Know The Content Of Your Pet's Food

It Might Surprise You; Dr. Debbye Turner Bell Takes Close Look

(CBS)  "I fed my cat the wrong food, and it killed her."

Heather Lyons, of Elgin, Ill., says her cat, Gizmo, ate food tainted with melamine. It's an industrial chemical found in wheat gluten made in China, and its presence triggered the largest pet food recall in history

"The vet told us she had kidney failure," Lyons said to The Early Show's resident veterinarian, Dr. Debbye Turner Bell. "A couple of days later on the news, I saw the massive pet food recall."

Lyons says when she realized the food she thought was safe and of high quality killed Gizmo, "It made my stomach turn."

She returned to buying canned cat food. Even so, she's still not quite sure what's in the cans -- like millions of Americans.

Pet food is big business, Bell reports. Americans spend $16 billion on it every year.

But many owners probably have no idea what that food is made from.

And, says Bell, the huge pet food recall of 2007 reminded us what we don't know about the contents of pet food can hurt our pets.

One woman in the Prairie Wolf Dog Exercise Area in Lake Forest, Ill., told Bell she had "no idea" what's in her dog's food. When told the third ingredient is beef byproducts, the woman admitted she doesn't know what that means and, "I wouldn't want to know, I don't think."

Bell remarked to another woman, "If I told you it's whole carcasses, and could include beaks, feathers, might be a little manure -- it's just all been cooked in a big vat..."

"That would make me sick," the woman interrupted Bell.

Legally, Bell explains, byproducts can include part of the lungs, brain, blood, stomach and intestines. And 64 percent of the people surveyed recently by Wellness Pet Food didn't know the contents of meat byproducts.

"I feel bad," the first woman in the park continued. "I mean, outside of my husband and my kids, he's like one of the most important things in my life, and I... I don't know what I'm feeding him (my dog)."

Dr. Edward Moser, a veterinary nutritionist, says pet owners need to care about ingredients: "When you look at a pet who's not receiving adequate nutrition, the things you see are dull, discolored eyes, watery eyes, red eyes. You see poor skin and coat condition."

Turner observed that, "It's really important to read the ingredients on the label. And the first few ingredients should be words you understand, like meat, grain, fruit or vegetables. And avoid a brand that has too many of the four "A"s: artificial ingredients, preservatives, flavors, and colors. And if your pet has a sensitive stomach, avoid foods that produce allergies: corn, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy and beef. Of course, none of this matters if the food we feed our pets is not safe."

What's more, says Dr. Marion Nestle, the author of "Pet Food Politics," pet food is "regulated in the most bizarre way. There's no real oversight of national regulation for pets, except for a few things that are on the labels of the cans and packages."

And that, says pet advocates, is how melamine ended up in pet food in the first place.

And it's why Heather Lyons, the one whose cat died, joined a class action lawsuit against Menu Foods, the manufacturer that sold the melamine-tainted wheat gluten.

"Basically," she says, "what I want to happen is the government to regulate the pet food better. I don't really care about the money; I just want to make sure everyone has a safe pet."

The reality is, most pet food isn't going to kill your pet -- unless, of course, there's some contamination in it, Bell says.

She adds that wet food simply has a higher water content than dry pet food. "If your pet tends to overeat, wet food is not the best, because they love it and want to eat a whole lot of it! A dry food for a normal healthy adult animal, particularly dogs that are active I think is the best. Use the wet food as a treat. If you have a picky eater, use the wet food."

And the best advice should come from "your veterinarian. Work out nutrition plan and the number of calories your pet gets. Obesity is a huge problem for people and our pets and we have to be careful about that."

[julia9874]

As someone who has had a diabetic cat, and two cats that had problems with urinary crystals, I have done a lot of reading on feline nutrition and canned food is not simply dry food with moisture! Dry food is much higher in carbohydrates, which a cat, as an obligate carnivore, has little nutritional need for. I guess that carbs are low in cost, and make a great profit for the pet food companies.

I am sorry that Dr. Debbeye did such a disservice to the cats. Canned food is not just for picky eaters but should be the staple of every cat. It is as close to a cat''s natural diet as one can find in the marketplace. Cats were designed to eat mice. A high protein low carb canned food comes as close as possible to the nutritional make up of a mouse.

Don''t just take my word for it though. Check out http://www.catinfo.org by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM. Or if you prefer hard copy, check out Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life by Elizabeth M. Hodgkins.

This is info I would love to see on this program. Feeding a species appropriate diet could help a lot of cats. By feeding a healthy and nutritious diet to kitties, you can reduce a lot of health issues. I know that feeding three of my diabetic foster cats a species appropriate diet has caused them to be diet controlled (meaning I no longer need to give them insulin as their blood sugars are regulated purely by eating a low carb diet) and my two cats that blocked with urinary crystals haven%u2019t had another issue.

[vhines5]

I agree with julia9874. Our pets ALL need to be fed species appropriate diets. Unfortunately, most pet food companies are only interested in it''s bottom line and not the overall wellbeing of our pets. Cats are obligate carnivores. They want and crave proteins. Bell is quoted as saying "If your pet tends to overeat, wet food is not the best, because they love it and want to eat a whole lot of it!" She could not be more wrong. I have two cats who eat about 6 - 8 oz of canned food per day. Both cats are very healthly and NOT overweight.

[debbyet]

Thank you julia9874 for your comments. I trust that you saw the segment on The Early Show. If so, you will remember that I was referring to the dietary needs of a healthy, adult animal. I also said that each pet owner should devise a nutrition plan with the help of their veterinarian. So special circumstances such as health, age, etc. can be considered. Unfortunately, the 3-4 minutes that I am allotted on the show does not allow me to discuss the full range of nutrition for dogs and cats. My hope is to raise pet owners awareness, so they ask more questions, get more information, and provide that absilute best possible life for their pets. Keep watching. All the best. Debbye Turner Bell

[mswolfestock]

By sheer good luck, I have been feeding my two dogs Pedigree brand dry dog food, and Pedigree was one of the few brands NOT involved in the massive pet food recall. Pedigree is a subsidiary of Mars, a US-owned company. I''m mentioning this so perhaps some folks can worry less about their pets when they buy Pedigree.

After the recall I quit buying dog treats (any kind) that were manufactured outside of the US.

Inasmuch as we still need to be diligent and continue to read labels on pet food (and our own food too), I''d like to suggest that you can do a lot less worrying and be a lot less suspicious of American-made products. And we also should call for more stringent oversight and control of the pet food industry. I mean, don''t these people have pets, too?

[erasmus81]

I believe that "dry" food is very unhealthy for any animal. I had a hedgehog and was told to feed it only Hill''s Science Diet "dry" food, because any other dry food would cause kidney damage. Well, if it is damaging to the hedgehog, it''s damaging to every other animal that is eating it. When they tell you to have lots of water for your animal when eating it, that should tell you something. And what about the animals that don''t drink lots of water?

A vet told me that it is better for an animal to be eating dry food, because it makes their p-oop less stinky and more compact. I would say that is what it''s all about. It''s about making us "HUMANS" more comfortable and not about what''s good for our pets.

[ajapierce]

I totally agree they need to have better oversight for pet food.

The reason most peopel discount is that, if i human where to eat something laced with Melanmine in it, a human being could get a kindey transplant.

But your cat or dog would only be a canidate for a kidney transplant if they are less then 7-8 years old. Because past that age most vets will not garuntee that they would die from the transplant.

If anything that you want to check for in Dry Pet Food products is Corn Gluten, not Wheat Gluten. Most products that have Corn Gluten in them will be more expensive because the majority of the corn is coming from the United States.

Wheat gluten is a poor growing plant, meaning it doesn''t need great amounts of fertilizer to grow, which means it can grow anywhere, like China. Corn on the other hand does require better fertilizer, and better growing fields.

A.K.A. The reason china grows so much Soy, Rice and Wheat because those are poor growing plants that do not need a lot of fertilizer or good soil

[seetheway]

Check again- http://www.petcare.mars.com/
Mars Petcare US Issues Voluntary Recall of Everson, PA Plant Dry Pet Food Product due to Potential Salmonella Contamination
-------------------------
By sheer good luck, I have been feeding my two dogs Pedigree brand dry dog food, and Pedigree was one of the few brands NOT involved in the massive pet food recall. Pedigree is a subsidiary of Mars, a US-owned company. I''''m mentioning this so perhaps some folks can worry less about their pets when they buy Pedigree.

After the recall I quit buying dog treats (any kind) that were manufactured outside of the US.

Inasmuch as we still need to be diligent and continue to read labels on pet food (and our own food too), I''''d like to suggest that you can do a lot less worrying and be a lot less suspicious of American-made products. And we also should call for more stringent oversight and control of the pet food industry. I mean, don''''t these people have pets, too?

Posted by mswolfestock at 11:39 AM : Oct 13, 2008

[julia9874]

I did see the segment, and the part where you said that there was no difference between wet and dry food other than moisture content is what prompted me to sign up here and write. The nutritional make up is vastly different! Many vets don''t do the research into foods. There are still vets out there that say dry food is good for a cat''s teeth.

I beg you, do the research, and do a report on this. Too many people believe the marketing from the pet food companies.

[coppertales]

I lost two older cats to the bad food. One was 19 and the other 17. I give my cats a "treat" of wet food at bed time. I had not given them much of the tainted food but the little I gave them did them in. I thought I was giving them hi end food but regretfully, it was not hi end enough..

[msay3]

By sheer good luck, I have been feeding my two dogs Pedigree brand dry dog food, and Pedigree was one of the few brands NOT involved in the massive pet food recall. Pedigree is a subsidiary of Mars, a US-owned company. I''''''''m mentioning this so perhaps some folks can worry less about their pets when they buy Pedigree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another was Purina....I''ve been feeding my dogs Purina throughout the entire melamine scare...I visited their website and was very satisfied with the information that I read there.....When the recall happened, the store shelves were empty, but Purina AND Pedigree were still there.....I would feel awful if something happened to my furballs...I love them dearly.

[yongamerica]

did this melamine get into dog snacks like milk bones? Even kids will sneak a milk bone every now and then.

[tmonta1]

All commercial dog foods as far as I''m concerned are at best mediocre, often downright unhealthy, and cater to owners'' convenience more than anything else. Dogs in the wild eat fresh raw meat, bones, and get cereals and grains largely from the stomach contents of their prey.

After watching my Golden Retriever on the best ''dry'' foods out there go through months of allergies and digestive troubles, I finally gave the natural route a try--and haven''t looked back since. Jazz eats organic grain and vegetables and gluten-free pasta (all in flake form, just add hot water to rehydrate) with fresh meat (including raw chicken wings, which he has no problem with).

He''s three, the picture of health and a show champion--and happy.

Flies do not land or lay eggs on kibble--what does that tell you?

[perm3800]

The photo accompanying this article is just one more case in point on how little anyone pays attention to feeding of pets. Vitamin E, essential for healthy skin and nerves, comes in four ''orientations'' (think of it as a ring with the stone in one of the four cardinal directions) A, B,C and D. Humans can only use E in one direction, dogs in yet another and cats in a third (although it isn''t called direction in vitamins, it is either ''hand'' or ''orientation''.) If the stone is in the wrong position, the body just washes it out along with excess mucus. Dogs and Humans make most of the basic amino acids required for cell construction but cats do no. In fact, cats make almost nothing of their vitamin and amino acid requirements, it must all come from food. A diet solely of fish will cause a cat to go blind due to a lack of the amino acid Taurine. Dogs make taurine (as do humans) so will get too much taurine (and too much fat, as well,) if fed on cat food and cat fed dog food will eventually suffer nutrient deficits.

[guppy24]

First of all, this article tells people to go to their vets for nutrition advice? That really should be retracted. If you want proper nutrition advise for your pet, go to a dog or cat nutritionist. You will find that most vets do not know enough about pet nutrition. This is not a topic that is taught in vet school. On top of that, most vets get part of their income from selling foods like Science Diet (the most horrible dog food you can find). If you want to find a vet that you can trust, go to one that does NOT sell Science Diet.

The best thing you can do for your pet is COOK. If you cannot cook, then buy a natural dog food, NOT the brands you find in the pet store. (Although PetCo is getting up to speed with better, natural foods without additives).