What dog food ingredients should you avoid? Are any common dog food ingredients harmful to your little one? If they are harmful at all, why in the world would manufacturers add them in the first place?
6 Dog Food Ingredients To Avoid
1. Meat By-products
These aren’t animal meats at all. This is everything left from an animal carcass once the actual meat and bones have been removed.
Yes, these also can offer nutrition! Are there better forms of nutrition to be found elsewhere? Certainly. Animal meat by-products are often used as an inexpensive way for manufacturers to meet nutritional guidelines.
These could include (but aren’t limited to) the lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, fatty tissue, stomachs, and intestines!
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2. Propylene Glycol
This will metabolize lactate very rapidly in a dog’s body, causing lactic acidosis. It can even cause liver damage and renal failure! This is commonly used in antifreeze and other lubricants.
Unfortunately, these have been approved for use in many dog foods, despite several medical professionals claiming the substance can be very dangerous.
3. Too Much Rice & Corn
Before we say anything else, a well-balanced, nutritional dog meal will offer a little bit of everything! This includes meat protein (of course), vegetables, fruits, and even grains. You’ll want your pet to get nutrients from a wide array of sources.
Dogs are still mainly carnivorous and should derive most of their protein from animal sources! Animal proteins and plant proteins are not the same. They both offer different combinations of amino acids.
Most of the essential amino acids a dog needs in his diet are found in animal meat proteins!
Some think the wet/dry nose theory started back when distemper was common! A wet dog nose meant your dog was healthy and didn’t have distemper.
Most domesticated puppies today are fully vaccinated against Distemper by about 16 weeks, making the condition uncommon.
But animals cost more to raise and feed. Corn is much cheaper to grow! Despite the nutritional impacts from a dog food package made of about 50% corn and wheat, giant dog food manufacturers will do their best to save money where they can.
- “Starchy vegetables are high in carbohydrates and can contribute to unnecessary weight gain.”
6 Dog Food Ingredients To Avoid
4. Corn Syrup
Corn syrup isn’t exactly toxic but does contain a lot of carbohydrates. One tablespoon contains about 16 grams of sugar. Too much sugar in a dog’s diet can contribute to excess weight gain, diabetes, and numerous other health conditions!
Do dogs even need carbohydrates at all? Not really, no. Dogs don’t use glucose as a primary means of energy production like humans do. Not only are they probably already getting too many carbs from all the plant matter in most manufactured foods, but they are also getting corn syrup.
Why is corn syrup used at all? This is used often both as a preservative and to add calories to a dog’s food.
5. Food Dyes
What is so bad about food dyes? Certain dyes have been labelled as both human and dog carcinogens, meaning they can contribute to cancer. They were also linked to certain concentration problems in human children, though no studies have shown this in dogs.
Try your best to avoid these. There really isn’t any reason to have them in dog food, as your dog probably doesn’t care what his food looks like! Dyes are used to enhancing visual appeal to human owners, so they are more likely to purchase a specific brand.
6. Raw Animal Meat
Dog foods are cooked for a reason!
Wild wolves will eat raw animal meat and seem to thrive from it, so why not feed it to our dogs? This is probably the rationale that led to the ‘raw dog food ingredients’ craze all over the world today! Many well-educated veterinarians will even argue the merits of raw dog food.
Of course, more veterinarians and biologists will argue against it.
When we cook our animal meat, we are killing any dangerous bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other pathogens that may reside within. Feeding a diet of raw meat subjects your dog to all these risks!
There may be some nutritional benefits to raw meats and other foods, but the risks of intestinal parasites or bacterial infection (some of which can be very dangerous) easily outweigh those benefits.
Don’t fall for clever marketing tactics or interesting speeches. No dog is immune to intestinal parasites! Always cook your animal meat if you do feed additional meats to your pet.
- Remember, you always want to make sure your dog has constant access to fresh, cool & clean drinking water!
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