Think pet trends couldn’t get any more excessive? The latest trend in the pet nutrition market is bottled water. So, what’s the difference between these formulations and cracking open a bottle of Fiji for your beloved? These new products are marketed to add beneficial vitamins and minerals to your dog’s diet, in addition to fulfilling their thirst.

Dog-Wa is a liquid concentrate that you would dilute in your pet’s water bowl. The concentrate is chock full of cold pressed leafy greens providing nutrients available from ingredients like peppermint and parsley. Beware, even though this product is marketed as holistic, it does contain preservatives that the company claims are ‘negligable’ since the product is diluted in water…hmm…

K-9 Water offers meaty flavored bottled water for your pooch’s delight, coming in flavors like chicken, beef, liver and lamb. The names are also cute; Gutter Water, Toilet Water, Puddle Water and Hose Water. Yum! The vitamin fortified water is meant to replace multivitamins by providing vital nutrients and minerals in a tasty liquid. By healthily hydrating your pooch, K-9 water claims that their product is the easiest way to replenish essential vitamins and minerals for the active dog. I couldn’t find an ingredients list, so do your research and check those labels!

Woof Water is pure and simple spring water, for those finicky pets that feel tap water is unacceptable. The concept, marketing spring water for dogs, seems to be working and sales are growing fast. Woof Water is around the same cost as human bottled water, but now, you and Fido don’t have to share. Proceeds from the purchase of Woof Water goes to the charity, Our Companions Domestic Animal Sanctuary. The nonprofit organization is active in the movement to put a stop to the euthanasia of healthy pets. Some frivolity is for a good cause.

My favorite product of the pack is Aqua Pure Breed. Cleverly packaged in individual disposable bowls, the spring water assures your dog can have fresh water no matter where you are. (I know firsthand, sometimes, its difficult to find fresh water for your pooch while on the go.) Aqua Pure Breed, you can just pop into your purse and whip out one of the disposable pre-filled bowls and let Fluffy get his hydration on. In addition to spring water, the company does offer mineral enhanced waters available in joint support and skin/ coat formulas. The company is also promoting an active lifestyle for pets and their people, by creating Active Dog Guides for major cities (currently only in California) and the company has started the ‘No Dog Left Behind’ program which encourages people to incorporate their dogs into more areas of their lives. I am fully supportive of that! On a superficial note, Aqua Pure Breed has the best website and packaging hands down.

If these products do anything to enhance well being, I can’t be sure. But, if you are into spoiling your precious poochy, what better time to try out one of these kooky new dog waters then during the blistering dog days of summer, when Fluffy can surely use a hydration break?

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Breaking News!

Following the massive success of Halo Purely for Pets expansion and partnership with Ellen DeGeneris and the product launch at Petsmart locations around the country, Petco has announced that they will begin carrying Wellness Natural Food for Cats and Dogs!

As the push against pet food giants continues, these natural/ holistic foods are making a serious dent in the market. Consumers are becoming more educated and conscious of what they feed their pooches! YAY!

Wellness is another great brand of pet food. Originally, the brand of treats, Old Mother Hubbard, launched in 1926 as a line of dog biscuits carried throughout the northeastern US.

In an effort to further its commitment to improving its products, and providing the highest quality ingredients for our animal companions, Old Mother Hubbard reformulated its traditional baked dog biscuits and gourmet treats to 100% human grade recipe.

In the 1990’s the company decided to make a holistic pet food, formulated with human grade products, including chicken and fish, hormone-free lamb, grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. By 1997, the new pet food, marketed under the brand name Wellness was launched and the company maintains a standard of using only whole foods, with no meat by-products, preservatives, fillers, or artificial colors and flavors.

The reverberations of the pet food recall are still being felt. Consumers want and are now demanding a higher quality and level of responsibility on the part of pet food manufacturers. Wellness’ availability at Petco should continue to drive the competition in the holistic pet food market, ideally pushing out some of the crappy foods that Cup of Dog’s canine connoisseurs, Louis and Ella Bean don’t wish upon any puppy! (Ahem, Science Diet…)

Pretty soon we will be seeing freezers with prepared raw diets available at major pet stores! Yay!

The food is now available online and will be in stores this summer. Click here to see the press release and learn more about Wellness’ offerings.

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Ethoxyquin.

Truthfully, I cannot pronouce this word unless I am looking directly at it and read it very slowly.

What is ethoxyquin?

It is a preservative used by commercially prepared dog foods. In an internet search, I found it to be a major ingredient in five major brands of pet foods. Even some of these brands purported to be ‘natural’ and ‘premium’ contain ethoxyquin.

Ethoxyquin is a fat preservative and one of the most controversial of all the preservatives used in pet foods. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States (FDA) requested that pet food companies voluntarily lower the amount of ethoxyquin used in pet foods.

Technically speaking, ethoxyquin is a carcinogen, and it is also marketed as a pesticide. Even if the ingredient listing does not include the word ethoxyquin, it could still be present, due to loopholes in ingredient listing practices and the fact that it could already have been present in the ingredients prior to the preparation of the kibble or canned food, so the manufacturer technically didn’t add the chemical to the product.

Originally approved by the FDA as a grain preservative for animal feed for livestock being raised for food, it would have been used in an animal’s life for no longer then two years. The effects over the lifetime of a pet fed with a food containing ethoxyquin were not evaluated.

Complications in pets exposed to ethoxyquin may include kidney carcinogenesis; possibility of raised incidence of stomach tumors, raised risk of bladder carcinogenesis; and increased risk of colon tumors. The Department of Agriculture lists ethoxyquin as a pesticide.

Iams’ website dedicates a page to the safety of ethoxyquin, click here to visit. Hmmmm…..

Other preservatives to be aware of are BHA and BHT. Both are antioxidents that prevent oxygen from oxidizing fats and oils, preventing spoilage. BHA has been linked to squamous-cell carcinomas in stomachs of rats and hamsters. BHT is thought to cause urinary bladder carcinogenesis and it is being investigated as a catalyst for thyroid carcinogenesis.

Imagine you feed your dog a food with these ingredients according to the label instructions over the course of his lifetime. A 20 pound dog would eat about 12 pounds of carcinogenic preservatives in a year’s time.

Pet foods that are marketed as ‘all natural’ use natural stabilizers and preservatives, resulting in a shorter shelf life and a ‘use by’ date printed on the packaging. This seems to make sense!

Simply put, if a human food can expire, we eat it by the expiration date to maintain our health. If a human food lacks an expiration date, that food is pretty suspect as far as its health factor!

Expiration dates are not as profitable for the pet food industry, so preservatives that allow pet food to sit on shelves for years without turning rancid are a solution for the manufacturers to ensure the profitability of their product.

With major chains like Petco now carrying product lines like Halo for Pets (see Holistic Pet Care goes Mainstream with Ellen), it is becoming increasingly affordable and convenient to feed your pet products that are all natural with expiration dates and human grade ingredients.

Get the 411 on the preservatives in your pet’s food before you end up dialing 911. Avoiding carcinogens in pet food is something we as pet owners can, and should, all get behind!

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As we choose pet food for our companions, we look at the label for guidance, for content information and for the balance of nutrients that are necessary for our pet’s diet.

The label we see on dog foods stating that they are ‘complete and balanced’ may make the consumer feel as though they are doing the best for their pet.

In order to be labeled as a complete and balanced diet, the feed must meet standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The food is determined to be complete and balanced by undergoing a nutrient profile analysis or by passing a feeding trial. The established standards include recommendations on the content of the food regarding fat soluble vitamins, fat, water soluble vitamins, protein and the mineral content of the pet food.

According to Dr. Ian Billinghurst’s book, Give Your Dog a Bone, the current legal standards for the nutritional makeup of pet food are such that “It is possible to produce a pet food based on shoe leather, sump oil, coal and water which is analyzed will be found to meet the legal requirements necessary for it to be sold as pet food,” (Billinghurst, pg. 40.)

Dr. Billinghurst’s assertation is not only disturbing, it shows the danger of trusting the government organizations whose goals are to establish feed standards for our pets.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has released a regulation on pet food in the wake of the recall crisis.

Click here to read it in its entirety.

To summarize, the regulation calls for “pet foods, like human foods, be pure and wholesome, contain no harmful or deleterious substances.”

Instead, much of the scrap material from the human food industry is being used for pet foods. How can the leftovers determined not for use in human grade products live up to the FDA’s claim that pet food should be pure and wholesome?

Back to the pet food label - the ingredients listed at the top are the ‘heaviest’ ingredients, meaning that these are the ingredients that comprise the largest percentage of the feed.

If those ingredients are biologically inappropriate (items like meat by-product meal, corn, soybean meal and animal fat often top the ingredients list), you can imagine the internal damage we are doing to our companions.

Look for foods that have ingredients that are wholesome, biologically appropriate, human grade and organic. Born Free USA - Animal Protection Institute has assembled a ‘how to’ guide in selecting commercial pet foods. I advise all pet owners to click here, read the article and adhere to higher standards then that which the United States government organizations claim as complete and balanced nutrition.

image of Dr. Billighurst via www.drianbillinghurst.com, image of pet food via Born Free USA, United with Animal Protection Institute.

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by Michelle Thomas

Your veterinarian recommends it, even sells it at their office, so it must be what is best for your pet. Right?

Millions of pet owners blindly assume that this is true. Aren’t our veterinarians the ones we are supposed to rely on to keep our pets healthy and answer all of our pet care questions?

Hills, the manufacturer of Science Diet, sends out complimentary puppy and kitten kits to veterinary offices. Each time a new puppy or kitten visits that office they are given a complimentary bag of food, coupons for their next visit and informational packets emphasizing the importance of good nutrition, achieved through their products.

If trusting pet owners took the time to read the label on that puppy food, they would find the top ingredients listed as follows, ground whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, soybean meal and animal fat. Yikes!

Having working in the pet industry and as a pet owner for for some time, I struggle to count on one hand veterinarians I have encountered who recommend and emphasize the importance of true, high quality nutrition. How can this be?

Veterinary schools are infiltrated by the major pet food companies looking to peddle their products to the next generation of veterinarians. I attended Michigan State University, and earned a Bachelors Degree in Veterinary Technology. A veterinarian with a PhD in nutrition taught my nutrition course. This vet also worked as a food developer at Purina for many years.

During an exam I was required to write “The ingredients in the food do not matter the only thing to consider when analyzing a diet for your patients is the nutritional analysis such as the % protein and fat.”

If I was to answer differently, I would be marked wrong. It was painful for me to placate this irrational line of thought. Our teacher explained that when formulating a pet diet, ingredients are entered into a computer system which analyzes the content to reach a specific ratio and meet the requirements set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials).

This translates into the use of the least expensive and, more often then not, biologically inappropriate food sources being utilized. Ingredients such as corn gluten are used as a protein source.

During my time as a student, Hills gave special nutritional seminars and even had a special program that provided all students with up to 100 pounds of free food monthly. I must say I preferred to pay top dollar for my dog’s food, even as a poor student than receive their free ‘food’.

It baffles me that highly educated and intelligent veterinarians and veterinary students are not using common sense to question the legitimacy of the information being pumped into them by large corporations.

I urge you, as pet owners to do your research. Don’t be afraid to question and communicate your concerns with your veterinarian. If your vet is offended or unwilling to discuss or research options with you, then find one who will!

Shouldn’t your veterinarian be passionate about your animal’s health?

Michelle Thomas holds a degree in Veterinary Technology from Michigan State University. Michelle lives with her French Bulldog rescue Mojito and her kitten Tyson. She is currently studying acupuncture and Oriental medicine at the Acupuncture and Massage College in Miami, Florida and is incorporating these modalities into her pet’s care.

image of Science Diet Puppy Formula via www.hillspet.com

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While this is kind of embarrassing to admit, I was trolling around on Facebook this morning, (I am a total Facebook addict) and I came across a pretty interesting group called People Against Bad Dog Food. I wanted to mention it because the site does a really good job of concisely describing many of the problems I have previously addressed regarding commercially prepared dog food.

The mission of the PABDF, a non-profit organization, is to ensure that dogs throughout the United States receive the highest quality nutrition and care. Their goals include educating the public about the food choices they make for their pups and lobbying the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) to raise their currently ineffective standards for manufacturing practices in the US.

It is great that there are a growing number people out there doing their best to educate the public about the realities of the pet food industry and trying to make a difference beyond their own kitchens and their own dogs.The site has a useful tool where you can look up various brands of dog foods and compare ingredients. Find out what the top three ingredients are in your pet’s food. This makes it easier to avoid getting sucked in by the romantic images we are served up by clever advertising in the pet food industry.

On a side note, that commercial with the extra cute puppies and the “We’re for dogs” and “Dog’s Rule!” narration is sooo seductive! It’s hard to believe what that company puts in their food. A quick search on their website revealed the first three ingredients in one of their featured products to be Ground Whole Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Corn Gluten Meal. Yikes!

Anyway, back to People Against Bad Dog Food. Their site also hosts a comprehensive news area where you can read up on the latest happenings in the world of pet food recalls and other canine health related issues.

Becoming a member is as simple as filling out a quick online form.Since I think most people are against bad dog food, its a great cause to get behind and a great site to easily access information about the pet food industry and what’s really going into your dog’s bowl every day.

Visit www.pabdf.org and check it out.

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I have made mention of the different supplements I use to keep my little Louis Reginald in top form. PetFlora is one I mentioned in an earlier post and it truly has been a lifesaver. It works to sooth the GI tract an aid for diarrhea caused by stress or improper nutrition, helps your dog’s immune system stay at maximum strength. Bacteria and intestinal micro-flora are required to keep up your pup’s good health. The aforementioned microorganisms assist in fighting infection, aiding digestion, processing waste.

PetFlora is made up of soil based organisms (SBOs) that our dog’s wild ancestors would have gotten from eating organic grass and soil to replenish the micro-flora that our dogs require. Now, with fertilizers and other chemicals prevalent in the grass our dogs frequent, it is up to us to supply our dogs with SBOs. PetFlora can be used regularly as a supplement or in times of need when your pet is under duress, experiencing stomach upset or to offset the negative side affects that our dogs encounter when veterinarians prescribe use of antibiotics. I am using this product as a regular supplement as I believe in promoting natural health and preventing problems rather then waiting for emergency situations to arise.Please click here to read Vitality Science’s study on the benefits of Pet Flora for your dog or cat’s digestion.

Visit Vitality Science’s website to learn more or purchase their products!

Also available at Louis’ favorite store in Miami!

The DogBar, Inc.

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Canine nutrition is one of my foremost interests. It was that topic that sparked the concept of my starting this blog. As such, I hope that it will be a regularly recurring topic and as I continue to read the many books and websites; and confer with experts in the field, I look forward to continuing to write on this topic.In light of the recent food recalls, there has been a great deal of debate on the topic of pet food and increased awareness amongst pet owners. There is a mass of conflicting information about what is ‘good’ dog food. Most dog owners have experienced their vet encouraging the use of certain brands of dog food. We feel if it is vet recommended, it must be safe. We must think outside of this rationalization. Try and imagine a responsible internist endorsing a a brand of food - it seems wrong.

Commercially prepared dog food is a modern invention for the sake of convenience. Prior to the advent of the pet food industry, our pets ate table scraps and other ‘human’ foods. In the 1950’s dry pet food was introduced and over the next decade advertisers packaged and commercialized the notion that commercially prepared foods were superior to freshly cooked meats and vegetables.

The pet food industry has done a wonderful job of convincing us that feeding our pup anything but commercially prepared dog foods is dangerous to his health. While commercially prepared foods are carefully formulated to the specific needs of our canine friends, while reading the ingredients, you often find meat by products, fillers and chemicals to provide a long shelf life.

If the over 5,000 pet foods that were recalled in 2007 are not enough to convince us that we need to reevaluate the trust we put into packaged food products, I highly recommend Ann Martin’s book, Food Pets Die For. Originally published in 1997, it was one of the first exposés on the pet food industry. She has updated her book and continues to call out the unethical practices that take place in the industry. The most shocking information was the assertion that euthanized animals are rendered into the mix.

The veterinary recommended brand we were feeding Louis was included in the pet food recall, although not his specific formula. It was still enough to make me rethink what I was feeding him. After reading Ms. Martin’s book, I committed to changing his diet drastically. We are in the process of making the change and are already seeing positive changes.

In addition to the new-found knowledge of the revolting processes the pet food industry utilizes, Ms. Martin makes helpful suggestions for revising your pet’s diet, offers recipes for feeding pets home cooked meals and advises on selecting commercially prepared foods made by ethical companies using human grade ingredients. Her book is gut-wrenching and I needed a few lengthy breaks in order to stomach its contents, however, for anyone who cares for a pet, it is necessary reading.

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