While most of us don't think about what goes into pet food, we should.
That's because the ingredients in your dog's food could cause illness and even death.
We can't trust manufacturers to take care of our pets, because there aren't a lot of well enforced rules about the ingredients and processing for pet food.
Too Bad To Eat Dog food can contain a lot of things we wouldn't be happy about eating, including bones, nervous tissue, organs, skin, ligaments, hair and meat from animals with diseases.
The bodies of euthanized pets and zoo animals have been used, too.
Most of even the good meat that ends up in dog and cat food is heavily processed, removing any nutritive value it once had.
Ingredients like poultry broth, animal meal, and other nonspecific foods are unappealing and bad for our pets.
Animal meal is what's left after a carcass has been processed to remove all the fat and meat.
What remains is ground up and dried, resulting in a meal that has a similar texture to corn meal and included in pet food.
Broths and similar substances in pet food are made of processed carcasses that come from many different kinds of animals, cooked until a liquid is produced.
It's Legal! Unfortunately, none of the disgusting or unhealthy ingredients in dog food are illegal.
While we have reasonably strict rules about what can be part of human food and those laws are well enforced, pets don't have that protection.
Rules about pet food ingredients are much looser and more poorly enforced.
This means that just about anything might turn up in your dog's food, with labeling meaning little.
Even the words "healthy and balanced" mean only that there's a particular ratio of protein and fat, as well as some added vitamins and minerals.
Preservatives and Additives All of us have probably heard about the recent recalls due to melamine contamination.
What you might not know is that this isn't the only additive in pet food that might cause illness or death.
There are a number of preservatives used in pet food that cause real problems in humans who work with them, and could cause liver and kidney failure or cancer in your dog over time.
Not Only Cheap Brands This is happening in cheap dog foods, but there's no way to tell if the expensive ones are affected, too.
these pet foods are often higher in quality, but sometimes they're not.
That means that even if your vet recommends it, you have to do your research.
Your Options You have a number of choices when it comes to improving your pet's food.
First is to learn how to read the labels.
Ingredients that come first are there in bigger percentages, so look for named meats far up on the list instead of generic terms.
You should also learn which additives and preservatives are safe and which ones are dangerous.
Avoid foods with too many grains, since they tend to be bad for your pet in the long run.
You can also find a number of quality recipes out there to help you create nutritious diets for your dog.
Just make sure you do something!