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We’ve all seen it on TV and printed in magazines. Advertisements for commercially manufactured, highly processed cans and bags of unhealthy pet food.
Such ads have become a fixture in our media, an integral aspect of our culture for decades. They always seem to depict the happiest, most contented people, along with the healthiest looking, most beautiful, vibrant, clear-eyed, glossy coated, friendly, lovable and adorable cats and dogs imaginable.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
These advertisements, while seemingly innocuous, are actually extremely sophisticated in terms of the ways in which they’re designed to appeal very powerfully to our subconscious nature, so as to coerce us into purchasing the products they’re pushing.
They often anthropomorphize animals, causing us to identify with our pets even more closely than we already do. The ads sometimes also strive to convince us that the kinds of foods that are appealing to and/or perhaps healthy for us are also good for our animal friends to eat.
The Ploy of “Delicious” Pet Food
Many pet food ads also make a big point of focusing on how delectable their products are, driving home the point of how much our pets absolutely love and crave the taste of them. Since these ads are obviously not meant for the animals themselves to watch, it’s almost as if the advertisers are trying to make our human mouths water with the kinds of graphic descriptions they use to convince us of just how incredibly yummy and delicious these pet foods really are!
Besides the irresistible flavor of the products they’re promoting, these ads also often describe the ingredients pet foods contain as being utterly wholesome, exceptionally nutritious, and totally geared toward promoting the good health of our pets.
Pet food commercials often give us a very warm, fuzzy, comforting feeling. They can be very effective at engendering in us a sense of safety and security as if to convince us wholeheartedly that the products they’re selling are a really good, solid, nourishing foundation upon which the health of our pets can be built. These ads can make us feel that if we buy the products they’re selling and feed them to our pets, that by doing so we’re taking the best care possible of our beloved furry friends. The ads lead us to believe that by feeding our animals their particular brand of products, we’re making the best choice possible to ensure the good health and longevity of our precious, beloved animal companions.
Pet Food Is All About Branding
We get ‘branded’ when we get sold on a brand and plunk down our hard earned money to buy that particular one.
And yet despite how effectively these pet food ads evoke such feelings in us — feelings of being so safe and secure, so good about ourselves, and so comforted in the notion that the products they’re convincing us to buy are such a good healthy choice for our pets to eat on a daily basis – the real and startlingly contradictory truth underlying the pet food industry at large is a subject about which the vast majority of people remain quite blissfully unaware.
Most people have no idea that virtually all of what goes into those cans and bags of pet food are vast amounts of waste products – many of which are pretty darn nasty – that are left over from the manufacture of food for human consumption.
Another significant portion of the ingredients used in the manufacture of commercial pet food is derived from genetically modified grain crops, particularly soy and corn, which are virtually always heavily sprayed with toxic petrochemical pesticides and herbicides, and grown in depleted soils treated with synthetic fertilizers.
I believe the term “junk pet food,” which is the phrase I use to describe commercially manufactured pet food, was coined by Australian veterinarian Dr. Tom Lonsdale. He’s the author of two books about raw feeding for pets, entitled Work Wonders and Raw Meaty Bones.
The reason I call it junk is because after doing a great deal of research and digging very deeply into this subject, it has become abundantly evident to me that the majority of these pet food products are of extremely – nay, shockingly – poor quality. In fact when it comes to providing the kind of nourishment our carnivorous companions truly require to thrive, the vast majority of these pet foods fail miserably, and many, in my opinion, are downright dreadful.
That many pets can even survive at all on a lifelong diet of such abysmal junk food is truly a remarkable yet tragic testament to their incredible resilience and adaptability.
We who are interested in learning about, purchasing and preparing the most nutrient dense, wholesome foods possible for ourselves and our families, are all too well aware of what a profoundly deleterious effect the consumption of poor quality, highly processed junk food can have on our human health.
Pet Food Leads to Chronic Pet Ill Health
Well, the same is true for our furry friends. And the epidemic of chronic ill health in the form of debilitating ailments such as periodontal disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, etc. etc. in the junk pet food-fed domestic pet population is surely a telling parallel.
So just what are the dirty secrets of the junk pet food industry? The most disturbing, nitty-gritty details, which are beyond the scope of this piece, can be found by reading several online resources that are linked at the end of this post.
To provide an overview here, what’s most important to know is that the bulk of ingredients used in most commercial pet foods come from places called rendering plants. Rendering plants are facilities designed to process a wide variety of leftover waste products, a number of which are quite unspeakable, and most of which are derived from the production of food for human consumption.
Here’s a partial list of items that are routinely sent to, and processed by, rendering plants. Even the cheapest homemade dog food or cat chow would be light years better than this!
- Slaughterhouse wastes, including almost all portions of animals that are not generally considered to be fit for human consumption, such as heads, hides, spines, hooves and diseased body parts
- Diseased, disabled, dying or dead livestock deemed unfit for human consumption, aka 4D animals
- Expired meats from grocery stores, including their plastic and styrofoam packaging
- rancid, overcooked oils drained from fryolators, and filthy grease from grease traps from fast food and other restaurants
- The bodies of domestic cats and dogs that have been euthanized, sometimes right along with flea and tick collars still attached around their necks
- Road kill, YES ROAD KILL!
Rendering plants take the above sorts of items and throw them all into a giant auger to pulverize them.
The resulting ‘soup’ is cooked at extremely high temperatures, surely at least in part to kill off all the potentially harmful bacteria, pathogens and parasites that may be lingering on dead, rotting flesh. However this very high heat also destroys much of whatever nutritional value the stuff may have ever had to begin with. Then the fat is rendered off, and what’s left is made into various products that are known by the euphemistic terms we’re used to seeing on pet food ingredients lists.
If you haven’t already, I would strongly encourage everyone reading this post who is concerned about the health of our pets to start reading pet food labels.
Here’s a partial list of suspect ingredients that come from rendering plants:
- meat by-products
- chicken by-product meal
- meat meal
- meat and bone meal
- animal digest
- animal fat (often treated with things like BHA and/or citric acid)
Also, notice how many junk pet food ingredients listed on the label are grain based, such as corn, soy, wheat, rice, sorghum or barley etc.
As you begin to notice how many grain based ingredients are contained in these products, please bear in mind that dogs and cats are carnivorous animals whose bodies were never designed to consume grains in any appreciable quantities.
For those of you interested in learning the details, below are links to several relevant web pages and articles that delve even more deeply into this troubling subject:
http://www.rawfedcats.org/toxic.htm
http://www.homevet.com/index.php/diet-discussion/item/315-an-excerpt-from-the-book-food-pets-die-for
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-ultimate-recycling-the-rendering-industry
Sources and More Information
We feed our dogs Blue Buffalo (Lamb and brown rice is their fav), it is corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavor and preservative free and no meat by-products. We feed our cats Acana (Grasslands/Lamb if their fav). It is made with always fresh, locally sourced meats and veggies. Grain/gluten/corn/soy and preservative free. The quality is so high it is even safe for human consumption. We have gluten/grain sensitive dogs and cats and have been very happy with these brands in solving our scratching/biting and tummy issues for them.
I’d like to point out here that many of these types of ‘grain free’ pet foods – which are not only commercially manufactured and highly processed, but also cooked – often contain a number of very starchy plant based ingredients that are used as filler.
Such carb-laden plant based ingredients can include things like white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, pumpkin, carrots and apples etc. Unfortunately, the bodies of carnivores, particularly obligate carnivores like cats, were never designed to consume such starchy plant foods in any appreciable amounts.
Because dogs and cats are carnivorous animals that Nature designed to thrive primarily on the raw meat, bones and organs that make up the bodies of prey animals, feeding our pets a steady diet of starchy cooked plant foods has the potential to be problematical for their health, especially when fed in quantity over the long term.
I love this! Sarah I don’t know if you have any pets but I was wondering if you would consider doing a recipe for dog and cat food!! I love so many of your recipes for humans! I’m sure you could come up with a good recipe for pet food! Thanks for all your hard work in teaching us how to nourish our bodies!
There really are no recipes for pet food, as the food should be minimally processed, if it all. Dogs and cats are carnivores so all they require are meat and bones plus organs. Some people also feed eggs, raw dairy, table scraps, etc. To keep their teeth shiny dogs and cats need to tear into their food so anything processed (such as ground meat-based products) do not do much good at all. Keep it simple: plenty of meat on the bone, some boneless meals, organs and small amounts of ‘other’ food. I like Tom Lonsdale’s idea of a ‘prey model’: keep it as close to the whole animal as possible, so less than 10% bones, few organs, mostly meat, etc.
Thank you for this reply, Magda!
I’m in total agreement with everything you say, especially about the recommendation of feeding a raw prey model diet, as this is precisely what I advocate for both cats and dogs.
The form of the food we feed our carnivores is paramount, and whole, wholesome foods, minimally processed are best for our pets – just as they are for us!
i was shocked to see MSG in fish fry food!
No thanks! Raw meat!!
Yes just raw meat for my Newfie! He is gorgeous and shiny!
I read about this kind of thing a while back when researching my rescue cat’s diabetes. We switched her to Wellness brand grain-free turkey (wet) and she has now been diabetes free for a number of years. Are brands like this ok?
I used to feed my dog Blue Buffalo Grain-free, and she started turning her nose up at the food. But then I noticed her belly looking bloated. I switched her to a raw diet of beef, mixed with assorted fruits and vegetables and she loves it. I just hope she’s getting the vitamins and minerals she needs.
Just make sure you are also feeding organs too. spleen, liver, kidney. Heart is good. raw fish, tripe, raw eggs
Viand from PHD Products is a great holistic dog food.
Question.
I feed my dog a grain free, salmon and sweet potato formula. The only two ingredients are salmon and sweet potato along with veggies. I also put cod liver across the top of his food. My kittens are on a three fish diet with no grain. We grow grass for their digestion.
All of the food you have pictured is the junk grain based stuff… is my food okay? If we really don’t want to change over to a raw diet.
Mariah- I certainly can’t speak as to the quality of your pet food, but I can share with you what I learned when I started investigating packaged pet food. Pet food makers only have to list what they added to the product in their warehouse. So if they purchased any ingredients from another source that have been sprayed with chemicals, etc, they don’t have to list those chemicals because they didn’t add it in their factory. A good example of this is fish meal. By law it has to be sprayed with a certain chemical that is known to cause cancer (Sorry, can’t remember the name of the chemical). They ship it off to be put in pet food and none of us will know the fish meal has been sprayed with it because they don’t have to list it int he ingredients since the pet food maker didn’t put it in there to begin with.
From the moment I read that I never bought any packaged food again because we consumers have no way of ever really truly knowing what is in there. I’ve been making my dog’s food since. They are so shiny that when we take them for walks people will always comment on their coats because they are so shiny. They ask us what shampoo it is that makes them so shiny. We tell them its their diet, not the shampoo. They also, at age 5 and 4, still have white shiny teeth. There eyes glisten and they are super healthy. I will never go back to packaged food for them again.
What food is this that only has these ingredients? Would love to get it?
Matural balance hypo allergenic , salmon and sweet potato grain free
Mariah contacted me privately offlist, and I feel that my response to her would be of benefit to all, so I’m posting it here:
The reason I advocate a diet for our pets consisting of whole raw foods – essentially raw meat, raw meaty bones, and raw organs, is because cats’ and dogs’ bodies were designed to eat their food in its raw state, and because these animals are carnivores.
I looked at the ingredients list of the (Natural Balance brand) pet food you’re feeding your dog and saw that the very first ingredient is sweet potatoes, which are a very starchy plant food that’s full of carbohydrates. The problem with this kind of ingredient is that Mother Nature never designed canines to eat any significant amounts of carbohydrate-rich plant based foods! Their bodies are simply not made to consume such things. Therefore over time, a diet rich in these kinds of starchy, plant based, carb-laden foods can lead to a number of different health complications.
Here’s an article that explains more about why dogs are carnivores:
http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html
All cats are obligate carnivores, which means their bodies were also designed by nature to eat what essentially amounts to little other than the bodies of their prey, which are comprised of raw meat, raw meaty bones, and raw organs. However the very first ingredient on the list of the Natural Balance fish pet food is brown rice. Again, this is an extremely starchy, plant based food that’s rich in carbohydrates. And feeding such foods to cats on a regular basis over the long term may very well lead to chronic health issues such as kidney failure, diabetes, obesity and digestive and urinary issues.
The reasons these pet foods can cause problems for our pets is because they are:
1) highly processed,
2) cooked, and
3) often made with cheap, starchy, plant based fillers (even if they’re grain free) which are not appropriate for carnivores to eat in any quantity.
This is why I’m such a staunch advocate of feeding pets a diet of whole raw foods, and do not recommend processed, cooked pet foods.
Please see my website http://rawfedcats.org for more information on all this, as there are over 50 pages of free information available there for you to read. There are also numerous links to other articles, websites and resources on the links page of my site, where you can find even more information on the reasons for and benefits of raw feeding for pets.
You are right on. I was feeding my dog the potato and duck (it had been duck and poatao), twithin the first 6 ingredients three of them were a potato substance, one a texturizer, which can become toxic, and canola oil (most likely GMO). This product is mainly starch with very little duck. It cause the demise of my beloved pet, I was not only starving him with this product, I was also poisoning him. I now only give home cooked and raw, no more “quality” commercial kibble for my fuzzy friends.
The 7th ingredient was “natural flavor”, which can be MSG or greasy fat.
I am extremely happy about this new topic! Thanks for this very good article! I have been eating a wholesome diet since a year, but my two dear cats still eat the junk I buy them. I have wanted to change their food for some time now, but never took the time to investigate.
By the way Sarah, I love this website. It has helped me and my family so much! So now also for my cats!
Greetings from The Netherlands!
Welcome Gemma! I am so excited that the international readership of this blog is growing! Folks from other areas of the world add such an interesting and varied perspective to the discussion. It is really crucial that all points of view are included as we all try to find our balance and health in this crazy world of processed foods and rampant and often hidden toxins.
Thank you for welcoming me, I have been fallowing you for almost a year! 🙂 It is nice to hear that the international perspective is appreciated. Here in Holland we face a lot of the same challenges, but (like in the US) I see a growing number of people becoming conscious of food and health. For example, this year the 1st Weston A. Price Day The Netherlands was organized and it was successful!