Have you ever thought about what goes into dry dog food? I don't mean the biscuits, although the same applies to them as well in fact but they are usually fairly costly. I mean the dry dog food that comes in big sacks and proclaims to be a complete dog food. What is in it? Really.
Wheat appears to be the largest ingredient, so how can you buy this stuff for $1 a pound, but a decent, two-pound loaf of bread costs $3 or more (in the UK)? The ingredients in the dog food have to be second-rate, don't they? Dog food has to be safe for human consumption in the UK, but that doesn't mean much either.
The majority of of this dry dog food, particularly the cheaper brands, have to be full of ground bones, fish heads, feathers, sweepings off the granary floor and syrup to increase the calorific value. Surely, it is the canine equivalent of junk food?
I fed my collie-cross practically exclusively on dried dog food for eight years, because I could set the food down in the morning and it did not go off while I was at work. She finished up with canine diabetes mellitus.
I took her to the vet one day because she had become blind 'overnight. She had advanced cataracts due to diabetes. From that day on, I had to collect some urine in the morning, test it, and then inject her with insulin. Sometimes she had a fit.
I carried on feeding her dry food and over the next months, I had to escalate her insulin regularly. Soon it was nearly a full syringe and I did not want to give her two shots a day, so I looked for a solution on the Internet.
A veterinary on a pet forum said that it was well-known that the high sugar content of cheap dried dog food frequently caused canine diabetes after prolonged use. Maybe, it is common knowledge, but I didn't know.
A different forum member told me the same and suggested a raw diet consisting of 1 lb green beans, 1/2 lb carrots, 1 lb raw mince meat, 2 raw eggs, calcium powder, bran, multivitamins and 8-12 cranberries. Blend the green beans and carrots, mix everything except the cranberries together and divide into four. My 45lb dog had one portion and 2-3 cranberries two times a day.
The very first day I gave it to her she had a fit. I had measured her blood-sugar with the old food in her. The new food did not contain as much sugar, so I had given her too much insulin. The next day her insulin requirement was around 35% of what it had been the day before.
My dog lasted a further two years with the new diet, which my vet said was unusually long, because animals do not get the same degree of after care as humans.
I experimented with the diet over the years and found that adding an apple or two or a couple of Brussels sprouts did not affect my dog's blood-sugar. Ever since then, when I see someone lifting a big bag of dry dog food into the trolley, I feel sorry for their dog.
Wheat appears to be the largest ingredient, so how can you buy this stuff for $1 a pound, but a decent, two-pound loaf of bread costs $3 or more (in the UK)? The ingredients in the dog food have to be second-rate, don't they? Dog food has to be safe for human consumption in the UK, but that doesn't mean much either.
The majority of of this dry dog food, particularly the cheaper brands, have to be full of ground bones, fish heads, feathers, sweepings off the granary floor and syrup to increase the calorific value. Surely, it is the canine equivalent of junk food?
I fed my collie-cross practically exclusively on dried dog food for eight years, because I could set the food down in the morning and it did not go off while I was at work. She finished up with canine diabetes mellitus.
I took her to the vet one day because she had become blind 'overnight. She had advanced cataracts due to diabetes. From that day on, I had to collect some urine in the morning, test it, and then inject her with insulin. Sometimes she had a fit.
I carried on feeding her dry food and over the next months, I had to escalate her insulin regularly. Soon it was nearly a full syringe and I did not want to give her two shots a day, so I looked for a solution on the Internet.
A veterinary on a pet forum said that it was well-known that the high sugar content of cheap dried dog food frequently caused canine diabetes after prolonged use. Maybe, it is common knowledge, but I didn't know.
A different forum member told me the same and suggested a raw diet consisting of 1 lb green beans, 1/2 lb carrots, 1 lb raw mince meat, 2 raw eggs, calcium powder, bran, multivitamins and 8-12 cranberries. Blend the green beans and carrots, mix everything except the cranberries together and divide into four. My 45lb dog had one portion and 2-3 cranberries two times a day.
The very first day I gave it to her she had a fit. I had measured her blood-sugar with the old food in her. The new food did not contain as much sugar, so I had given her too much insulin. The next day her insulin requirement was around 35% of what it had been the day before.
My dog lasted a further two years with the new diet, which my vet said was unusually long, because animals do not get the same degree of after care as humans.
I experimented with the diet over the years and found that adding an apple or two or a couple of Brussels sprouts did not affect my dog's blood-sugar. Ever since then, when I see someone lifting a big bag of dry dog food into the trolley, I feel sorry for their dog.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching Emergency for Dogs. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at What To Do If Your Dog Eats Chocolate.
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