Ingredients from China Are Still Hidden in Most Pet Foods

[biowicks]

And I, like most people, resent being told that I'm poisoning my dog when I do the absolute best I can to feed them as so many of us do. I can honestly say that I've picked my dog's food with just as much care as my own, if not with more. I know that there are pesticides and chemicals in foods that can be carcinogenic and cause problems in both people and petfoods and I do my best to avoid them. That doesn't mean that I don't care.

Like I posted in another thread where you brought this up, the unfortunate reality is that cost more often than not is an issue. Many of the foods you mention use ingredients that are fit for human consumption, thats the best we can do right now.

I, too, feel that I must weigh in here, at risk of attack (yet again) We must always remember that all molecules are chemicals. Using the word 'chemical' synonomous with toxin is incorrect. Proteins are chemicals. Carbohydrates are chemicals. Fats are chemicals. Water is a chemical. 'Natural' vitamins are chemicals, and so are 'synthetic' vitamins. A chemical is simply atoms bonded together in a certain ratio. Check out this website: http://www.dhmo.org/ After reading this, you'd want to ban dihydrogen monoxide. But dihydrogen monoxide is simply water....you have to be very careful with material you read on the web. Anyone can post anything, and a lot of it is incorrect. So, all dog foods (or people foods) contain chemicals. They are actually made of chemicals. If all commercial pet foods were as awful as some say, a lot of our beloved furbabies wouldn't have survived their first year. My two cents. Fire away...

 

[DPSheltie]

I, too, feel that I must weigh in here, at risk of attack (yet again) We must always remember that all molecules are chemicals. Using the word 'chemical' synonomous with toxin is incorrect. Proteins are chemicals. Carbohydrates are chemicals. Fats are chemicals. Water is a chemical. 'Natural' vitamins are chemicals, and so are 'synthetic' vitamins. A chemical is simply atoms bonded together in a certain ratio. Check out this website: http://www.dhmo.org/ After reading this, you'd want to ban dihydrogen monoxide. But dihydrogen monoxide is simply water....you have to be very careful with material you read on the web. Anyone can post anything, and a lot of it is incorrect. So, all dog foods (or people foods) contain chemicals. They are actually made of chemicals. If all commercial pet foods were as awful as some say, a lot of our beloved furbabies wouldn't have survived their first year. My two cents. Fire away...

You just made my day very happy as a scientist!! One of the first things I do with my students is have them look at dihydrogen monoxide studies to learn about how information can be used to create lots of panic.

For every study there seems to be a contradictory one. Too much meat causes cancer, but too many veggies have also been shown to cause cancer. Soy is both good and bad, etc.

I'm not saying that china products don't cause problems, but studies need to analyzed to discover the truth.

Remember: "studies have shown that research has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats"

 

[SheltieGuy]

I NEVER meant to imply that people do not care about their pets. If thats the way it came across, I am sorry. I know you all care as do I. This is why I brought this to peoples attention. I am not judging anyone about anything. I am nobody. I dont assume to know more than anyone here. I thought the info I found was important for people to at least look in to. I am on the bottom of the ladder when it comes to income so I know the troubles involved regarding pet food costs. This is not a personal attack on anyone.

Some of the sites I posted are from doctors.. its not like I got them from a comic strip site. Regarding the word "chemicals", maybe I misused the word. My deepest apologies.

From the reports I read. (and please correct me if I am wrong), As I understand it, it is not China synth vitamins but all synth vitamins that contain the "potentially harmful" ingredients. So if a pet food has synth vitamins they also have the harmful stuff as well.

I am not telling anyone they are killing their pets because of the food they feed. I have no idea what the long term effect are...if any. I chose not to feed man-made vitamins. Am I right?? Who knows?? Every time someone talks about food people fly off the handle. I dont attack people on forums or real life.

Synthetic vitamins contain toxins plain and simple. (just like pretty much everything does these days).I am sorry if that offends anyone.

I agree that you can find 100 opinions on anything... especially when it comes to dog food.

I spoke to a food company (US only facility and top quality company) about Pyridoxine hydrochloride (B-6) ( Petroleum ester & hydrochloric acid with formaldehyde) and asked why use it when it can be found in rice bran naturally. I was told that the man made version holds up better and is better suited for kibble. The woman I spoke to was not surprised when I mentioned Petroleum and or formaldehyde. She knew. Its not something withheld from pet food companies. I was very surprised though and was eager to share this info with everyone for thoughts and opinions and to see if anyone else was aware.

In conclusion: Again, I am not attacking anyone.... for crying out loud I fed my sheltie angel Alpo and she died from kidney failure and it was most likely my fault. So I basically shortened my 1st shelties life. I loved her more than anything...she was all I had. I have to live with that for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!! That is my I am VERY passionate when it comes to this subject. Maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else.

I am learning more everyday and still I feel as tho I know very little. I shared this info to help. As I do not know much, is it up to the individual to determine if this is something worth looking into. I personally believe it, but if others dont.. thats fine. I very well may be totally wrong. In fact, I hope I am. I would never accuse anyone of killing their pet, I have personally been there and it is not fun.

PS: I do not feed raw.

Maybe this forum isnt for me. When I first joined it was a life-saver. (literally) now it seems there is no room for discussion. Its always ATTACK ATTACK if anyone has the gall to mention "my food".

 

[BarbV]

Well, I guess I'll weigh in here as well at the risk of being creamed by the forum as well.

The internet is a wonderful thing! Where we used to use Encylopadia's to gain knowedge, we know have world-wide-web of knowledge at our fingertips.

Good and bad news! The good, of course, is the availiability of current information. The bad, is that you can easily be influenced by purported experts and make decisions based on what your google search pulled up first (remember that google search engines are "paid placements" Companies pay money to get top placement). If you really want the real scoop you might need to scroll several pages down.

All to say, the internet is not the gospel In many ways, the internet is the online version of tabloid magazines. And forums like this, are equally bad in some ways in that somebody's opinion can be so easily swayed depending on who decides to post that day!

I've seen it over and over....Someone posts a question, gets a few responses and says "YES! I got my answer! Thanks!" But it is not a complete answer and should never be considered as one.

Ok off my soapbox tonight.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I NEVER meant to imply that people do not care about their pets. If thats the way it came across, I am sorry. I know you all care as do I. This is why I brought this to peoples attention. I am not judging anyone about anything. I am nobody. I dont assume to know more than anyone here. I thought the info I found was important for people to at least look in to. I am on the bottom of the ladder when it comes to income so I know the troubles involved regarding pet food costs. This is not a personal attack on anyone.

Some of the sites I posted are from doctors.. its not like I got them from a comic strip site. Regarding the word "chemicals", maybe I misused the word. My deepest apologies.

From the reports I read. (and please correct me if I am wrong), As I understand it, it is not China synth vitamins but all synth vitamins that contain the "potentially harmful" ingredients. So if a pet food has synth vitamins they also have the harmful stuff as well.

I am not telling anyone they are killing their pets because of the food they feed. I have no idea what the long term effect are...if any. I chose not to feed man-made vitamins. Am I right?? Who knows?? Every time someone talks about food people fly off the handle. I dont attack people on forums or real life.

Synthetic vitamins contain toxins plain and simple. (just like pretty much everything does these days).I am sorry if that offends anyone.

I agree that you can find 100 opinions on anything... especially when it comes to dog food.

I spoke to a food company (US only facility and top quality company) about Pyridoxine hydrochloride (B-6) ( Petroleum ester & hydrochloric acid with formaldehyde) and asked why use it when it can be found in rice bran naturally. I was told that the man made version holds up better and is better suited for kibble. The woman I spoke to was not surprised when I mentioned Petroleum and or formaldehyde. She knew. Its not something withheld from pet food companies. I was very surprised though and was eager to share this info with everyone for thoughts and opinions and to see if anyone else was aware.

In conclusion: Again, I am not attacking anyone.... for crying out loud I fed my sheltie angel Alpo and she died from kidney failure and it was most likely my fault. So I basically shortened my 1st shelties life. I loved her more than anything...she was all I had. I have to live with that for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!! That is my I am VERY passionate when it comes to this subject. Maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else.

I am learning more everyday and still I feel as tho I know very little. I shared this info to help. As I do not know much, is it up to the individual to determine if this is something worth looking into. I personally believe it, but if others dont.. thats fine. I very well may be totally wrong. In fact, I hope I am. I would never accuse anyone of killing their pet, I have personally been there and it is not fun.

PS: I do not feed raw.

Maybe this forum isnt for me. When I first joined it was a life-saver. (literally) now it seems there is no room for discussion. Its always ATTACK ATTACK if anyone has the gall to mention "my food".

I'm sorry SheltieGuy, I did not mean to seem that I was attacking you, it was not my intention at all.

I commend you for your passion with regard to dog food and I'm so sorry that you lost your sheltie the way you did. Under those circumstances how could you not be deeply affected. Its wonderful that you care enough to try to inform others about what makes up supposedly high quality dog foods.

Quoting BarbV,

...the internet is not the gospel In many ways, the internet is the online version of tabloid magazines.

Its for that reason that I didn't agree with some of your statements. Yes, some of the links you posted were from doctors, but at the end of the day they're still someone's opinions and not studies. Other sites are are biased because they're funded by some company or another, many web sites implement scare tactics in an attempt to make you buy there products, etc. This makes it really difficult to know who to trust when the majority of the web sites are just there to convince you to buy something.

You're right, people should be better informed about what goes into their food with regard to vitamins, not to mention their pets, but at the same time you have to take into account all of the things I just mentioned.

Its a very sweeping comment to say that all of those premium brands of food have toxic chemicals in them when you really don't know. But it IS a really good thing to encourage people to look for scientific studies done on these products/brands or to call up the manufacturers and find out for themselves what types of vitamins/minerals (synthetic) and their origins.

Again, my apologies if it seemed like I was attacking you, you are a valued member of this forum and I for one would miss seeing your posts.

 

[Chris]

SheltieGuy, I appreciate your research. It's easy to get caught up in semantics -- the important thing is, you remind us that we MUST read labels and ask the hard questions.

Then we make the call. No perfect foods, just getting what is reliable, safe, works with your Sheltie -- and your pocketbook!

Frankly, mine eat dirt. And chicken poop.

 

[biowicks]

for crying out loud I fed my sheltie angel Alpo and she died from kidney failure and it was most likely my fault. So I basically shortened my 1st shelties life. I loved her more than anything...she was all I had. I have to live with that for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!! That is my I am VERY passionate when it comes to this subject. Maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else.

Sheltie Guy: don't blame yourself for your sheltie angel's kidney failure. My angel Pavi ate Alpo for the last two years of his life. He had parathyroid tumors, and I couldn't afford the surgery to remove them, so his calcium metabolism was messed up most of his life. He had bladder stones removed twice, and he had hundreds of stones each time. In his final two years, Alpo was all he would eat. It tasted good to him, and was easy to chew. It kept him alive, and his quality of life was very good until he crashed from excess serum calcium levels at age 12. If it hadn't been for Alpo, I would have lost him two years earlier. I'm sure it wasn't anything you did that caused you to lose your precious furbaby. Much of the time, the end is just due to natural causes. Our dogs (and us) just get old and wear out. You did all you could for your pup, and I'm sure she's happily waiting for you across the rainbow bridge.

 

[Calliesmom]

SheltieGuy, I appreciate your research. It's easy to get caught up in semantics -- the important thing is, you remind us that we MUST read labels and ask the hard questions.

Then we make the call. No perfect foods, just getting what is reliable, safe, works with your Sheltie -- and your pocketbook!

Frankly, mine eat dirt. And chicken poop.

I was wondering when Poop would pop up

seriously, just feed the best you can- for some of us, a lot of brands that are mentioned on the forum aren't readily available.
yet another reason why I used to like TOTW- locally available at multiple pet stores and TSC.

we are still testing new foods and I've got to go looking for some of the more recently mentioned foods that I didn't look for the last time we went doggy shopping.........................

 

[The Quahog]

In conclusion: Again, I am not attacking anyone.... for crying out loud I fed my sheltie angel Alpo and she died from kidney failure and it was most likely my fault. So I basically shortened my 1st shelties life. I loved her more than anything...she was all I had. I have to live with that for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!! .

SheltieGuy, we all feel so very badly for what you have gone through.
Grief can be a terrible thing, but truly you are beating yourself up over nothing. There is NO REASON TO BELIVE that you caused your dog's kidney failure. That is choosing the words carefully - I'm not saying its nonsense, I'm not saying it isn't possible, but there is no reason to believe it.
And if it did occur (which is highly unlikely) it was inadvertent. It is like beating yourself up saying 'If only i hadn't gone to that movie I wouldn't have been in that accident that injured my daughter.' That sort of logical flaw is tempting in grief, but it is simply wrong and unproductive.

Your story is a very good example of how alarmist information on the net is not excused by 'Hey, I was only trying to help,' it really can damage lives.
I truly do wish you would overcome your obsession with this, and with ingredients in dog food, so you can move on with your life.
It's what your angel would want for you. -Dr. Mac

 

[Megansmom]

Of course I completely agree with Dr. Mac...you did NOT do anything wrong with your beloved Sheltie .

I am so with out words sorry she passed away in the manner she did, but I can promise you it was not due to feeding her Alpo! Shoot, Alpo and the like have been around for over 40 years. I know most of us here wouldn't feed it to our pets, but I don't believe for a millisecond that it was a major contributing factor in her untimely demise..