What Can Bad Pet Food Do To A Dog
The Pet Food Recall of 2017 has brought an enormous amount of attention to pet food. With tens of thousands of pets affected by the recall and with the death of several thousand pets from tainted food (refer to the PetConnection Database), it is not at all surprising that we have questions. The surprising thing is that it's taken us all so long to ask these questions.
What have we been feeding our pets all these years? We've all, including Veterinarians like myself, trusted the pet food companies completely. We believed they have always held our pets - and our - best interests to heart. But in the case of the large multinational pet food companies, apparently not.
What we've been feeding has obviously not been what's best for our pets. What we're seen is shorter life spans, more disease, and more cancer - not healthier pets. While genetics do play a role, our pets are just like us. Garbage in... you know the result.
Pet food company ethics aside, the ultimate question that needs to be answered is this: what is the best food that we can feed our pets? Should we feed home diets, or are there companies that we can still trust? And what about raw food home diets?
The quick, simple answer, regardless of what you choose to do, is this: be informed. Be an informed, educated pet owner, and know what you are feeding your pet. You are your pet's guardian. You know your pet better than anyone else, including your veterinarian. Your pet's health is ultimately your responsibility - and that definitely includes what you feed your pet.
If you feed home diets, you'll clearly know the ingredients, and can find the ultimate sources of the foods you buy. If you feed prepared food (kibble or canned), make sure you know what really goes in that food. Make sure you know the company very well - that they have trustworthy sources for their ingredients, and that they can prove it.
The other consideration, and I am hearing this quite a lot lately, is simplicity and convenience. The main reason prepared pet food became popular in the first place was because of convenience. Many of the dog and cat home diets you see tend to be quite complicated, and this scares many pet owners away.