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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
Anna, Dr Becker is the DVM associated with Dr Mercola and wrote the book I mentioned above.
Dr. Mercola has a veterinarian associated with his site that is very knowledgeable about what nutrient balance different animals need and has formulas to make sure there is nothing missing.
I just read an article about this same thing at dr. mercolas site. he has dr.becker research all the info on pet care and she was also saying that if people decide to feed the fresh food it has to be in the right porportions for proper nutrition or it’s just as bad as feeding them the kibble. You know they spray thte kibble with abeef and fat flavored glycol so the pets will eat it, horrible!
I love that you have delved into the pet food realm. I am actually the opposite of most of your readers…I still have a lot to learn regarding cooking for myself, but my dogs have been on a raw diet for almost six years now, and I too will never feed anything else. They get beef and lamb mostly, but also pork, chicken, turkey, and venison when I can get some (and organ meats as well). They are the healthiest dogs I’ve ever had – shiny coats, clean teeth, vibrant energy, no physical ailments.
I am also very happy Linda has done her research and arrived at the conclusion that dogs are carnivores. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a vet say that dogs are omnivores!! Unfortunately, most of them believe what they have been told by the dog food reps that come to their school to give seminars about the “wholesome nutrition” in their foods. Sorry, but that is just not true. Our dogs’ own anatomy and physiology provides more than enough evidence of their carnivorous nature.
Ever since that first pet food recall several years ago, I decided that I was done with crap-in-a-bag!
Teeth tell the tale .. just take a look at a dog’s teeth and it is obvious they are carnivores just like you can take a look at a human’s teeth and it is obvious they are omnivores .. not herbivores like vegans insist upon!
A number of folks discover the principles of traditional eating for themselves via the doggie door interestingly enough 🙂
This IS how i came about eating a plain simple way of eating for myself. I started my dogs on Blue Buffalo , then Taste of the Wild …..thinking all that was good. Then I started myself on whole good foods and then my dogs on completely raw! It was such a ‘duh’ time. Something i was making soooo hard is so easy to do!
Thanks for sharing this, Stephanie!
Good for you, and good for your dogs!
Yes, you’re spot on in saying that the truth is that anatomically as well as physiologically speaking – on the inside of their bodies – domestic dogs are essentially the same as grey wolves, which are the species of animal from which all dogs are descended.
And the primary and preferred prey of grey wolves are large ungulates. In other words, both dogs and wolves were made to consume primarily the raw meat, raw meaty bones and raw organs of plant eating grazing animals.
This is due in a big way, as Sarah rightly points out, to their dentition, but it’s also very much because of their digestive anatomy and processes, which are clearly those of a carnivore.
Here’s a link to an excellent article explaining why dogs are considered to be very adaptable, and are really more opportunistic carnivores, rather than being omnivores:
http://rawfed.com/myths/omnivores.html
Thanks, Linda! I am a wildlife biologist by training/education, so feeding our domesticated carnivores raw has made perfect sense to me ever since I decided to do it. I am passionate about evolutionary biology, and to those that use the few thousand years of domestication as evidence of omnivory (saying we made them omnivores through our domestication of them); I hate to break it to you, but that is not enough time from an evolutionary standpoint to evolve such a drastic change in a species that is so closely related to the gray wolf that the domestic dog is a subspecies of the wolf. That means that they are essentially the same species. Therefore, their anatomy and physiology are still the same (despite the many differences in size and morphology), as are their dietary requirements.
Sorry to write a novel here, but I am obviously passionate about dogs! 🙂
Again, this is some really key information you’ve written here, Stephanie,. Thank you for pointing this out!
Despite their external variations in terms of superficial differences in things like their size, coloring, coat texture, ear shape etc, on the inside, dogs and wolves are essentially the same animal, just as you say.
Just to back up this up, it’s helpful to see the official scientific classifications of wild gray wolves and domesticated dogs:
Gray wolves are classified as Canis lupus.
ALL domestic dogs – whether they be tiny Chihuahuas or massive Mastiffs – are classified as Canis lupus familiarus.
Although different breeds of dog may vary in their external appearance, they’re really all the same species, which is a subspecies of the gray wolf.
Thank you so much for sharing your professional expertise on this subject with us here!
I tried raw and my dogs did not do so well. The smallest one got sick. Of course the vet said not all dogs can handle it. I have a Chisit and a pompoo. I would like to try again maybe with just beef . I do cook for them, either beef or chicken, some brown rice or oatmeal and vegetables like brocoli, peas, carrots and some unsweetened applesauce. I do make it cut up pretty small becuase the little one chokes easily. I give them the doggie bones for teeth, and I know that is not the best. I do use some of those soup bones, but now cook them first. I wish I could just feed raw, sounds much easier than all the cutting up I do.
I thought that was the nastiest and most repulsive information in the post as well!
The Matrix is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. Definitely top three.
same!!
-jason and lisa-
I guess I should mention the canned food we decided to use is Natural Balance (recommended by Dr Becker if you feel the need to feed commercial food) limited ingredient diet food. The ingredients look good and we are having allergy issues with chicken and potatoes so really need to watch ingredients. my 8.5 year old Rhodesian ridgeback is looking and feeling better since removing raw chicken from her diet.
The Natural Balance website has ingredients listed for all its canned dog foods, many of which contain starchy, carb-laden, cheap filler plant based ingredients like oat bran, brown rice, potato starch and potatoes. These are listed among the first 7-8 ingredients on many of these products. However unfortunately, they’re far from ideal dietary choices for carnivorous canines.
Since dogs are essentially grey wolves, which are animals that evolved to thrive on the consumption of large ungulates, many dogs do better being fed raw red meat/meaty bones like beef, venison, elk, and lamb etc than they do on raw diets relying heavily on fowl.
Another consideration is that some conventional chicken is “enhanced,” meaning it’s injected with an artificial solution consisting of saline and other questionable chemicals that can be problematical for many dogs when they consume it.
Our vet recommended raw meat from beef and chicken, bones, fish and organs. Once we switched to raw food, our dogs no longer shed year round just a week or two spring and fall. They have healthy teeth, gums, coats, weight and they seem very content.
Wow! Your vet recommended? Hang on to that vet! One of the many great benefits is the reduced amount of shedding.
We get a grain free totally natural food for feline and dogs from a line called TASTE OF THE WILD….awesome stuff. reasonable price too. our local feed store carries it. dogfood is made with bison and salmon, catfood salmon…both with what those animals could eat in nature. animals love it.
TOTW has been involved with the giant diamond food recall recently… i wouldn’t trust it!!
An improperly balanced raw diet can be worse than a commercial food diet. Check out “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr Becker, DVM. I fed raw for approx 7 years and have recently switched to canned until I can get back to feeding raw again. I definitely don’t like dry.
A raw, balanced diet can be much cheaper than the processed stuff. And if you are worried about salmonella, just research all the recalls that have taken place, and are still taking place, in recent years. Processed pet food has killed many pets! There is a recall right no on kibble made by Diamond Brands, because it can make humans sick from salmonella. No thanks! I feed mostly grocery store meats, except for occasional deer in season, and get them on sale. More affordable than “natural” kibble. You don’t need to be a nutritionist. Just get the guidelines at the Yahoo group I mentioned. It keeps my dogs going into very old age.