What exactly is your pet eating?
rendered or extracted fat. Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed-grade animal fat. It is stabilized with powerful antioxidants to retard spoilage, and then sprayed directly onto extruded kibble to increase palatability. Mmmm…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."
used in pet foods, treats, and rawhide toys. Can be harmful, toxic, and definitely has NO nutritional value. Known allergic reactions in humans to: FD&C Red and Yellow no. 5 & 7 dyes. Do our pets care about the colour of their food?
synthetic chemical preservatives that may be potentially toxic to kidneys and have been banned for use in human products. Why use them in pet food?
the dried extracted residue of barley malt and rice products reulting from the manufacture of wort or beer.
non-rendered, clean parts, other than MEAT, derived from slaughtered animals, produced in the course of making a primary food ingredient. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, stomachs, intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, and hoofs, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. By-product = NO measurable amount of meat/skeletal muscle. Where's the meat? And where's the assurance that they are practicing "good processing"?
the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran…Where's the nutrition?
used as a humectant, which gives food a dampness and flexibility. It is pure processed (ie. SUGAR), which is difficult to digest for our pets, and potentially addictive.
an animal feed-grade ingredient that must be made soluble with the use of prolonged heat and moisture, or chemicals and enzymes (eg. Poultry feet= "Poultry Digest").
ingredients listed as product may include an unspecified part of the product. Egg product may include eggshells, and may also not include any egg whites. What is the point?
a rendered product and inexpensive source of animal protein. Why not feed your pets REAL meat, vegetables, and bones?
a powerful synthetic chemical preservative known to be highly carcinogenic. It was originally used as an insecticide and pesticide, as well as a rubber stabilizer. Remember that preservatives extend the shelf life of artificial petfood for months.
the sticky substance in wheat or corn starches that gives the starch its tough elastic quality, helping to hold together the pulverized composite of animal feed-grade ingredients (and create KIBBLE!)
a ground or pulverized composite of rendered animal feed-grade ingredients. Still on the fence here.
(Mono Sodium Glutamate) a flavour enhancer used to disguise inferior food quality. Known to cause potential brain and eye damage, and allergic reactions in humans.
a synthetic chemical preservative linked to liver damage.
a synthetic chemical preservative and flavour enhancer linked to kidney damage. Also used as a less-toxic version of the sweet-tasting chemical found in anti-freeze and brake fluid solvents.
synthetic chemical preservatives and colour enhancers both known to be carcinogenic.
Thus over the past 50 years of feeding our pets processed artificial petfood, is it a surprise that there has been an increase in idiopathic (of unknown cause) disease? Why can't we prevent Epilepsy? Or Cystitis, Hypothyroidism, Obesity, Dental Disease? WE CAN!! Just like we would never feed our children Kraft Dinner and weiners as their daily meal, we need to change the way we feed our pets! Please take the steps to start feeding your pets REAL food today. A natural diet is not as difficult as it sounds. And it may save your pet's life.
Dr. Corinne Chapman, of Rocky Ridge Vet Care