includes cow tongues, esophagi, and possibly diseased and cancerous meat. The "whole grains" used have had the starch removed and the oil extracted -- usually by chemical processing -- for vegetable oil, or they are the hulls and other remnants from the milling process. Some of the truly whole grains used may have been deemed unfit for human consumption because of mold, contaminants, or poor storage practices.

Four of the five major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational food production companies: Colgate-Palmolive (Hills Science Diet Pet Food), Heinz (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles n Bits, Recipe, Vets), Nestle (Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog) and Mars (Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba). From a business standpoint, multinational food companies owning pet food manufacturing companies is an ideal relationship. The multinationals have a captive market in which to capitalize on their waste products, and the pet food manufacturers have a reliable source from which to purchase their bulk materials.

There are hundreds of different pet foods available in this country. And while many of the foods on the market are virtually the same, not all of the pet food manufacturing companies use poor quality and potentially dangerous ingredients.

Ingredients

Although the purchase price of pet food does not always determine whether a pet food is good or bad, the price is often a good indicator of quality. It would be impossible for a company that sells a generic brand of dog food at $9.95 for a 40-lb. bag to use quality protein and grain in its food. The cost of purchasing quality ingredients would be much higher than the selling price.

The protein used in pet food comes from a variety of sources. When cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or any number of other animals are slaughtered, the choice cuts such as lean muscle tissue are trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption. Whatever remains of the carcass -- bones, blood, pus, intestines, ligaments, and almost all the other parts not generally consumed by humans -- is used in pet food. These "other parts" are known as "by-products" or other names on pet food labels. The ambiguous labels list the ingredients, but do not provide a definition for the products listed. (See the API Pet Food Shopping Guide for a more detailed list of ingredient definitions.)

The Pet Food Institute -- the trade association of pet food manufacturers -- acknowledges the use of by-products in pet foods as additional income for processors and farmers: "The purchase and use of these ingredients by the pet food industry not only provides nutritional needs for pets at reasonable costs, but provides an important source of income to American farmers and processors of meat, poultry and seafood products for human consumption.

Many of these remnants are indigestible and provide a questionable source of nutrition for our animals. The amount of nutrition provided by meat by-products, meals, and digests can vary from vat to vat. James Morris and Quinton Rogers, two professors with the Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of California at Davis Veterinary School of Medicine, assert that, "There is virtually no information on the bioavailability of nutrients for companion animals in many of the common dietary ingredients used in pet foods. These ingredients are generally by-products of the meat, poultry and fishing industries, with the potential for a wide variation in nutrient composition. Claims of nutritional adequacy of pet foods based on the current Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient allowances ('profiles') do not give assurances of nutritional
adequacy and will not until ingredients are analyzed and bioavailability values are incorporated.

Another source of meat you won't find mentioned on pet food labels are dogs and cats. In 1990 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that euthanized companion animals were being used in pet food. Although pet food manufacturers vehemently denied the report, the American Veterinary Medical Association confirmed the Chronicle's story.  Many pets are euthanized with sodium pentobarbital and then rendered.  This poison does not break down and goes into commercial pet food and feed for cows, pigs and horses.  I must admit that this point has been made many times over many years - if it’s true that has to be one of the scariest things to consider in the case for making high quality food for pets and livestock from ingredients that we would actually consider eating. When you think about this it makes you question the safety of many common foods found in the average human diet - after all, if these ingredients are making into food used to feed livestock are they ultimately making it into the human food chain?For the detailed report by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine on popular commercial pet foods containing pentobarbital, click here.  When you read the report, please know that AD (animal digest) is animal waste (to be polite)!

Protein is protein once it is rendered. What is rendering? Rendering, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting."

What can the feeding of such ingredients do to your companion animal? Some veterinarians claim that feeding slaughterhouse wastes to animals increases their risk of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases. One factor is that the cooking methods used by pet food manufacturers and rendering plants do not destroy many of the hormones used to fatten livestock, or medications such as those used to euthanize dogs and cats.  

Animal and Poultry Fat

You may have noticed a unique, pungent odor when you open a new bag of pet food -- the smell of restaurant grease from a hundred fast food restaurants. What is the source of that delightful smell? It is refined animal fat, kitchen grease, and other oils too rancid or deemed inedible for humans.

Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed grade animal fat over the last fifteen years. This grease, often held in fifty-gallon drums, is usually kept outside for weeks, exposed to extreme temperatures with no regard for its future use. The next few times you dine out, be sure to look out back behind the restaurant for a container with a rendering company's name on it. It is almost guaranteed that you will find one. "Fat blenders" or rendering companies then pick up this rancid grease and mix the different types of fat together, stabilize them with powerful antioxidants to retard further spoilage, and then sell the blended products to pet food companies.

These fats are sprayed directly onto dried kibble or extruded pellets to make an otherwise bland or distasteful product palatable. The fat also acts as a binding agent to which manufacturers add other flavor enhancers as well. Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed fats. Manufacturers are masters at getting a dog or a cat to eat something she would normally turn up her nose at.

Wheat, Soy, Corn, Peanut Hulls, and Other Vegetable Protein

The amount of grain products used in pet food has risen over the last decade. Once considered filler by the pet food industry, grain products now make up a considerable portion of pet food. The availability of nutrients in grain products is dependent upon the digestibility of the grain. The amount and type of carbohydrate in pet food determines the amount of nutrient value the animal actually gets. Dogs and cats can almost completely absorb carbohydrates from some grains, such as white
rice. Up to 20% of other grains can escape digestion. The availability of nutrients for wheat, beans, and oats is poor. The nutrients in potatoes and corn are far less available than those in rice. Carbohydrate that escapes digestion is of little nutritional value due to bacteria in the colon that ferment carbohydrates. Some ingredients, such as peanut hulls, are used strictly for "filler" and have no nutritional value at all!


Two of the top three ingredients in pet food are almost always some form of grain products. Pedigree Performance Food for Dogs lists Ground Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, and Corn Gluten Meal as its top three ingredients. 9 Lives Crunchy Meals for cats lists Ground Yellow corn, Corn Gluten Meal, and Poultry By-Product Meal as its first three ingredients.  

Since cats are true carnivores -- they must eat meat to fulfill certain physiological needs -- one may wonder why we are feeding a corn-based product to them. The answer is that corn is much cheaper than meat.

Of the top four ingredients of Purina O.N.E. Dog Formula -- Chicken, Ground Yellow Corn, Ground Wheat, and Corn Gluten Meal -- two are corn-based products ... the same product. This industry practice is known as splitting. When components of the same whole ingredients are listed separately -- such as Ground Yellow Corn and Corn Gluten Meal -- it appears there is less corn than chicken, even though the combined weight of the corn ingredients outweigh the chicken.

In 1995 Nature's Recipe pulled thousands of tons of dog food off the shelf after consumers complained that their dogs were vomiting and losing their appetite. Nature's Recipe's loss amounted to $20 million. The problem was a fungus that produced vomitoxin, an aflatoxin, which is a subset of mycotoxin, a poison given off by mold contaminated the wheat.

Although it caused many dogs to vomit, stop eating and have diarrhea, vomitoxin is a milder toxin than most. The more virulent strains of mycotoxins can cause weight loss, liver damage, lameness, and even death. The Nature's Recipe incident prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to intervene. Dina Butcher, Agriculture Policy Advisor for North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer, concluded that the discovery of vomitoxin in Nature's Recipe wasn't much of a threat to the human
population because "the grain that would go into pet food is not a high quality grain. Which means that the grain used in pet food is not fit for human consumption and therefore not a threat to the human population.

Soy is another common ingredient that is sometimes used as filler in pet food. Manufacturers use it to add bulk so that when an animal eats a product containing soy he will feel more sated. While soy has been linked to gas in some dogs, other dogs do quite well with it. Vegetarian dog foods use soy as a protein source.

Industry critics note that many of the ingredients used as humectants -- ingredients such as corn syrup and corn gluten meal which bind water to prevent oxidation -- also bind the water in such a way that the food actually sticks to the colon and may cause blockage. The blockage of the colon may cause an increased risk of cancer of the colon or rectum.

Additives and Preservatives

Many additives are added to commercial pet foods to improve the stability or appearance of the food. Additives provide no nutritional value. Additives include emulsifiers to prevent water and fat from separating. Antioxidants prevent fat from turning rancid and antimicrobials reduce spoilage. Added color and flavor make the product more attractive to consumers and their companion animals.

How prevalent are synthetic additives in pet food? Two-thirds of the pet food manufactured in the United States contains preservatives added by the manufacturer. Of the remaining third, 90% includes ingredients already stabilized by synthetic preservatives. Premixed vitamin additives used to supplement pet food can also contain preservatives. This means that your companion animal may eat food with several types of preservatives that have been added at the rendering plant, the
manufacturing plant and in the supplemental vitamins.

Additives in Processed Pet Foods

Anti-caking agents
Lubricants
Antimicrobial agents
Non-nutritive sweeteners
Antioxidants
Nutritive sweeteners
Coloring agents
Oxidizing and reducing agents
Curing agents
pH control agents
Drying agents
Processing aids
Emulsifiers
Sequestrants
Firming agents
Solvents, vehicles
Flavor enhancers
Stabilizers, thickeners
Flavoring agents
Surface active agents
Flour treating agents
Surface finishing agents
Formulation aids
Synergists
Humectants
Texturizers
Leavening agents

Adding chemicals to food originated thousands of years ago with spices, natural preservatives and ripening agents. In the last 40 years, however, the number of food additives has greatly increased. Of the more than 8,600 recognized food additives today, no toxicity information is available for 46% of them. Cancer-causing agents are sometimes permitted if they are used at low enough levels. The risk of continued use at these cancer-causing agents has not been studied and the build up of these agents may be harmful. Ethoxyquin (EQ), for example, was found in dogs' livers and tissues months after it had been removed from their diet, and as of July 31, 1997, the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine requested that manufacturers reduce the maximum level for EQ be cut in half, to 75 parts per million.

While the law requires studies of direct toxicity of these additives and preservatives, most of these additives have not been tested for their effect on each other once ingested. Three commonly used preservatives, BHA, BHT, and EQ, have a proven synergistic effect that may lead to the development of certain types of cancer.

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxtoluene (BHT) are the most commonly used antioxidants in processed food for human consumption. For these antioxidants, there is little information documenting their toxicity or the safety of long-term use in pet food.

In animal feeds, the most commonly used antioxidant preservative is ethoxyquin. While some pet food critics and veterinarians claim ethoxyquin is a major cause of disease, skin problems, and infertility in dogs, others claim it is the safest, most stable preservative available for pet food. Ethoxyquin is not approved for use as a preservative in human food, however.

Nitrate is the exception to the rule when it comes to safety. Nitrate is used in meat for human consumption. When nitrate combines with bacteria, the chemical can change to another form with carcinogenic properties called nitrosamines. Very small amounts of this chemical can cause acute and chronic liver damage.

"Natural preservatives" and antioxidants are known as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and mixed tocopherols. While the avoidance of using pet food laced with chemical preservatives is something to consider, some critics think that natural preservatives are somewhat less effective than chemical preservatives.

The Manufacturing Process - How Pet Food Is Made  
Although feed trials are no longer required for a food to meet nutritional standards and profiles, most manufacturers do require a palatability study when developing a new pet food. Animals are fed side by side, one animal fed a new food while the other is fed a similar formula. The total volume eaten is used as a gauge for the palatability of the food. Most pet food companies keep their own animals for taste testing.

Dry food is made with a machine called an expander. First, raw materials are blended, sometimes by hand, other times by computer, in accordance with a recipe developed by nutritionists. The mixture is fed into an expander and steam or hot water is added into the mixture. The mixture is subjected to steam, pressure, and heat until the temperature reaches 305 degrees F. The mixture is then extruded through dies that determine the shape of the final product. Then it is cooked at a high temperatures and high pressure. Then the food is allowed to dry for another 30-45 minutes. Once the food is dried it is usually sprayed with fat to make it more palatable. Although the cooking process may kill bacteria in pet food, the final product can lose its sterility, during the subsequent drying, fat coating, and packaging process.

Ingredients are the same for wet and dry foods. The main difference between the two types of food is the water content. Wet or canned food begins with ground ingredients mixed with additives. If chunks are required, a special extruder forms them. Then the mixture is cooked and canned. The sealed cans are then put into containers resembling pressure cookers and commercial sterilization takes place. Some manufacturers cook the food right in the can.

There are three primary types of wet food. The "all meat" product is defined by AAFCO as "When an ingredient or a combination of ingredients derived from animals, poultry, or fish constitute 95% or more of the total weight of all ingredients of a pet food, the name or names of such ingredient(s) may form part of the product name of the pet food; provided that where more than one ingredient is part of such product name, then all such ingredient names shall be in the same size, style, and color print. For the purpose of this provision, water sufficient for processing shall be excluded when calculating the percentage of the named ingredient(s). However, such named ingredient(s) shall constitute at least 70% of the total product.

The "dinner" product is defined as "When an ingredient or a combination of ingredients constitutes at least 25% but less than 95% of the total weight of all ingredients of a dog or cat food mixture, the name or names of such ingredient or ingredients may form a part of the product name of the pet food if each of the ingredients constitute at least 3% of the product weight excluding water used for processing and only if the product name also includes a primary descriptive term such as 'dinner',
'platter', or similar designation so that the product name describes the contents of the product in accordance with an established law, custom or usage or so that the product name is not misleading. If the names of more than one ingredient are shown, they shall appear in the order of their respective predominance by weight in the product. All such ingredient names and the primary descriptive term shall be in the same size, style and color print. For the purpose of this provision,
water sufficient for processing shall be excluded when calculating the percentage of the named ingredient(s). However, such named ingredient(s) shall constitute at least 10% of the total product.

The "flavor" product is formulated to have a specific flavor, and it is defined as "No flavor designation shall be used on a pet food label unless the flavor is detected by a recognized test method, or is one the presence of which provides a characterisitic distinguishable by the pet. Any flavor designation on a pet food label must either conform to the name of its source as shown in the ingredient statement or the ingredient statement shall show the source of the flavor. The word flavor
shall be printed in the same size type and with an equal degree of conspicuousness as the ingredient term(s) from which the flavor designation is derived. Distributors of pet food employing such flavor designation or claims on the labels of the product distributed by them shall, upon request, supply verification of the designated or claimed flavor to the appropriate control official.

What Happened to the Nutrients?

R. L. Wysong, veterinarian and long time critic of the pet food industry, has said, "Processing is the wild card in nutritional value that is, by and large, simply ignored. Heating, freezing, dehydrating, canning, extruding, pelleting, baking, and so forth, are so commonplace that they are simply thought of as synonymous with food itself. The processing practices for grain and meat used in pet food severely diminishes its nutritional value.

To make pet food nutritious, pet food manufacturers must "fortify" it with vitamins and minerals. Why? Because the ingredients they are using are not wholesome, and the harsh manufacturing practices destroy what little nutritional value the food had to begin with.

Contaminants

Commercially manufactured or rendered meat meals are highly contaminated with bacteria because their source is not always slaughtered animals. Animals that have died because of disease, injury, or natural causes are a source of meat for meat meal. The dead animal may not be rendered or cooked until days after its death. Therefore the carcass is often contaminated with bacteria -- Salmonella bacteria contaminate 25-50% of meat meals. While the cooking process may kill bacteria, it does not eliminate the endotoxins that result from the bacteria. These toxins can cause disease. Pet food manufacturers do not test their products for endotoxins.

Escherichia coli (E Coli) is another bacteria that can be found in contaminated pet foods. E Coli bacteria, like Salmonella, can be destroyed by cooking at high temperatures, however, the endotoxin produced by the bacteria will remain. This endotoxin can cause disease as well.

Aflatoxin -- This is a toxin that comes from mold or fungi, as in the case of Nature's Recipe. The improper drying and storage of crops is the cause of mold growth, which can result in Aflatoxin contamination. Ingredients that are most likely to be contaminated with this toxin are cottonseed meal, peanut meal, and fish meal.

Labeling

The National Research Council (NRC) of the Academy of Sciences set the nutritional standards for pet food until 1974, when the pet food industry created a group called the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). At that time AAFCO chose to adopt the NRC standards rather than develop its own. The NRC standards required feeding trials for pet foods that claimed to be "complete" and "balanced." The pet food industry found the feeding trials to be too restrictive, so AAFCO designed an alternate procedure for claiming the nutritional adequacy of pet food. Instead of feeding trials, chemical analysis would be done to determine if a food met or exceeded the NRC standards.

The problem with chemical analysis is that it does not address the palatability, digestibility and biological availability of nutrients in pet food. Thus it is unreliable for determining whether a food will provide an animal with sufficient nutrients.

To compensate for the limitations of chemical analysis, AAFCO added a "safety factor," which was to exceed the minimum amount of nutrients required to meet the complete and balanced requirements. By establishing its own standards and disregarding the NRC standards, AAFCO established itself as the governing body for pet food. In essence the pet food industry developed their own standards for nutritional adequacy.


The 100% Myth -- Problems Caused by Inadequate Nutrition

The idea of one pet food providing all the nutrition a companion animal will ever need for its entire life is a myth... Cereals are the primary ingredients in most commercial pet foods. Most people select one pet food and feed it to their dogs and cats for a prolonged period of time. Therefore companion dogs and cats eat a primarily carbohydrate diet with little variety. Today, the diets of cats and dogs are a far cry from the primarily protein diets with a lot of variety that their ancestors ate. The problems associated with a commercial diet are seen every day at veterinary establishments. Chronic digestive problems, such as chronic diarrhea, are among the most frequent illnesses treated.

Allergy or hypersensitivity to foods is a common problem usually seen as diarrhea or vomiting. Food allergies have become an everyday ailment. The market for "limited antigen" also known as "hypoallergenic" diets is now a multi-million dollar business. These diets were formulated to address the increasing intolerance to foods that animals have developed.

Many commercial pet foods are made with ingredients that have poor protein digestibility. Diets containing protein with less than 70% digestibility cause diarrhea in dogs. Some fillers used in these foods can also cause colitis, which is the inflammation of the colon. Most pet food companies do not publish digestibility statistics and they are never seen on pet food labels.

Acute vomiting and diarrhea is often a symptom of bacteria contamination and the toxins bacteria produce. Dry commercial pet food is often contaminated with bacteris, which may or may not cause problems. Improper food storage and some feeding practices may result in the multiplication of this bacteria. For example, adding water to moisten pet food and then leaving it at room temperature causes bacteria to multiply. Yet this practice is suggested on the back of some kitten and puppy foods.

Pet food formulas and the practice of feeding that manufacturers recommend have increased other digestive problems. Feeding only one meal per day can cause the irritation of the esophagus by stomach acid. Feeding two smaller meals is better.

Urinary tract disease is directly related to diet in both cats and dogs. Plugs, crystals, and stones in cat bladders are caused by commercial pet food formulas. One type of stone found in cats is less common now, but another more dangerous type has become more common. Manipulation of manufactured cat food formulas to affect acidity in urine and the amount of some minerals has directly affected these diseases. Dogs also form stones as a result of their diet.

History has shown that commercial pet food products can cause disease. An often-fatal heart disease in cats and some dogs was shown to be caused by a deficiency of an amino acid called taurine. Blindness is another symptom of taurine deficiency. This deficiency occurred because of inadequate amounts of taurine in cat food formulas. Cat foods are now supplemented with taurine.

Rapid growth in large breed puppies has been shown to contribute to bone and joint disease. Excess calories in manufactured puppy food formulas promote rapid growth. There are now special puppy foods for large breed dogs. But this recent change will not help the countless dogs who lived and died with hip and elbow disease.

There is also evidence that hyperthyroidism in cats results from commercial pet food diets. This is a new disease that first surfaced in the 1970s, when canned food products appeared on the market. The exact cause and effect are not yet known. This is a serious and sometimes terminal disease and treatment is expensive.

Many nutritional problems appeared with the popularity of cereal-based commercial pet foods. Some occur because the diet is incomplete. Some are a result of additives. Others are a result of contamination with bacteria, toxins and other organisms. In some diseases the role of commercial pet food is understood, in others, it is not. The bottom line is that diets composed primarily of low quality cereals and rendered meat meals are not as nutritious or safe as you should expect for your cat or dog.

Despite the appealing blandishments of pet food advertisements with their claims of providing "complete and balanced nutrition," if you're not exceedingly circumspect, you may end up feeding your pet chicken heads, road kills, spoiled or moldy grains, cancerous material cut from slaughterhouse animals, tissue high in hormone or pesticide residues, and even shredded Styrofoam packaging, metal ID tags and minced flea collars.  
A growing number of veterinarians state that processed pet food (kibbles and canned food) is the main cause of illness and premature death in the modern dog and cat. In December 1995, the British Journal of Small Animal Practice published a paper contending that processed pet food supresses the immune system and leads to liver, kidney, heart and other diseases. Dr. Kollath, of the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm, headed a study done on animals. When young animals were fed cooked and processed foods they initially appeared to be healthy. However, as the animals reached adulthood, they began to age more quickly than normal and also developed chronic degenerative disease symptoms. A control group of animals raised on raw foods aged less quickly and were free of degenerative disease.  

The pet nutrition industry is a multi-billion dollar industry full of hype and false claims. Consumers are being duped into believing that they are feeding their pets healthy foods, when in actuality they are feeding nothing more than inferior meat meals, cheap grains (including corn and soy), fillers, by-products, pesticides, preservatives and toxins.  Never before has the pet-food industry been rocked by widespread contamination and rampant recalls. In all, more than 5,600 products by dozens of pet food makers have been recalled, from chain supermarket brands to prescription-only foods. This is a staggering number of products, and is unprecedented in this business. Thousands of deaths are due to the contamination, and many thousands more have suffered illnesses. We shudder to think of the long-term impacts of the compromised liver and kidney function and how this will affect thousands of companion animals in America. Leading experts believe that the severe reactions experienced by some cats and dogs were the result of an interaction of chemicals, between the melamine and a list of other culprits, including cyuranic acid.  Read the latest about the pet food recall. Thousands of Cats and dogs suffered kidney failure, and many died after eating the affected pet food.  
 

Dr. Don E. Lundholm, D.V.M. - "We are seeing disease conditions in animals that we did not see years ago. Many of these may be traced to nutrition as the source..."

The primary ingredient in many dry commercial pet foods is not protein but cereal. Corn and wheat are the most common grains used but, as with the meat sources, the nutritious parts of the grain are generally present only in trace amounts. The corn gluten meal or wheat middlings added to pet foods are the leftovers after the grain has been processed for human use, containing little nutritional value. Or they may be grain that is too moldy for humans to eat, so it's incorporated into pet food.

Mycotoxins, potentially deadly fungal toxins that multiply in moldy grains, have been found in pet foods in recent years. In 1995, Nature's Recipe recalled tons of their dog food after dogs became ill from eating it. The food was found to contain vomitoxin, a mycotoxin. Harmful chemicals and preservatives are added to both wet and dry food. For example, sodium nitrite, a coloring agent and preservative and potential carcinogen, is a common additive. Other preservatives include ethoxyquin (an insecticide that has been linked to liver cancer) and BHA and BHT, chemicals also suspected of causing cancer. The average dog can consume as much as 26 pounds of preservatives every year from eating commercial dog foods.  

If you have any questions about this answer or you'd like me to clarify anything. Please feel free to contact me again if you'd like to learn more about providing your little guy with the best possible diet to maintain good health and contribute to a long and healthy life for him I'd be happy to help you out to the best of my ability or direct you to good resources with more information.