Expert: Patti - 7/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I have been hearing alot about the importance of the source of protein in dog food. What is considered a good protein source? What is considered a bad protein source? Thought you might be able to help. My dog is 11 months old, male (neutered), pit bull mix, 40 lbs. Thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Rachel,

An example of a poor quality source of protein, would be a dog food containing "byproducts".  Byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. Byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than the muscle meat. The ingredients of each batch of byproduct can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent.

Other examples of a poor sources of protein are distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), ground corn germ, corn gluten meal. These are all  inexpensive by-products of human food processing which contains some protein but serves mainly to bind food together. It is not a harmful ingredient but should not rank high in the ingredient list of a quality product.  You should avoid any food that contains corn (ground or otherwise) as a first ingredient, especially if corn gluten meal is also a main ingredient and no concentrated source of identified meat protein (e.g. chicken meal, lamb meal etc.) is present.

Another thing to watch for in dog foods is the use of a the word "meat",  or an organ meat (such as just "liver") that isn't identified as a specific kind of animal meat.  Whenever the word 'meat' or the name of an organ appear by themselves (without a species) on a pet food label, there is no way to know which kind of animal it came from. It could be horse liver, goat, duck, pig, or even skunk or other animals of questionable origin.

Just as you should look for an identified source of meat in a dog food, you should also look for specifically named fats and oils such as chicken fat, herring oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, flax oil etc. Non-specific sources such as animal fat, poultry fat, vegetable oil, generic fish oil, or mineral oil should be avoided.

Contrary to what many people believe, meat sources in "meal" form (as long as they are from a specified type of animal, such as chicken meal, lamb meal, salmon meal etc.) are not inferior to whole, fresh meats. Meals consist of meat and skin, with or without the bones, but not containing feathers/hair, heads, feet, horns, entrails etc. Meat meals are basically dehydrated meats that's ground up,  and offers more concentrated protein per pound than fresh whole meat because the water has been removed.

Carbohydrates is also a part of any dog's diet. While corn is not acceptable as a main source of protein in a dog food, as a source of carbohydrate it is no better and no worse than other grains in terms of nutritional value and digestibility. That said, many of the best quality dog foods do not contain any corn, and use whole ground grains such as rice, oats, barley, millet etc., potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas.

Preservatives are in almost all dog foods, but you should select a food that is preserved naturally. Look for a food preserved with: Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Rosemary-, Sage, or Clove Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ascorbic Acid and other forms of Vitamin C. Avoid BHA (Butylated Hydroxysanisole), BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Ethoxyquin, TBHQ (Tertiary Butylhydroquinone), Sodium Metabisulphite.

No dog food needs to have added salt, sugars, sweeteners or artificial flavors or colors or dyes.

So when you look for a dog food, ideally, the first ingredient you should see is either a specified meat meal, or a specified fresh meat type followed by a meal. Byproducts of any type are less desirable and only acceptable if they do not make up the main source of animal protein,  and only if the name of the species animal is stated (such as. "chicken byproducts" or "beef byproducts" but not "meat byproducts" or "poultry byproducts").

Here is a web site that allows you to compare dog foods by the ingredients they contain:
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your detailed response. I had some other questions however. I started switching my dog over to a food called Solid Gold, have you heard anything about this food? Also, right now I am feeding a food based on beef but I noticed there is also formulas from Solid Gold based on Bison, Ocean Fish, and Lamb. Is any protein better than the other? This Solid Gold food says it uses no grains, preservatives, corn, soy, by-products, or other nasty low quality foods, its considered a holistic food. Any comments?

ANSWER: Hi Rachel,

Solid Gold is a really good quality dog food. The other exotic Solid Gold flavors (Bison, Ocean Fish, and Lamb) that you've noted are made for dogs with allergies to common protein and carbohydrate sources. These diets are often referred to as "novel sources of protein". Other brands produce such diets. These days you can even find diets based on Kangaroo, Rabbit and Duck! It's not that these diets are better, some dogs just can't tolerate chicken or beef.

It's best to reserve these novel sources of protein in case your dog ever needs such a diet. The way to pin-point and treat a food intolerance or allergy, is to feed the dog a food they haven't ever received in the past and to avoid foods that contain any similar ingredients. (This is called a Food trial). Soy, like corn and wheat can be a high allergen to some dogs. Grains aren't a bad thing by any means, provided your dog is a healthy dog without an allergy to grains and can tolerate them!

It's really good that dog owners have these over the counter food options these days, in the past owners of dogs with food intolerances really had a hard time of it.

It wouldn't hurt to feed your dog these exotic dog foods if that's want you want to do, it's just unnecessary, and probably cheaper not to.

Feel free to get back to me if you have any other questions.
Regards,

Patti


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again for the detailed answer. Yes, my dog does have some type of allergy. I was feeding him Iams but he was itching a lot and developed anal gland issues, which my vet said could be brought on by an allergy. I did some research and decided to try Solid Gold. I do not know what he has allergies too so I figured I would start with a grain free, corn free, etc food which is less likely to produce allergies and see what happens. He has only been on it for a few days so its way too early to tell. I have him on the Solid Gold Barking at the Moon formula, which the first ingredient is ocean fish meal, then beef, and so on. So its actually more fish then beef but still a mixture. Its the formula that is high protein and low fat and carb grain free too. I own a pit bull mix and he seems to have gotten the common skin issues. He had mange when he was younger but has been clear of that for at least 4 months or so. He has mild itching but I noticed when I fed him cheaper food like Iams (which is a good food for dogs without allergies) and cheaper bones like Milk Bone (good also) he tended to itch a bit more. Never to the point of balding and I do not usually see much flakes but it seems to be a mild allergy. I dont have the money to get an allergy test done so I asked my vet and she recommended doing what you mentioned, feeding trials, which I just started on Monday with the Solid Gold Barking at the Moon. Also, he recently got an anal gland infection, all these issues and only 11 months! He has always had all his vet care but I guess he just genetically did not fare well. I have been reading that pit bulls tend to have a lot of allergies and skin issues, so since he is mixed this makes sense. He is being treated with antibiotics for his anal gland infection and will go in for a check up in 2-3 weeks.

In your opinion, should I see how the Barking at the Moon Solid Gold goes even though it is beef and fish based? I have nothing that says he has allergies to beef, I suspect lower quality grains, corn and so on. If he still itches and seems to have an allergy to the fish and beef in the formula he is on now, would you try the Bison or Lamb next? I know its just a guessing game but it helps to ask someone who has a bit more experience with dogs than I do. I am hearing alot about Green Tripe. Solid Gold makes a canned Green Tripe food which I was considering giving to my dog every now and then, is that a good thing? Do you know of the benefits from Green Tripe? (of course assuming he is not allergic to beef) Finally, out of all the natural foods (Solid Gold, Wellness, Innova EVO, Blue Buffalo, ect) which would you feed if you were to feed a natural premium food? Thanks again for your help. You have given me so much information and it makes me feel more confident as a pet owner to do the right thing.

Answer
Hi Rachal,

You said your dog had mange when he was younger, was that Demodectic mange? Depending on the severity of the mange your dog had, that is something that is linked to a genetic deficiency of its immune system. That could explain his current allergy problems.

If your dog is having recurring anal gland infections, it might be a good idea to ask your vet about doing a culture and sensitivity test to determine what bacteria in involved in the infection to make sure that the antibiotic  being used that will kill that particular bacteria. It can take long term use of antibiotics as well as local treatment of the anal sacs through flushing with antiseptics or antibiotic preparations. In some cases it is necessary to remove the anal sacs due to difficulty in clearing an infection.

Dogs with recurrent anal gland impactions are often placed on a high fiber diet. The high fiber makes the animal's stool more bulky. The stool will put more pressure on the anal glands and hopefully the glands will express themselves when the animal defecates. A dog's  diet can also be supplemented with bran or medications such as Metamucil which will increase the bulk of the stool. Giving your dog a couple of baby carrots, or an apple wedge or two (no seeds) are another way to increase the fiber he gets each day... and most dogs love carrots and apples.

If you're trying to control your dog's allergies with diet, you should select one that contains no beef, if he was previously on a diet that contained beef any beef products. Because you don't know if beef is, or isn't the problem, continuing to use a diet containing beef is pretty much a waste of time. Barking at the Moon is a really good quality diet, but it's not a hypoallergenic dog food.

Green Tripe won't help your dog if he is having a food sensitivity to beef. I am not a fan of the whole B.A.R.F, or raw food diets for dogs. While it's true that dogs were in existence long before the creation of kibble, it's also true that they didn't live nearly as long as they do today. Our pampered domestic dog has very little in common with wolves.

Wellness makes an allergy formula diet called Simple Solutions. This special diet contians a limited number of ingredients to help isolate the number of allergens your dog is exposed to each day. Something like this is probably the best bet.

Other limited ingredient diets to consider are:

• California Natural a limited ingredient diet (Sweet Potato & Venison)

• Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Sweet Potato & Venison, Potato & Duck or Sweet Potato & Fish formulas.

• Wysong Anergen (lamb and brown rice, don't use if your dog has ever received a diet containing either rice or lamb).

A few of the hypoallergenic dog foods, that don't have a limited amount of ingredients are:

• AvoDerm Natural Trout & Wild Rice Oven-Baked Formula
• Pinnacle Holistic Trout & Sweet Potato Dry Formula
• Pinnacle Holistic Duck and Potato Dry Formula
• Orijen 6 FISH
• Instinct Grain-Free Rabbit Formula
• Canidae Grain Free Salmon

It's really hard dealing with a dog with food allergies. Sometimes more than one food needs to be tried before you hit on the one that works best for your particular dog. Just be sure to stick to the food for a full 8 weeks, to see if there is any improvement in your dogs condition, and don't give your dog any treats that have possible allergens for ingredients.

I hope that helps!

Patti