FDA dog food warning

[JustJoel]

Several brands of dry dog food have been found to possibly have toxic levels of vitamin D.

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/ucm627485.htm

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

JJ, I was thinking I read yesterday that some brands of Dog Food also were found to contain Salmonella

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm629447.htm

Found it!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I wanted to also share a story:

Back when we had Vito, our GSD, I asked our Vet if I could make my own food for him.
"Oh no, that is way too much work! Commercial dog foods of any kind are healthy and nutritious."
I also had bad feeling about what I fed him, so I did start feeding him foods that I made for him. The funny thing was, he knew whatever I was making would be for him only

Every Sunday I made up a batch of Vito-Food and kept it in the `fridge.
I would give it a short zap in the micro so that the chill wouldn't shock his tummy. He LOVED it. He would literally dance on his tippy-toes waiting for supper.

Also, in my heart, I always knew that he should NOT have any grains. Now they have Vets that specialize in nutrition! Back when, I was lucky just to have a competent doggo-doc.

 

[Caslon]

A lot of dog food only meets minimum requirements for vitamins and minerals. I'm not sure why they overdose their product with vitamin D. One vet has come out with his own line of powdered nutrients that you simply sprinkle on the dog food and is supposed to have so much more than the usual vitamins and nutrients. He joined forces with a Chinese herb specialist and together with his long time knowledge of dog food shortcomings came out with his product.

 

[Rascal]

Haven't had a dog for 30 years, but I used to feed my dogs horse meat. Cheap and good for them. Don't know if you can still buy horse meat now.

Russ

 

[JustJoel]

Haven't had a dog for 30 years, but I used to feed my dogs horse meat. Cheap and good for them. Don't know if you can still buy horse meat now.

Russ

I do believe horsemeat is illegal here in the States; at least the sale of it.

 

[Caslon]

If you can afford to feed your dog chunks of raw meat, that's supposed to be a good thing for their longevity. Horse meat included, probably.

 

[Linda0818]

I heard feeding your dogs raw meat isn't a good idea because of the risk of E. Coli and Salmonella.

Plus I often hear of dog food recalls because of possible bacterial contamination and much of the time it's the companies that offer a raw food diet.

Because of that, I'm paranoid to give my dogs raw meat, as I often cook them chicken, chicken livers and sometimes beef. Most of the time, though, they get regular dog food and I will agree that most dog foods aren't nutritionally sound.

Are there any benefits to giving them raw meat? And how would I get around the paranoia that I'm poisoning my dogs by giving it to them?

 

[GotGarlic]

Our dogs have been perfectly healthy eating commercial dry and canned dog food. It's formulated to be good for them. We also occasionally give our dog meat scraps, mostly fat, from our food.

This article from the veterinary school at Tufts University says raw foods are not good for pets.

Proponents of raw meat diets anecdotally report numerous benefits, but there is no scientific information showing any health benefits from raw meat diets. Some studies have shown a small increase in digestibility from raw diets compared to commercial dry diets. However, this may be the result of the ingredients, rather than the fact the diet was raw (the studies did not compare the raw diet to an identical diet that was cooked). The effects of this small difference in digestibility warrant additional research but do not appear to provide sufficient evidence to outweigh the potential risks for raw meat diets. There are an increasing number of studies that show important concerns for nutritional imbalances and health risks to the animal, as well as serious public health concerns. Bottom line, there is no proof to confirm any health benefits beyond a few stories. We do, however, have proof that there are risks, so until there is evidence of clear, important health benefits to cancel out those risks, we can’t recommend raw meat diets.

http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/01/raw-diets-a-healthy-choice-or-a-raw-deal/

 

[Linda0818]

Our dogs have been perfectly healthy eating commercial dry and canned dog food. It's formulated to be good for them. We also occasionally give our dog meat scraps, mostly fat, from our food.

This article from the veterinary school at Tufts University says raw foods are not good for pets.

Raw Diets: A Healthy Choice or a Raw Deal? – Clinical Nutrition Service at Cummings School

Thank you, GG, for the article. I kind of figured that. But I suppose it's up to every pet owner what they choose to feed their dogs. I've just never thought feeding them raw meat was a good idea.

With the exception of the occasional 'home cooked' meal, which is more of a rare treat than a regular thing, I've always fed my dogs commercial dog food and they've all managed to live long lives. The only dog I ever almost lost prematurely (he was on death's door for a while) was my Samoyed and that's because he was a rescue and we discovered he had heartworm. Wow, is that a tough bug to bounce back from. It's a long, painstaking journey back to health once those worms invade the heart and he almost died. So I give my current dogs heartworm prevention year-round. In the case of heartworm disease, prevention is worth 10,000 pounds of cure.