I'm not really a snob....
Of course I should have known when I wrote:
No serious dog person I know of feeds crap food like Pedigree or Iams...
...that a: I would quickly hear from someone who did, and b: I'm sure I know plenty of "dog people" who feed kibble and I shouldn't be so snobby about it!
In fact, the oldest dog I knew personally was a little yellow mutt named Chester who ate the weird red colored Alpo kibble and lived to be just about 23 years old.
So genetics and luck probably trump diet any day.
And feeding dogs is (or certainly should be) a fairly minor part of our relationship with them. If I were rehoming a dog I'd go for a home that fed whatever if the dog was trained and worked and a part of the family, any day, over one fed a carefully crafted diet but didn't get out much or got stuck in the back yard understimulated much of the time.
Still, my dogs would probably be sorta bummed if I stopped giving them things like lamb necks, deer carcasses and whole chickens and started giving them nothing but pellets!
No serious dog person I know of feeds crap food like Pedigree or Iams...
...that a: I would quickly hear from someone who did, and b: I'm sure I know plenty of "dog people" who feed kibble and I shouldn't be so snobby about it!
In fact, the oldest dog I knew personally was a little yellow mutt named Chester who ate the weird red colored Alpo kibble and lived to be just about 23 years old.
So genetics and luck probably trump diet any day.
And feeding dogs is (or certainly should be) a fairly minor part of our relationship with them. If I were rehoming a dog I'd go for a home that fed whatever if the dog was trained and worked and a part of the family, any day, over one fed a carefully crafted diet but didn't get out much or got stuck in the back yard understimulated much of the time.
Still, my dogs would probably be sorta bummed if I stopped giving them things like lamb necks, deer carcasses and whole chickens and started giving them nothing but pellets!
posted by Carina at 3:24 PM
5 Comments:
No hurt feelings here, even though I feed Pedigree. Whenever I run out of dog food I grab some kind of meat that we don't like much out of the freezer and cook it up for the dogs with some rice, vegetables and oatmeal, so they get a variety. They are more likely to get damaged by being kicked by a cranky cow than by what is in their dinner anyhow. They never seem to learn to back off from those danged hind feet.
I used to feed my dogs ..damn..I can't remember the name of it..but I always checked and made sure there were no 'chicken parts' or animal parts...which is beaks, feet, hooves, etc..the first ingredient had to be meat, chicken, lamb, and second ingredient had to be rice or barley..it cost more..but I thought it was worth it..now I know if I get a dog i will never feed it dry or canned food again..and if i could figure out how to cook something that Queen Annie the ruler of all things, I would switch her in a ny city second...
Hoggle eats the Royal Canin. Isn't that special?
*worries*
Oh grin... no angsty from me. I am worried however because it is true, that all sources of food and supplements can be of suspect quality from time to time. And the times, they are a changin'!
Pedigree's formulation has not been stagnant for the past fifteen years, for example. Omega-3 is now recognized as an essential oil is usually added in some form to processed 'complete' pet foods. Disproportionate levels of Omega-6 to Omega-3 can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases or cause predisposition.
Macronutrients vary in quality from season to season. One batch of corn isn't the same as the next -- even in the same field sometimes. And then there's that pesky GMO contamination. Are DNA profiles going to be run on food to keep us safe?
Sample testing by necessity are always sample aliquots -- you can't test every kernel of corn but do you test every 200 pounds or after every other ton? Is it only by the truckload? How much are consumers willing to pay for pet food?
Even more to worry about, there has been a recent report by UC Davis (5 Apr 2007) regarding people quality kelp supplements. The ones they tested had a crapload of arsenic. I only heard about it due to someone on a dog forum mentioning it since it's very common for us to use human grade vitamins and minerals as well as food for our dogs now. So are there formulations of pet chow that include these kelp sources?
Here's the link to the blurb.
And that's pretty bad but what's also scary is that there are so-called "quack watch" groups that would like to eliminate all forms of alternative medicine. That will put some supplement companies out of business and remove a lot of choice for us. Some of us find the healing remedies we need with some of these supplements. Do we want a watchdog or how much risk can we take?
Oh, I'm writing another book here... but since I'm near the last chapter, I'll mention that I'm pretty down on current pharmaceutical medicine since much of it is designed to mask symptoms (so that a blood test number becomes lower/better, or you 'think' you 'feel' better), yet does not treat the cause -- just the quantifiable symptom. Zelnorm anyone?
Take Kefir instead. :)
I honestly think that longevity has more to do with genes than anything else. That being said, I don't believe in tempting fate. I'm a terrible food snob. I try to keep it hidden but every once in a while I say something rude and haughty despite myself.
It takes a lot of effort to eat healthily and not only that but it seems to 'go through' you faster so that you are hungrier more often. So, I often fall off the wagon and always feel like such a loser when I do. I know this has nothing to do with dogs but as it has parallels, I put it in here anyway.
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