I found the “MyBowl” to be disgustingly inaccurate with the potential to greatly harm dogs if fed a food with the recommended ingredients. According to “MyBowl”, your dog should have 50% carbohydrates in their diet and roughly 25% protein and 25% fruits and vegetables. According to the “MyBowl”, some of the “good carbohydrate” sources you should look for are wheat and corn….um, no? The thing I find most fascinating is the fact that Science Diet is attempting to replicate the MyPlate idea by the USDA. However, the human MyPlate is actually fairly correct. Just by looking at the plate, the division of grains, proteins, fruits, and vegetables is fairly equal (it looks like grain slightly favor the protein food group, but it’s pretty close). This is a fairly accurate example of what should be in a HUMAN diet. We are omnivores and get a benefit from all of the food groups. What fascinates me, is that generally Science Diet refers to dogs as omnivores as well. Since that is the case, wouldn’t it appear logical that their “MyBowl” resemble the portion sizes of the USDA’s MyPlate? At least that would make some sort of sense. However, since Science Diet makes pet foods that have very little protein and sometimes over 50% carbohydrates, they have decided to try to “educate” the public on their food products and not on what a dog should actually be eating. This is disgusting!

The truth is, your dog is a carnivore. He is designed to eat meat, not carbohydrates. With so many foods out there that contain 50% carbohydrates, it’s no wonder so many dogs are overweight, have dental issues, and have diabetes. Even our own doctors (and the USDA) do not recommend we eat a diet that contains 50% carbohydrates, so why is Science Diet recommending it for our pets?

To see for yourself the gross misrepresentation of what should actually be in your pets’ diet, check out http://www.petmd.com/mybowl

To see the MyPlate version by the USDA go here: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

What we feed out pets has a huge impact on whether our pets maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, about 90% of the foods available for your pets are really designed to make your pet gain weight. Don’t believe me…well, think about it this way, if you were to go to your doctor and tell him that all you ate every day was cereal, either in two separate meals or you just free feed on a box of cereal all day, he would look at you and say you were nuts. Furthermore, chances are you would probably be pretty sick too. That is equivalent to what is in many of the pet foods that are available on the market today. Granted, there are a few smaller companies that focus on making human-grade, species appropriate diets, but unfortunately they are few and far between. Most pet food manufacturers have absolutely no motivation to produce healthy pet food. What they are motivated by is the highest possible dollar amount that they can make on their products.

The nutrients available to your pets in many of the larger, more popular brands are not what your pets need to keep their weight low. Many of these foods are anywhere between 30% to over 50% carbohydrates (Hill’s W/D, the prescription diet for diabetes and weight loss in dogs consists of 50.6% carbohydrates…yes, Hill’s recommends giving a dog with diabetes a high carbohydrate diet…does anyone else see a flaw in this logic?). Many of the “Low Fat” and “Light” pet foods are the worse culprits with regard to their “method” of weight loss. These foods use the logic that by lowering the calories and fat and adding fiber, that your pets will loose weight. Unfortunately, by lowering the calories and fat and adding fiber, these foods are also raising the carbohydrate levels of the food and significantly lowering the meat protein levels. Just like in human food, the foods that are advertised as “low fat” are consequentially higher in carbohydrates. So, although your pets food may be low in fat, the high carbohydrate levels create extra calories that your pet will not burn, which will then be stored as fat (vicious cycle isn’t it?) (2).

The key to keeping our pets weights down is to feed them a species appropriate diet. While raw food may be too expensive for some pet owners, there are dry pet foods out there that attempt to get close to a species appropriate diet with their ingredients and protein, fat, and carbohydrate ratios (it’s not perfect, but for the cost it’s a viable option).

It is also important to watch the serving sizes that you give your pet. The guidelines on the back of a pet food bag are a great starting point, but some pets may require more or less than the recommended feeding guidelines in order to maintain a healthy weight. An example would be a dog or cat that is a couch potato, these pets will generally require less of the recommended feeding amount, as they will not be burning as many calories throughout the day.

Although exercise is not the only reason for pets to be overweight, it is a significant reason. While feeding your pet a species appropriate diet is a key component to keeping your pet at a healthy weight; exercise is a great way to help your pet build muscle mass, which will also help them burn calories by increasing their metabolism (2).

It is also important to watch the treats that you give your pets. I am not a huge fan of biscuits, since if you are already feeding a processed kibble it is better to stick with meat based treats. Freeze-dried meaty treats, dehydrated treats, and slow roasted meat treats are all great examples of ways to give your pets treats without upping their carbohydrate intake (which would be the case if you gave your pet biscuits). But as with everything, moderation is very important.

To wrap it up, the key to your pets maintaining a healthy weight is feeding a species appropriate diet (and watching serving size), exercise, and sticking to meaty treats (in moderation).

Resources:

1)      Association for Pet Obesity – http://www.petobesityprevention.com/fat-pets-getting-fatter-according-to-latest-survey/

2)      Article by Dr. Karen Becker – The Skinny on Low Fat Diets http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/07/07/the-skinny-on-low-fat-diets.aspx

From what I have been able to gather on-line, there appears to have been 13 recalls in the past year and a half for pet foods and treats contaminated with Salmonella. 10 out of the 13 recalls were from DRY pet foods and treats, and only 3 were from raw pet foods. These numbers also do not include the several other DRY pet foods that were recalled for mold (Wysong), plastic hat pieces in the bags (Nutro), Vitamin D Overdose (Blue Buffalo), Aflatoxin (Old Yeller, Kroger), and Low Thiamine levels (Wellness). It seems to me that there is a significant higher danger of your pets coming into contact with not only salmonella, but other much more serious recall issues from DRY pet foods than they ever would if they were eating a raw food diet. Below is the list of pet foods recalled for salmonella in the past year and a half.

1. Hartz Naturals Reel Beef Treats

2. Merrick Dog Food – Beef Filet Squares & Texas Hold’ems

3. P&G – Iams and Eukanuba Specialized and “Veterinary Formula” Dry Dog Food Recalls (Also Included Eukanuba Naturally Wild, Pure, and Custom Care Sensitive Skin)

4. United Pet Group – Pro-Pet Adult daily Vitamin Supplement for Dogs

5. Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. – Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food

6. Rollover Premium Pet Food Ltd. (Canada) – Pork Tenders Premium Dog Treats

7. Nature’s Variety – Raw Frozen Chicken Diets

8. Merrick Pet Care – Beef Filet Squares Dog Treats

9. Primal Pet Foods – Raw Chicken & Salmon Cat Food

10. Merrick Pet Care – Jr. Taffy Pet Treat

11. Several Pig Ear Companies (Merrick, Bravo, Boss Pet)

12. Purine One Vibrant Maturity Cat Food

13. Feline’s Pride – Natural Raw Chicken Cat Food

I would like to point out that the chances of a healthy dog or cat showing symptoms of salmonella poisoning is rare. Healthy dogs and cats have a very acidic stomach which generally destroys all pathogens. I found a great article by Dr. Karen Becker that discusses the truth about salmonella and raw feeding. She also discusses how to keep your family safe from salmonella infection. I encourage everyone to read this article, since as I have pointed out; salmonella contamination is not just localized to raw food (and is in fact more common in dry pet food).

For more information please view:

http://www.petproductnews.com/headlines/2010/06/18/potential-salmonella-contamination-prompts-natural-balance-voluntary-recall.aspx

As a side note, Pet Country discontinued Natural Balance after the food was recalled in 2007 for Melamine poisoning.

The canned cat food that were recalled are:

According to P&G,”early signs of thiamine deficiency may include loss of appetite, salivation, vomiting and weight loss.  In advanced cases, signs may include ventroflexion (downward curving) of the neck, wobbly gait, falling, circling and seizures.” If your cat is eating this food and has experienced any of these symptoms it would be best to contact your veterinarian immediately.

As a side note, Pet Country has not, and will never sell Iams pet food (or any food like it).

Link to article:

http://media.iams.com/iams/en_US/data_root/html/recall_message.html

The interesting thing about the nutrient profile standards set up by AAFCO is that the nutrient profile in no way guarantees the digestibility or quality of ingredients in the pet food. All that is required is that a food meets a minimum or maximum percentage on the guaranteed analysis of a label. Pet food companies would like us to believe that the Crude Protein found on its guaranteed analysis label is coming from meat. This is not the case; in fact, Crude protein encompasses all of the protein found in the product (it does not have to come from any meat source at all)! Technically, as long as you were to throw a vitamin pack in the food, someone could make a pet food that passes the nutrient profile standard with car tires, leather boots, and horse tails. These three ingredients contain protein, fat, and fiber, and with the addition of a vitamin pack, one has created a pet food that passes the nutrient profile standards.

Below, I have compared two very different pet foods with the ingredients found in a common kid’s cereal. I believe we would all agree that it would not be healthy to feed kids cereal for every single meal, every day, for their entire lives. Yet, the ingredients in pet food #1 (a mainstream food found in your local supermarkets) are very similar to the ingredients found in the Kid’s Cereal. According to AAFCO, that’s fine, since Pet Food #1′s nutrient profile meets all of the minimum requirements for the nutrient profile set by the organization. Pet Food #2, in great contrast to pet food #1, contains a variety of meat sources. The ingredient panel is completely different from the one found on the Kid’s Cereal.

Bottom line, pet foods are not created equal. Your pet may be able to survive on pet foods that meet the minimum nutrient standards set by AAFCO, but that does not mean that your pet will thrive (or even live very long) on every pet food on the market.

Link to the FDA’s website about AAFCO’s nutrition standards:

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047120.htm

Natura Pet Products was founded in 1992 by John and Ann Rademakers and Peter Atkins in Santa Clara, California. The company has always stressed the importance of animal nutrition and strived to make the best pet foods on the market. In contrast, Proctor and Gamble, a company that has been under pressure by animal rights organizations for their alleged cruel animal testing practices, is the parent company of Iams and Eukanuba, two foods that take a very different stance on pet food quality and animal nutrition.

I personally cannot see any good that will come of this acquisition. The one thing that set the Natura brands apart from many pet foods currently on the market was the fact that they were privately owned. They manufactured their dry food in their own manufacturing plant and expressed a genuine passion for improving the quality of our pets’ health through their natural foods. Proctor and Gamble’s business ethics have been continuously questioned and the quality of their Iams and Eukanuba pet foods leave little to be desired. While this may be a good financial move for Natura, it is a sad day for the many pet owners that stood behind that Natura brands and wanted to support a privately owned company who cared about the wellbeing of our pets.

News Links:

http://www.pginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=104574&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1422726

http://www.iamscruelty.com/

It doesn’t matter if your dog came from a shelter, a rescue, or a breeder, we know you may have some questions about your dog’s behavior. Ann Garland is going to be at Pet Country in Lake Forest, CA on Saturday, January 16 at 2pm to answer your dog training questions:

• How do I get my dog to stop pulling on her leash?
• What are the benefits of taking my dog through an obedience class?
• Help! My dog still isn’t housebroken.
• My dog jumps on everyone – how can I stop that?
• Can I find the dog of my dreams at a shelter?
• How much exercise is enough for my dog? When she lays down and won’t move is that a clue?
• How can I get my dog to stop barking at everything that moves?
• Is my dog right for an agility class?
• My dog is aggressive toward other dogs on our walks – what can I do?
• Is eating the couch/lawn furniture/wall a sign of separation anxiety?
• Should I get a second dog? What about a third dog?

These questions and more will be answered, so bring your questions and a chair to sit on to Pet Country on:

Saturday, January 16, 2pm

To Reserve Your Spot Please Call (949) 583-0078.

Please Leave Your Name and Phone Number. Each Session Is Limited to a Maximum of 10 People.

A Bark Park will enable you to:

Socialize with other dog owners, exercise with your best friend, play with your best friend, avoid a $200+ fine for loose dogs in city parks, share advice on training, diet, medical problems, aging, vets, and more.

Your dog will have a great time: running, chasing, fetching, and making friends and being part  of a pack.

They need your support to make this happen! FOLFA Bark Park planning meeting will be held Monday, November 30th at 6:30pm at the El Toro Library.

The FOLFA currently hosts pet food distributions for people who have lost their jobs, a domestic violence program, and a trap neuter and release program. They are also actively involved in trying to get a dog park and animal shelter in Lake Forest, CA. All of which have been helped by the generous donations of community members.