New FDA Regulations Target Food Safety, Including Pet Food Safety
July 19th, 2011
In the wake of the big melamine recalls and pet deaths as well as ongoing smaller recalls of pet foods, I took a little time to listen to this American Veterinary Medical Association podcast with Dr. Dan McChesney, director of the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) Center for Veterinary Medicine’s Office of Surveillance and Compliance. Here is my recap of that Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) podcast.
Food Safety Modernization Act: Background
McChesney offered this background on why the updated food safety rules (including those that apply to pet food supply safety) are necessary:
- In the U.S., 15% of the food supply is now imported.
- The number of individuals considered at high risk for food-borne illness now sits at 30% of the human populatioin.
- Each year 48 million people get sick from some sort of food-borne illness (that’s 1 in 6).
- Just under 130,000 of them are hospitalized … with about 3,000 dying each year.
McChesney admits these illness numbers are “significant but not astronomical,” but he points out that some short-lived food-borne illnesses can lead to long-term problems, including arthritis and kidney disease.
Food Safety Modernization Act: Focus on Prevention
McChesney explains in the AVMA podcast that the new rules focus on prevention, including:
- Requiring food product makers and suppliers to develop food safety plans that target the most likely problems they’ll face.
- Identifying the possible hazards for certain foods or ingredients
- Better collaboration and shared tools between federal and state food safety officials
- New regulations on any imported foods
McChesney says that the Food Safety Modernization Act addresses things that can go wrong, especially during transportation of foods across the country or around the globe and what he calls “food defense” (keeping us safe from food “attacks,” in other words).
Thanks to the Food Safety Modernization Act the FDA also gained more inspection and recall powers. It can, now, for example institute a mandatory recall, if necessary. In addition, new rules boast stronger registration procedures for food companies with:
- Updated registrations required every 2 years
- FDA ability to “delist” companies, if necessary, which would prevent them from selling products across state lines
When it comes to imported products, McChesney says the Food Safety Modernization Act puts the responsibility for product safety on the shoulders of IMPORTERS. That likely means importers will want their suppliers to implement similar food safety processes.
So, in theory, that means if a TAINTED ingredient comes in from another country, then the pet food manufacturer who used that tainted product would be responsible.
Food Safety Modernization Act: Faster Response
McChesney explains that the FDA also gained the ability to STOP the sale of a product quickly. “In the past,” he says, ” we had to rely on the states to do that.”
I’m not convinced these new FDA food safety regulations will necessarily keep foods safer overall. I do think these are important steps, and I do think it’s good that the FDA can move FASTER to stop potentially dangerous product sales … before more people or pets get sick … if / when something happens.
***
I called the FDA to be sure these new rules indeed apply to both human and pet foods, and I was assured that is the case. At this point, I think it’s hard to say whether or not the Food Safety Modernization Act will keep our pet foods safer or not.
Have you read the new regulations or listened to the podcast? Do you think it’ll make a difference? What are your main concerns?
Tags: FDA pet food regulations, food safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, new food safety regulations, pet food recalls, pet food safety
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, Dog Health, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Top 3 Reasons for Pet Food Recalls
June 21st, 2011
After going through all of the FDA reports of pet food recalls, withdrawals, and safety alerts for 2010 and so far in 2011, I can report the following results. Essentially when animal food makers or the FDA pull a product, the reason falls into one of three categories:
- Salmonella contamination (~ 74%)
- Another contaminant (~ 14%)
- Too much or two little of an essential nutrient (~11%)
Pet Food Contamination
Remember, of course, that this figuring comes years after the HUGE melamine contamination and pet food recalls that affected numerous pet food brands, particularly in 2007. [ Look for an Excel file at the bottom of this FDA pet food recall page for all kinds of recall data. ]
Digging through the recall notices, however, I found other pretty scary contaminants in all kinds of food for animals, including for horses, turkeys, sheep, reptiles, and pigs … in addition to dogs and cats:
- Livestock / poultry medications (like monensin sodium, an antibiotic that can be fatal to horses in high amounts)
- Aflatoxin (a naturally occurring fungus / mold that can cause liver problems in people and pets)
- Metal fragments
Pet Food Ups and Downs
Pet foods can also get recalled for having too much or too little of a good thing … in other words, an essential nutrient in:
- Inadequate amounts
- Too high a concentration
In the last couple years, I found recalls due to too little thiamine (B12) in a couple of cat foods, too little Vitamin D in swine food, and one due to an excess of Vitamin D.
Salmonella in Pet Food. Salmonella Sickness in Dogs and Cats
Clearly, however, salmonella surfaces as a real culprit in pet food recalls. You can find Salmonella enterica in the GI tracts of many animals. It’s most common for animals, including our pets, to live in a “subclinical carrier state.” Essentially, that means they have Salmonella in their bodies, but it doesn’t make them sick.
Other pets can and do get sick from Salmonella. Look for these symptoms:
- Fever
- Anorexia (not wanting to eat, cannot eat)
- Lethargy (dull, low-energy behavior)
- Diarrhea, possibly with mucus or blood
- Abdominal pain
The good news, though, is that often pet food manufacturers learn of possible Salmonella contamination before any animals turn up sick.
Because these Salmonella-related recalls are so common, it’s easy to get a bit complacent about them. But, Salmonella can be a big deal. So much so, for people, that the USDA hopes to convince people to be more careful with food prep at home.
QUESTION: Has your pet ever gotten sick relating to a pet food recall? How’d it happen? How’d you track down the cause?
Tags: cat food recall, dog food recall, FDA, food contamination, Melamine, pet food recalls, Salmonella
Posted in Cat Food Basics, Cat Food News, Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, Dog Health, Feline Nutrition, K9 Nutrition | 1 Comment »
Why Having a Baby Makes Your Dog Fat
June 14th, 2011
The team at Flexcin (which makes a joint supplement called FlexPet) analyzed data from June – December 2010 and found, “New parents represent the fastest-growing demographic inquiring about dog-joint health issues relating to pet obesity.”
In the six months studied, new parents totaled nearly one-third (32.3%) of the outreach for help with pet joint pain issues linked to being overweight. That’s 6.6% jump over numbers pulled in 2008.
The pet obesity link to arthritis and other troubles is clear. Even a couple extra pounds or two (especially in our smaller canine friends) is the equivalent to a big percentage overload on their bones, joints, and connective tissues.
Why Dogs With New Babies in the Family Gain Weight
The reasons behind fatter pets in households with young children include:
- Dogs eating foods babies / toddlers drop from high-chairs (78.4%)
- Families paying less attention to the dog’s food portions (67.7%)
- Dogs getting fewer walks due to time constraints and logistics of dogs + strollers (64.6%)
Simply put … too much food, too little exercise.
Friend of the company and blog, Dr. V from Pawcurious recently gave her take on this subject called “The long slow descent down the totem pole.” You can hop on over there to read her real-world advice on where to seek (perhaps demand) help with petcare tasks that might slide with a newborn in the house.
Dogs Love Food-Wielding Kids
A former colleague and longtime friend Elizabeth McGuire writes a blog called Peace, Love and Guacamole. It’s part photo essay, part written essay that elevates the tiny, everyday moment to the universal, part belly-laugh funny.
For example, she once posted THIS photo with the headline “Hope or Faith?”
My reply? “Stone-cold fact.”
To which Liz said, “Yep, it’s a fact. And also a reason that Zoe is our chubby dog!”
My Meager Dogs + Kids Advice (Relating to Food)
Since I am not a mom, I cannot offer much more advice than this … since it’s probably a given that your baby / toddler will share food with your dog — accidentally or otherwise:
- Make sure it isn’t foods poisonous to pets, like raisins.
- *Try* to cut back on regular meal portions to make up for extra calories gotten elsewhere.
Tell Us Your Dogs + Baby Survival Strategies!
So, how did you cope when babies came into your once dog-only home?
Tags: baby, canine joint pain, canine obesity, dogs and kids, Flexcin, FlexPet, parenting, toddler
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, Dog Health, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
Dogs Stealing Food: Counter Surfing Olympics
May 31st, 2011
Yes, I know it’s almost summer, but maybe I’m in a mood because the weather finally feels like spring in Colorado, after a strange winter and snowy, cold spring that went on and on and on. Suffice it to say that I’m in the mood for something a little light today. Crack me up, won’t you? What’s the craziest food item your dog has stolen. Off the counter, off the kitchen table, off your plate … it doesn’t matter where it happened. Entertain me please with stories of dogs stealing food.
Who me? Steal fruit? Never!
I’ll go first. My eldest and biggest dog Ginko, who is 1/2 Lab and 1/2 greyhound, has a penchant for stealing fruit and vegetables.
Yes, we’ve had trouble with hamburger buns disappearing from the kitchen counter, and once an entire ham-and-cheese sandwich, but he is most famous for his escapades involving fruit and veggies.
We have to keep our produce locked up much of the time now, but you can read all about the various heists via the links below.
What’s Your Dog’s Biggest / Funniest Food-Stealing Score?
Go ahead! Amuse me. What kind of food does your dog like to steal?
Tags: counter surfing dogs, dog behavior, dogs stealing food, fruit, vegetables
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | 11 Comments »
Specialty Dog Foods Not So Special
May 17th, 2011
Hype reigns in many consumer product markets, with companies trying to convince us there is a need that their product fills. The dog food market is no exception. The wonks among us bristle at the marketing messages pet owners accept as gospel, including me at times. So, it’s interesting to learn that veterinary nutrition researchers from Tufts University found that the nutritional content of so-called “senior dog food” varied widely. In other words, these specialty food probably aren’t all that special.
Just because there is gray on your dog's face, that doesn't mean you should automatically change to a so-called "senior dog food."
We’ve talked before about the flaws in the logic that say you need to change your dog’s food ONLY because he is getting older. Personally, I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to switch foods. My big dog, Ginko, turned 11 years old May 13, and he continues to eat and do well on the same food as our younger dog, Lilly (the border collie, who is the canine heroine of my other blog Champion of My Heart).
Senior Dog Food: What We Think, What Researchers Know
In addition to discrepancies between what pet owners thought was in senior dog foods and what really is in senior dog foods, Tufts researches found a variety of actual nutritional content in dog foods targeting older dogs. For example, the senior dog foods studied featured many differences depending upon brand:
- Calories: 246 to 408 calories per cup
- Protein: 4.8 to 13.1 grams of protein per 100 kcal
- Fat: 2.4 to 6.3 grams of fat per 100 kcal
- Sodium: 33 to 412 mg of sodium per 100 kcal (important for dogs with heart disease)
- Phosphorus: 3x difference in phosphorus content (important for dogs with kidney disease)
“If an owner, for example, had a senior dog with heart disease, they might be inclined to feed them a senior food, thinking that it had less sodium,” says Lisa M. Freemann, DVM, PhD, a professor at Tuft’s veterinary school and a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. “Instead, they might replace a diet that has a perfectly acceptable amount of sodium for one that is considerably higher.”
Not All Senior Dogs Need a Senior Dog Food
“The decision to buy a certain type of food for your aging dog is an emotional one: You want to extend her life and ensure she’s healthy well into her twilight years, ” Freeman says. “However, not all older dogs require a senior diet, and if you do decide to change to a senior food, talk to your veterinarian, because these foods are not all the same. It’s important to select one that is right for each dog.”
***
The full study published in the International Journal for Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine, Vol 9, No 1.
Tags: dog food resesarch, fat, potassium, protein, senior dog food, senior dog food research, sodium, specialty dog food, Tufts Univeristy
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, Dog Health, K9 Health, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Pet Food Ethics Survey Results
May 4th, 2011
In April 2011, I posed a three-question survey about the “ethics” of feeding human-grade food to dogs and cats in a world where people go hungry or suffer malnutrition, etc. The question came up after this now world-famous case of Patrick, the pit bull found on the brink of starvation. The very nature of our K9Cuisine.com community skews answers (mostly) in favor of dogs and cats. Here are the results.
Do you believe in feeding human-grade foods to dogs and cats?
- 89% – Yes
- 9.8% – No
- 1% – No response
Have you ever heard and/or considered the argument that feeding pets human-grade foods may contribute to global food issues (shortages, access, higher, pricing)?
- 28.5% – Yes
- 70.3% – No
- 1% – No response
How do you feel when others argue that supporting animal welfare causes instead of human welfare causes is misguided, unethical, etc.? (Choose all that apply.)
- 77.7% – Just because I support animal welfare doesn’t mean I don’t support human welfare.
- 66.6% – People should follow their hearts and support causes that matter to them.
- 24.4% – At least I’m doing something to make the world better.
- 21.1% – I concede there are bigger issues in the world, but I still believe in my causes.
- 21.1% – I don’t care what other people think.
- 2.2% – I agree. Pets are pets. People are people. People come first.
Tags: animal welfare, cat food, dog food, famine, global hunger, human welfare, human-grade pet food, malnutrition, pet food, pet food ethics, pet food ethics survey, starvation, world hunger
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Pet Food Market Growth and Predictions
April 26th, 2011
Compared to other falling consumer product industries, the pet food market continues to grow amid the recession and recovery. According to the 9th edition of Pet Food in the U.S. from Packaged Facts, retail sales of pet food reached $18.4 billion in 2010. This represents a one-year increase of 2.8%. However, it’s also the first time this CENTURY that the pet food market didn’t grow 3% or more in one year.
Pet Food News
Pet Food in the U.S. points to these 2010 acquisitions as top news for the year:
- Procter & Gamble/Iams buying Natura
- Nestle Purina buying treats maker Waggin’ Train
- Investors snapping up Del Monte
Health-related product development adds even more oomph to interest, investment, and growth in the pet food market. K9Cuisine.com Dog Food Dish reported earlier, for example, on the growth in pet nutritional supplements. Also fueling pet food market growth:
- Weight-loss foods and programs from major market forces like Hill’s and Purina
- A flood of special-diet and condition-specific foods
Pet Food Market Predictions
“Given that Procter & Gamble now has Natura and Mars Nutro, Packaged Facts suspects that Nestle Purina may be shopping for a ‘true’ natural pet food brand (i.e., one born in the pet specialty channel) to acquire, and it will be interesting to see which of these three top-ranked companies is first to make the pet-specialty-to-mass leap with such a brand,” says David Lummis, senior pet market analyst for Packaged Facts. “Such an event is only a matter of time.”
[emphasis mine]
Lummis also predicts that pet product powerhouses Petsmart and Petco may grab a natural pet food maker as an exclusive in-house brand. He thinks these companies are ripe for the picking (K9Cuisine carries and sells those with links below):
- WellPet LLC
- Natural Balance
- Halo Purley for Pets
- Nature’s Variety
- Castor & Pollux
Pet Food Market Thoughts
Because I already feed a kibble owned (at least partially) by one of the bigger pet food makers, these changes in the pet food market don’t worry me too much in terms of impact at our house, but I do know that others are fiercely loyal to their pet foods, especially if they learned of them organically through the specialty pet market, where recommendations and product “testing” is done person to person, pet to pet.
- Do you feed any of pet foods already snapped up or on the acquisition buffet?
- What (if anything) makes you worry about a big company taking over your favorite pet food brand?
- If you could decide which high-end, natural pet food gets a big boost through either Petsmart or Petco, which pet food would you pick and why?
Tags: cat food, David Lummis, Del Monte, dog food, Halo Purely for Pets, Mars Nutro, Natura, Natural Balance, Nature's Variety, Nestle Purina, Packaged Facts, pet food, pet food market, Procter & Gamble
Posted in Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | 3 Comments »
April 19th, 2011
After the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear problems in Japan, I began to question how prepared I am to feed my dogs in the event of a long-term disaster. What if, I asked myself recently, my family needed to evacuate or shelter in place for many weeks or months? And, what if the disaster disrupted manufacturing and distribution channels for everything, including pet food?
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Eating What You Eat
Clearly, in an emergency, feeding dogs pretty much whatever you’re eating is an option (if you can get food for yourself). After all, many people feed pets a homemade diet all the time.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Canned Stew + Rice Option
When I posed my dilemma, one of my loyal readers over at Champion of My Heart suggested stocking up on low-salt canned stews. We typically keep a pretty good sized stash of rice in the house, so that along with canned stew could indeed work for a while.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Dehydrated Pet Food
Then, our friends from GoPetFriendly.com (who also write pet travel posts for K9Cuisine.com’s Ruffin’ In: Pet Travel Tales), reminded me of their pet food of choice, which is also popular with Dog Food Dish Readers as we learned in our K9Cuisine 2010 Pet Food Survey, The Honest Kitchen.
You see, The Honest Kitchen is a dehydrated pet food product that takes up less space and only requires the addition of water before serving. Amy from Go Pet Friendly tells me that a 10-pound box of The Honest Kitchen makes 43 pounds of pet food.
Granted, this assumes you would have access to clean water during a disaster and aftermath, but I’ve decided it is indeed a viable option for an emergency pet food supply at our house, in a relatively rural area of the Rocky Mountains.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Human-Grade Pet Food
And, in a real emergency, you can also eat The Honest Kitchen pet foods because they are made from human-grade ingredients.
Speaking of which, if you haven’t taken our Pet Food Ethics Survey, please do. It asked a few questions about the global food impact of feeding human-grade food to pets.
Tags: cat food, dehydrated pet food, dog food, emergency food, emergency pet food supply, Honest Kitchen, man-made emergency, natural disaster, pet food, the honest kitchen
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Feeding Patrick: Recovery from Extreme Malnutrition
April 5th, 2011
If you love dogs and are online at all, you’ve likely heard about a young pit bull, dubbed “Patrick,” who was found right before St. Patrick’s Day 2011 in a garbage bag at the bottom of a high-rise building trash chute in New Jersey.
Skin and bones, literally, with what doctors estimate to be only hours to live, Patrick clearly suffered from an extreme case of malnutrition. How does a pup come back from that?
While I had heard about Patrick’s case, until about a week ago, I’d only seen the photos of him already well into his recovery. The photos of him the day he was found are graphic and upsetting beyond all measure, so I will not post them openly here. However, if you want to understand the full scope of this case, you can view this photo of Patrick on day one of his new life.
Questions About Feeding Patrick
I wondered how on earth you go about feeding a dog like this in a way that supports his recovery but does not cause additional troubles. So, on March 31, I put a call and an email into Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Trinton Falls, New Jersey, to ask. The veterinary team there has been providing round-the-clock care to Patrick since he was found. Many, many thanks to them.
They post updates to their GSVS Pet Hospital Facebook Page, and they even post videos to a special Patrick YouTube Channel, where you can see him eating, cuddling with his toys, getting various diagnostic tests and even a bath. Word has it that he likes to chase the ball, but I’ve not see video of that yet. I’m sure it’s darling.
Alas, amid caring for Patrick and the many other animals in need at the veterinary hospital and (I’m sure) amid the MANY media requests coming in, I did not hear back from Garden State Veterinary Specialists about my request for an interview about Patrick’s diet.
Honestly, I assumed that would be the case. I know how hectic all of this must be.
So, I also put a call into Tony Buffington, DVM, PhD, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and professor at The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center. He called me back right away, and we had a nice chat about cases of extreme malnutrition in general.
So, while I cannot tell you exactly how Patrick is being fed and what he is being fed, I can explain how cases like this typically go.
Starvation: Back from the Brink
I asked Buffington about starvation and how you bring a dog back from the brink.
“Just as a real pedantic point,” Buffington says, “Starvation means food deprivation to death, so in that case, you don’t have worry about bringing them back.”
So, we agreed to use “extreme malnutrition” to describe Patrick’s current medical state.
Buffington admits he hasn’t seen a case like this in 20-30 years, but the one he remembers most involved 120 dogs — just like Patrick — brought in all at once to a rescue group near the University of California – Davis, where he did his graduate work. “It’s a long story,” he says. “But, honestly, those dogs all did fine except for like one or two of them that essentially died the day they were found.”
The main worry, Buffington says, is that people often assume that the best dog food in a case like this is super high in protein. That can be a mistake … at least in the first few days.
“Sometimes people think, ‘Oh, they’ve lost so much protein, we’ve got to feed them puppy food or a high-protein diet,’” Buffington says. “And, you don’t want to do that for two or three days because the enzymes that get rid of the waste products of protein metabolism adapt down so that the animal can conserve its own protein mass, so you want to feed a 15% protein diet instead of a 50%. Obviously +/- a little bit.”
Extreme Malnutrition: Ramping Up the Dog’s Diet
For a dog like Patrick, Buffington says, you typically start by calculating the basal energy needs. In other words, how many calories does the dog need each day to maintain his body? For a young dog of this size (about 20 pounds when he was found), that’s about 400 calories as a minimum.
But, you cannot just start packing a dog like Patrick with food. “The first day, I would probably feed him a couple of hundred calories. I would break it out over the period of the day,” Buffington explains. “I would feed him a relatively digestible and not-too-high-in-protein diet, just to be on the safe side.”
Essentially, Buffington says, you ramp up the amount of food over several days:
- 50% on day one
- 75% on day two
- 100% on day three
“Within two or three days, you can feed them anything because that’s all the time it takes for the enzymes to adapt up,” Buffington says. “After the third day, you can feed as tolerance allows.”
Extreme Malnutrition: Recovery Outcomes
Like many following Patrick’s story, I worry every day that I’ll get online and find that he has suddenly died. However, Buffington says at this stage that’s “highly unlikely.”
He explains that the critical nutrition period in a puppy’s life begins to close around six or seven months of age. (Patrick is estimated to be about 1 year old.)
“And, he hasn’t been starved for six or seven months, or he would be dead,” Buffington says. “He looks like … I don’t know how long he was without food. Maybe four to six weeks, something like that. That’s about what a dog could tolerate.”
Buffington and I talk about the videos of Patrick eating and that he is showing more playful behaviors, and Buffington encourages me with, “See, he is going to be fine.”
Extreme Malnutrition: Long-Term Effects
Buffington calls long-term organ damage or other lingering health problems in a case like Patrick’s “not likely.”
He points to a study published in 1979 that found some subtle changes in heart function measures following significant weight loss from protein calorie malnutrition.
Researchers found that, “Although animals re-fed ordinary diets following acute weight loss restored normal concentrations of myocardial glycogen, cardiac abnormalities persisted for more than one month following refeeding. These results suggest that the adverse effects of semistarvation on LV function cannot be completely reversed by short-term refeeding.”
In other words, after a month on a normal diet, the dogs in the study persisted in having some heart function issues. After one year, as Buffington recalls, researchers found that the dogs had made a full recovery. “It took almost a year for all of the subtleties they were looking at to come back, but it had no effect clinically on the dogs,” he explains.
These heart concerns are likely why you’ll see veterinarians performing an echocardiogram on Patrick in one of last week’s YouTube video posts.
How You Can Honor Patrick
Changing Animal Abuse & Neglect Laws: Beyond sharing Patrick’s story via social media, some people are working on lobbying for better animal cruelty laws — not just in New Jersey, but in all states — because even if convicted on all counts, Patrick’s owner, who has been charged with the crimes against him, could only receive six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or community service as punishment. And, considering the egregious nature of this case, that doesn’t seem like enough to many people. Search for “The Patrick Movement” + your state to find a local group.
Adopt a Dog: Only one lucky person will get to provide Patrick with a forever home … once he is fully recovered, but you can honor Patrick by adopting another dog in need from a shelter or rescue group in your hometown.
If, like me, you’ve reached your dogs-in-the house limit, there are many other ways you can help dogs in Patrick’s honor:
Volunteer or provide foster homes to animals in need through your local animal shelter or rescue group. While not every case of animal abuse or neglect gets as much attention as Patrick has, there are many animals in need near you.
Make a cash donation to your local animal shelter or rescue group in Patrick’s honor. (Donations poured in right away to cover Patrick’s medical care and to support the humane society responsible for him.)
Make a food donation to your local animal shelter or rescue group in Patrick’s honor.
Make a food donation — people food and dog food — to your local community food bank in Patrick’s honor because more than 52 million families in the U.S. live in “food insecure” households and likely go to bed hungry every night.
Tags: animal abuse, animal neglect, Associated Humane Societies, Garden State Veterinary Specialists, malnutrition, New Jersey, Patrick, pit bull puppy, starvation
Posted in Dog Food News, Dog Health, K9 Health, K9 News, K9 Nutrition | 8 Comments »
Homemade Dog Food: Feeding Raw to Active Dogs
March 29th, 2011
This is the fifth post in our series of Dog Food Dish Q&As with people who make their own pet food. This week we feature some active canine athletes, who need solid nutrition.
QUESTION: Tell us about yourself and your dogs.
My name is Cindy Dalton. My husband Mike and I play flyball on Sure Shots flyball club. I have three dogs:
- An 11-year-old Australian Cattle Dog named Cody
- A 5-year-old Australian Cattle Dog named Bentley
- A 2-year-old border collie named Myles.
Bentley and Myles play flyball, and Cody is a couch potato. Bentley and Cody are both rescues.
QUESTION: Why and when did you switch to homemade (non-commercial) pet food?
I switched to raw feeding nearly two years ago, after I got Myles. Everyone on my flyball club feeds raw, and I was impressed with the condition and energy of their dogs. I did a lot of research and decided to switch when Myles was four months old. Prior to switching, I was feeding a grain-free kibble (Taste of the Wild), but felt I could do better. It was also very expensive ($50/bag).
Dalton Family, photo credit - www.grapevinememories.com
QUESTION: How did you develop your method/recipe, including if you feed fruits/veggies, other carbs and/or supplements?
I based my method off a combination of how my teammates feed. My dogs get a lot of chicken because it’s affordable and easy to find (I buy 10 lb. bags of chicken quarters at Wal-Mart for $5.99/bag). I also buy ground venison and beef blend from Texas Tripe and feed that a few times a week, along with liver and canned mackerel.
I often add supplements, usually Berte’s Daily Blend (available online from The Barfer Shoppe).
My philosophy when deciding what to feed my dogs is “what would a wild dog eat”? Since wild dogs don’t eat grains or vegetables, I don’t feed much of those. I’ve fed ground veggies in the past but haven’t in a while. I’ve used Berte’s Green Blend which I’ve seen recommended because it contains kelp, which is beneficial, rather than veggies. Each dog also gets fish oil capsules every day.
I feel my dogs are thriving on the raw diet. Not long after I switched, I noticed my older dog, Cody, had much more energy and seemed perkier. He was 8 when I switched, and he took to it as if he’d eaten it all his life. I enjoy being able to feed my dogs what I feel is the most natural diet for them.
QUESTION: Describe your time commitment/costs.
My husband was nervous about raw, so I’m the main person who feeds at our house. (He’ll do it now if I tell him how much to give each dog.) Since I just have three dogs, it hardly takes any more time than feeding kibble. I just have to make sure I have food defrosted for them. If I forget to defrost, they get canned fish that meal.
The most time consuming part is packaging up the chicken quarters, I use poultry shears to cut the thigh and drumstick apart, and split a 10 pound bag into two gallon Ziplocs, and feed out of the Ziploc. A 10 pound bag of quarters lasts me 5-6 days. I used to weigh the portions when I started, but once I got the hang of it, just started eyeballing the portions. If one dog gets a thigh for a meal, the next meal he gets a drumstick. Cody tends to be chunky since he’s not very active, so he usually gets a drumstick. It all balances out over time. I haven’t done a cost analysis, but feel that raw is about the same cost or a little cheaper than premium kibble.
QUESTION: What’s your best advice for those wanting to feed a raw, homemade dog food?
Do research until you’re comfortable about how to proceed. Realize that there is no right or wrong way to feed raw, it ends up being what is right for you and your dogs. I joined a local Yahoo raw feeding group, and read a few groups. Lew Olson’s book “Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs” is a great resource too. Once you’re ready, let your dogs help you figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Tags: active dogs, athletic dogs, dog nutrition, feeding raw, flyball, homemade dog food, homemade pet food, Lew Olson, natural dog nutrition, raw dog food, raw pet food
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
