The recent dog food recall is getting serious and spreading to vet recommended foods, Medical/Royal Canin.
About 2 weeks ago, oneone was having some difficulty with her stomach after eating Dentabone from Pedigree we used to give her as treats to help clean her teeth; but I found they've changed the ingredients, and I can see some uncooked rice pieces in oneone's stool. The vet suggested to use
Medical Gastro to ease her stomach, and promised it to be a great food for her. I didn't spend much time on researching and got a few cans for her. As she always had dry food only, this can food is really exciting for little oneone.
Until yesterday, I was thinking I should better update the latest news about dog food recall. I went on Medical/Royal Canin website and found that some of their products are on the new released recall list because Menu also makes their products. Although Gastro is not on the recall list, how could I know if it is made by Menu or not? I still concern to give it to oneone, and I should return them to the vet.
I look up some reviews on forums, and found that this might not be the good food for my dog.
Then why the vets recommend the brand, and this brand is only sold in the vets! The's another brand we usually see in the vets, "Hills", also on the recall list. On www.dogfoodanalysis.com, I found some rating and reviews for almost all pet food brands. They rate the pet foods from 1 to 6 stars, Royal Canin, Hills and many other big brands we find in supermarkets or Petcetra have their food rated as only 1 star.
Here's how the review says about Royal Canin Energy (4800):
The first ingredient in the food is a named meat product, in meal form. This is the sole meat product in the food.
It is a concern to see fat as the second ingredient. Research at Purdue University has identified fat in the top four ingredients of a dry dog food as a factor increasing the risk of bloat in large breed dogs. Smaller breeds are untested.
The next two ingredients are both forms of corn. It is likely that if these ingredients were not split (see explanation of splitting on main page) the combined corn ingredients would in fact outweigh the chicken meal as the primary ingredient in the food. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food. In it's gluten form, it is also a waste product for which the AAFCO definition is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm".
Barley is a decent quality grain, but beet pulp is filler and a controversial ingredient – it is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required.
After did some reading, I came to understand that contaminated wheat gluten is only a starting point, the real thing is we know too little about what these people put in our beloved ones food. Wheat gluten itself is not a good ingredient for pets, and grains are definitely no-no. Dogs are meat eaters, they need high quality, meat-based protein as their primary nutrient, not grains.
So I look up the ingredients on the Pedigree Dentabone which made oneone's stomach upset. The ingredients on the package are rice, sodium caseinate, rice flour, vegetable oil, tapioca starch, natural poultry flavour, propylene glycol, wheat barn, calcium, carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, potassium, chloride, sodium tripolyphosphate, microcrystalline cellulose, iodised salt, potassium sorbate (a preservative), choline, chloride, BHA/BHT (a preservative), eucalyptus flavour, zinc oxide, oxide, vitamin A, D3 And E supplements, zinc sulphate, iron sulphate, magnesium oxide, d-calcium pantothenate, niacin, copper sulphate, ribofavin, pyridoxine, hydrochloride (vitamin b6), thiamin mononitrate (vitamin b1), folic acid, vitamin b12 supplement.
There are 2 kinds of preservative! Wheat barn! Tapioca starch! And so many other thing I can't even prounce! If you look up the link on Pedigree website, you can find the ingredients are different to what I listed, the first 2 ingredients are WHEAT GLUTEN, HEAT TREATED WHEAT FLOUR, more wheats!!
I try to understand the labels on packages according to the dog food project
. This is a great site to get more knowledge on pet foods.
So, what should I give to my oneone?
Today I went to buy can food from Nature's Logic and Evanger's. Oneone has been taken dry food from Nature's Logic for about 2 month, and during these 2 weeks I gave her some can food mixed with dry food, she seemed to love it, so I think I'll keep this mix for her.
Next I'm going to learn how to make some homemade food for her.
The labels on pets foods packages are also important, although we usually
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