Junk Pet Food and the Damage Done

Dogs, cats and ferrets fed a regular diet of processed food suffer from a range of crueland debilitating diseases. Pet owners can improve their pets' health by feeding them anatural, chewy diet primarily of whole raw carcasses or at least raw meaty bones.

Morgan Spurlock conducted a risky experiment. In the film Super Size Me, Spurlock put McDonald’s food to the test. Every day at every meal for 30 days he ate at McDonald’s restaurants across America. By the end of the experiment Spurlock was in bad shape. He gained 24 and half pounds (eleven kilos); his liver turned to fat; cholesterol shot up; and he doubled his risk of heart failure. Fortunately for Morgan Spurlock he did not become addicted to junk food, was able to follow his doctor’s orders and stop the experiment. Also his holistic health counsellor girlfriend was on hand to nurse him back to health.1

Just for a moment and with little danger to our physical health, let’s conduct a thought experiment. Imagine if all the Big Macs, Happy Meals and Coca Colas consumed by Spurlock during his month-long binge were tipped into a vat, mixed to a uniform consistency and cooked under pressure. Using the most modern, automated, computer controlled technology supervised by scientists in white coats; imagine if the resultant glop was divided into two parts; half to be sealed in cans and the other half to be dehydrated, extruded into kibble and packed in brightly coloured bags.

I know it may seem strange, but imagine if Spurlock then either slurped through the contents of the McCans or crunched his way through the McKibble. And now — this is an important aspect — imagine that Spurlock neither had a toothbrush nor the ability to ask for one, so consequently didn’t clean his teeth for the month-long experiment.

Now I ask you: What would Spurlock’s physical, dental and mental health be like after such a crazy experiment? Would doctors, dentists and health regulators provide official endorsement for the canned and kibble diet? Indeed, would it be likely Spurlock picked up his McCans and McKibble at his local medical or dental practice?

OK, experiment over, no need for wild imaginings. For the vast majority of pet dogs (modified wolves), cats (modified desert predators) and ferrets (modified polecats) a diet of McCans or McKibble is their every-day reality. Spurlock’s doctor told him he had to stop his unnatural experiment inside 30 days because he was killing himself. By contrast, the world’s pet doctors (vets) encourage pet owners to feed McCans and McKibble every day of their pets’ lives. I know; I was one such vet.

Poisoned five ways

For the first fifteen years of my working life as a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, I went along with the veterinary conventional wisdom. I counselled my clients against the feeding of home prepared meals — because they were unlikely to get the ‘balance’ of nutrients right, I suggested. Raw meat posed a risk due to bacteria and lack of calcium, so I said. As for bones: everyone knew that bones pose a hazard for breaking teeth and causing obstruction. And whoever heard of feeding bones to cats? The manufacturers have removed the guesswork, I assured my clients. ‘Giant companies understand the science and have the resources to ensure the best possible fare for your pet. It’s convenient too!’

With the matter of diet for my patients glossed over, I could return to the more pressing problems associated with diagnosis and treatment. After all, that’s what I was trained to do and that’s what my clients expected of me — and the stream of sick pets with skin disease, heart, liver, bowel and dental disease, cancer and other maladies was never ending.

Oh! How I cringe! How culpably, horribly wrong I had been! As varied as my patients were in size, species, age, sex and breed, the one common uniting feature was their junk food diet. They were all fed McCans and McKibble and almost without exception this was the reason why animals needed my services. Yes, it’s as simple and dramatic as that and for the following three sometimes five reasons.

1. Soft canned foods and grain-based kibble do not clean teeth. In fact food sludge sticks to teeth and feeds the bacteria in dental plaque. The body’s second line of defence, the immune system, mobilises against the bacterial invaders. The result: inflamed gums, bad breath, circulating bacteria and bacterial poisons that affect the rest of the body.2, 3

2. Dogs, cats and ferrets don’t have the digestive enzymes in the right quality or quantity to deal with the nutrients in grains and other plant material — whether those nutrients are raw or cooked. When grains are cooked at high temperatures at the pet-food factory the starches, proteins and fats become denatured or toxic to varying degrees.4 Junk food is laden with colorants, preservatives, humectants and a raft of other strange chemical additives — none with any nutritive value and all toxic to varying degrees.5 Once in the bowel of a carnivore, toxic nutrients are absorbed into the circulation and affect various body systems.

3. Poorly digested grain-based junk food supports a large population of toxin-producing bacteria in the lower bowel. The bowel lining, in constant contact with poisons, may be adversely affected. Some poisons pass through the bowel wall into the blood circulation, are carried to other organs and create further problems.6

4. Like Morgan Spurlock, some pets show signs of ill health after a short time consuming junk food. For instance, puppies frequently suffer from bad skin and diarrhoea. Long term exposure to the diet-related toxins listed in 1, 2 and 3 leads to diseases of body organs. Diseased organs produce more toxins which enter the blood stream and add to the spiral of worsening disease.3

5. Mostly pets suffer in silence — they can’t speak in words. But when animals areaffected by the above four categories of poison their body language tells observant owners to seek help from the vet. Some vets say: ‘Stop! Stop feeding junk food.’ Sadly, though, most vets ignore categories 1, 2 and 3. Instead they diagnose diseased organs as mentioned in 4. Treatment usually involves strong pharmaceuticals which then contribute another level of toxic insult.7 What about the genetic diseases, infectious diseases, the parasitic diseases, the broken legs, other traumatic diseases and the diseases of old age? You may ask. For sure these are all important factors governing the wellbeing of our pet carnivores. But clearly, undeniably, pets worn down by the toxic effects of a junk-food diet are at greater risk of succumbing to other diseases and the recovery phase is likely longer too.8

Stop!

Stop feeding junk pet food is the first and best bit of advice I can give you — for the benefit of your pets, the human economy and natural environment. By stopping doing harm we take the first steps on the road to doing good. It gains us a bit of breathing space allowing us to survey the scene, investigate further and harness the benefits of our newfound wisdom.

For the rest of the story, with footnotes and alternative diet suggestions, visit http://rawmeatybones.com/articles/nexus.pdf

Comments

[Jackie....New Zealand]

Happy Christmas to everyone who works in defence of our beloved animal companions....In 2009 may you have a roof over your head, food on the table , harmomy in your home and a furry feline sleeping in contentment on your knee.

[Jackie....New Zealand]

Hi from New Zealand. A 100% excellent article. I encourage every reader to click the link to read the whole article. I have been one of the guilty and need I say..guiltty companion lovers who have treated their animal friends with love and devotion. Oh yes...we followed our vet's advice on feeding our two beloved cats the best(and most expensive!)tucker. The result>..our beloved Pushkin died at the age of 21 years with a renal function of 10% after our vet ripped us off $NZ500 for putting him through hell with tests to find the cause...Pushkin died two days later, at home, in my arms after he suddenly and shockingly let out what I can only call a primeval scream from the depths of his being. Our then vet admitted afterwards that she KNEW he only had two days to live and STILL she went ahead with thest and ripped us off!! It was callous and totally amoral. That was a year ago. Pushkin's best mate Katya still misses him..they were bosom buddies.Katya now is fed solely on fresh wild rabbit. She is 14 years but I do not know how much damage she has suffered from her previous diet. Her eyes are bright and shining and her fur is glorious..the change was immediate. She has ONLY rabbit. I get up at 4.30 each morning and go for a 30 mile bicycle ride to look for road kill

[Helen Terry]

Jim,
I just went to see the movie King Corn tonight and was surprised on many levels, but especially since the cattle owners use corn to fatten the cows - they are left in pens where they cannot roam and fed corn and the shucks around the ears of corn, a variety that is high in sugar content - and that if allowed to live much past 120 days, they die of acidosis, and painfully, too; hence the high useage of antibiotics (70% of US consumption of antibiotics) in that all four stomachs are eaten up by the acid in the corn.

This same corn is used as filler in cheaper dog and cat food. Having used only Wellness for six years now, I have included Organix, Flint River and as of today, Blue Buffalo to my companion's food lineup. Both Wellness and Blue Buffalo have organic versions, also, important since Blue Buffalo includes blueberries and cranberries in their formulas. People have chastised me over the cost of any of these brands and I respond that I don't have to take my friends to the vet at all, except for initial spay/neutering and rabies (only required every 3 years). Having lost an Airedale Terrier six years ago to cancer the ingredients are important and cost initially is a small issue (honestly, they eat less than they ever did on grocery store brands). All this is not especially a plug for these brands, but if we're not cooking for them raw, then the next best thing is to give them what they would try to find for themselves in the wild. And it's not corn. Or wheat. Or soy.

The new website format is great; thanks for all you do for us readers.

Helen Terry, Texas