All of us love our pets. We see our dogs as our family members and many even see them as kids, only with furs. But are you as serious about what your pet eats as about your kid’s diet? More recent ads promoting pet foods say that they are loaded with so called ‘real’ food. However, their ingredients have been found to be animal by-products, wheat gluten meal, corn by-products and similar stuff.
The Nestle Purina Beneful is among the most popular dog food brands. But currently there is a class action lawsuit against it that claims that the food has caused severe health problems or death in more than 3,000 dogs. If you dig into Beneful’s consumer reviews, you will find so many stories where dogs are suffering from intense internal health problems. You should become serious about the food you are giving your dog. It is time you should replace all the chicken by-product based meal with genuine chicken.
What is Conventional Dog Food? – Nestle Purina Beneful
Thousands of dog owners are currently looking forward to the ruling on the class action lawsuit filed against Nestle Purina Beneful. According to all those who fed their pets Beneful, similar upsetting symptoms were noted. These symptoms included internal bleeding, developing incontinence, seizures, and liver malfunction.
Two ingredients have been found to be likely causing almost all the damage.
Propylene glycol – This chemical is commonly used in antifreeze. However, the FDA has approved it for dog food and even for cake mixes and salad dressings. Because of this compound, many products are banned in Europe. It may not be considered to be as toxic as ethylene glycol used in antifreeze, yet it is a chemical compound your dog should not be consuming.
Mycotoxins – These are found in grains which are not properly stored. The large number of liver failure in this lawsuit is a sign that this toxin is involved. The grains in dog foods come from various sources. Therefore, there is inconsistency and ineffectiveness with regard to testing grains for contaminated ingredients. The sloppy testing and regulations along with the normal habit of corporations to fulfill the minimum quality standards increases the chance that mycotoxins are present in Nestle Purina Beneful and several other dog foods.
Many consumer reports have claimed that Nestle Purina Beneful contained maggots. The symptoms claimed by pet owners have been found to be in consistency with mycotoxin poisoning. Grains are an integral part of conventional dog food and there’s not much regulation around them. So the hazards of mycotoxins could never be avoided.
Switching to Safer Homemade Dog Food
Interestingly, you can see a lot of resemblance between dog foods and human foods. When you think of conventional dog food, it will remind you of fast food – it’s easy to prepare and cheap. Shouldn’t we all start taking care of our pets’ foods in the same way we do for our own food. It may seem to be hard work and expensive.
But think of the Nestle Purina Beneful buyers who had to take their pet to the vet and see them die in horror. Money, time and effort would certainly take a second seat.
You must look at the ingredient of your pet’s food. Make sure it doesn’t have animal by-products, sugar, preservatives, and excess grains. When you prepare your dog’s food at home, you will be able to give your pet balanced diet containing whole food, which is free from any preservatives or chemicals.
Mix organic and raw veggie, grass fed ground meat such as bison/beef in your food processor. You may also use a number of vegetables (except onions), and avocado and eggs too.
Homemade food can be even more beneficial if your pet has some health problems. Find out about cure for cancer (in dogs only). All our dogs take only Total Nutrition Formula. Pets are part of our family so we should shower some more love on them by giving them only quality food.
Via NY Daily News | Organic Lifestyle Magazine 1 | Organic Lifestyle Magazine 2 | Only Natural Pet | Consumer Affairs | The Daily Beast
