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Heart Disease from Grain free Dog food.
Another health problem emerges from the latest of the “Food Fads” for pets – Grain Free Food.
First Grain Free dog and Cat foods have both excesses and deficiencies of amino acids. A heart problem that is caused by an amino acid deficiency, have been proven to be associated with feeding any grain free commercial diets in dogs. I’ll go into more detail later. This only the latest of problems with grain free foods.
I am calling it a fad here intentionally, which may dismay some of my readers. After all, this is an Alternative Veterinary Medicine blog. Well, I was reserved but open to the concept, as I am to many new ideas, and I evaluated the diets carefully. I compared the diets (the components & the companies dietary research) to over the over 80 years of veterinary nutritional research about canine and feline nutrition and digestive research up to now.
Here are the steps I go through to evaluate a food or supplement company.
- Claims of research. Look for listed research study on their website. Take the title and authors copy into the pubmed search. This a link into the big library of science studies worldwide. If the study is not listed here it was not published in a recognized scientific publication. The facts they quote are not facts, just company talking points.
- Did they use at minimum 30 or more animals in each test group. Did they not reuse the same animals in a “wash-out” study. So if comparing one diets to another the barest of minimum is 30, 100-200 is better. A common practice among feed companies is to design the feed trial to make sure that one diet is no different than the another diet.
- Done by Design: a. each group has less than 10-12 dogs, b. the total feeding trial lasts just weeks to 3-4 months (not from birth through maturation, 3-5 years old, males & females -through puppy rearing). Most feeding trials are 6-16 weeks or less with adult. Puppies/kittens feeding trials are completed before 6 months of age, especially related to bone and cartilage growth because the diet effects can’t be detected until after 2+ years of life. c. was the research done at a university in Central or South America. At present it is difficult to have quality over-site is some countries so unfavorable results are never published, not a practice done in major US universities. d. only one study for their idea that can’t be repeated, confirmed by other researchers.
- I have seen allot of “so called great ideas” come and go over 40 years in practice. I remember the very same sales pitch in the mid 1970’s for adding soybean protein meal to milk powder for baby calves & pigs. To increase their growth and save a little money on cost of milk. What happened? Baby calves & pigs drinking the milk powder that had more than 2.5-3% soy protein would die suddenly at 10-12 days of age from bleeding stomach ulcers. The research had been done in older animals with more mature GI systems, the babies unable to digest the soy protein which clotted in their stomach. Bacteria from the intestines migrated up into the clotted food mass and infected the stomachs causing ulcers and septic shock because of their young age. When farmer were careful to buy milk powder with less 2% soy the baby calves and pig were fine.
- Note: At less than 12 weeks of age calves and pig can’t digest food ingredients that are not from milk. As they mature with age their GI gradually turns into Omnivore and herbivore, capable of digesting soy with no problem.
- A lesson that has to be repeated in dogs, cats and people too. Feeding the wrong type of any food or nutrient will cause problems over time. An example, short term a dog can eat anything, but long term too much fibrous, root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, yams, even potatoes, cause serious irritation to the gut and will mimic symptoms of irritable bowel disease. So if your dog have soft stools, that stink and tend to be sticky, stop the popular sweet potato diets.
Homemade allergy diet for dogs-science based and balanced.
I have been promising to post an allergy diet that you can make at home.
One comment about allergies to food. I have been seeing cases of digestive upset for over 15 years as a Alternative Vet. specialist and I have found that only 10% of dogs are allergic to food. More often, “less than ideal” diets that promotte GI upset are a much more common cause, including many of the dog foods advertized for food or GI problems. More on this later.
Here is the diet with instructions:
This is a balanced and complete diet that dog can eat life long. It is important to make the recipe according to measurements, each and every time. Research has shown that most homemade diets are not balanced diets, one reason is lack of measuring the ingredients. Dog are often fed the same or similar diets all their lives. They eat a controlled diet and most dogs don’t forage for extra nutrients. Plus most treats for dogs are high in sugars. Which means the balance of minerals, protein, fat and carbohydrates must be correct in the diet you make for your dog.
So measure, measure, measure!
Hypoallergenic Diet for Canines
based on Small Animal Clinical Nutrition by Lon Lewis et., Hills
diet prepared by Dr Cynthia Smith DVM, MS, DACT
Ingredients:
4 oz cooked lamb
1 cup cooked brown or white rice (½ cup dry rice in 1 cup water)
1 tbsp Vegetable oil ( olive, sunflower, etc)
1200 mg calcium
1 Dog daily vitamin (based on weight of dog)
300 mg of fish oil (how many tsp depends on brand of fish oil).
Cooking instructions:
In a sauce pan, add enough water to have ½” water covering the bottom of the pan. Add the meat and heat to a simmer and cook until there is no pink color when meat is cut apart. Takes longer time to cook compared to a fast fry or grill. Add enough water, while cooking, to keep moist consistency.
Once meat is finished, mix in the cooked rice and calcium powder or tablets (will dissolve).
After mixture has cooled to room temperature add the fish oil and vitamins and any prescribed herbs.
600 calories in finished recipe. This will feed a 20 lb dog for one day.
How many calories in each cup of food. Measure how many cups in the finished recipe. Next divide 600 cal/ cups of food = Calories per cup of food.
Always measure the finished recipe because the volume will be different each time you make it, depending on how much water is in the meat and added during cooking.
How to figure out how calories to feed your dog. (This is a quick formula that gives a working estimate.) Multiply the weight of your dog X factor from chart. The factor can be adjusted up or down based on activity level of dog and special calorie needs. See your veterinary nutritionist for situations of dogs who do physical work, undergo rapid weight loss, pregnancy, puppies, surgery or burns.
Factor # Size of dog Fish oil in mgs
*(Notice that as the dog get bigger the factor get smaller)
40 -35 10-15 lbs 300 -350 mg
35 – 30 20-45 lbs 500 – 700 mg
30 – 25 50-85 lbs 800 – 1000 mg
20 90 + lbs 1000 – 2000 mg
For example a 20 lbs dog needs, the dogs wt 20 x 30 (factor for the dogs size) = 600 calories/day. Here is a fill in the blanks formula dogs wt x dogs factor = calories/day.
How many cups of homemade food do I feed my dog?
Fill in the blanks: Dog needs calories of food/day. The food you made has ____calories in each cup.
Divide calories per day / calories in each cup of food = cups of food each day.
Divide into two to three servings.
Homemade pet food will keep in frig. for 3-4 days. Freeze larger batches of food into 3- 4 day portions.
Add warm water right before serving to increase volume, smell and flavor.
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Analysis: 600 calories in total recipe
Water 65 %
Protein 12 %
Fat 8 %
Carbohydrates 15 %
Larger Batches:
1200 calorie batch:
8 oz of meat, 2 cups rice, 2 tbsp oil, 2400 mg calcium, and 2 x the vitamins and fish oil .
2400 calorie batch:
16 oz of meat, 4 cups rice, 4 tbsp oil, 4800 mg calcium, and 4 x the vitamins and fish oil .
Tips: Dog vitamins I recommend – Vetriscience, Pet Naturals of Vermont, Pet Tabs. Beware of counterfit vitamins, check out any internet source.
Buy the fish oil from a veterinarian. The prescription brands are so much more concentrated in omega 3 that you save money in the long run. Also the contaminants from fish (mercury and chemicals) are removed through cold distillation.
Buy Calcium carbonate powder for dog food from ,Iherb.com. use coupon code MIT990 for $10 off first order. This is a good online company that sell reliable, tested natural products. Check out the “links ” on their site for excellent info.
The Drugs in Our Beef: Important to read for everyone
The Drugs in Our Beef: Bigger Cows, More Worries – Corporate Intelligence – WSJ.
Also http://www.rodalenews.com/beef-facts
I was alarmed when in the middle of the night my dog became agitated, was circling non-stop, anxious, very high temperature (105), very fast heart and respiration rates. No amount of cooling inside an air conditioned house stopped the climb of body temperature. So, I found myself outside at 3AM, in 55 degrees, running cold water from the garden hose over the dog until his body temperature stopped rising. He was still unable to calm down so sedation with necessary to get him through the remainder of the night. The next day I found the reports of human poisonings from beef contaminated with Ractopamine, an “asthma-like medication” allowed into animal feed to promote growth. I also found out it is now feed to 80% of cattle, swine and chicken raised in the USA and banned in the majority of other developed countries int he world.
Leo was fed just 3 oz of a new supply of cooked hamburger on top of his dog food. Dogs are much more sensitive to this drug- feed additive than humans. Read the attached article to find out more.
Leo dog has recovered after 2 days of rest and fluids.
Where to find information on the safety of GMO foods
GMO foods- means Genetically Modified organisims.
Below is the best website I have found dedicated to good science on the long term effects of GMO foods and the environment and health effects. No spin just science.
Not to be confused with an industry website called GMO.com with a nice green logo. They say that they are stating the facts only. However, numerous important misstatements of the facts make this website just an industry marking tool. The companies who sponsor this website are the major makers of GMO products, including: BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto Company and Syngenta. Remember these names.
How much to feed your dog. — Podcast, The National Academies of Science.
Great podcast from Veterinary Nutrition specialists. Covers all the important information owners need to know to make intelligent choices about dogs and pet foods.
Sounds of Science Podcast from The National Academies.
I recommend one food company at this time; Drfostersmith.com These recommendation will change over time because the pet food industry is not well regulated and the successful companies are often bought by one of the “Big Two”, multinational food companies, They are Mars and Proctor & Gamble, who are owned by even bigger, multinational, Tobacco Companies.
Allergic to pollen and food. Learn about Oral Allergy Syndrome.
Here is a link to the Wiki page of OAS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome
These same principles apply even more in our pets with multiple allergies. Pets have more histamine & inflammatory molecules stored in their skin. So, no matter what the source of the allergen, the first sign of an allergy flare up is itching & increased ear wax. Pets who are allergic to fleas, ticks or mites can develop oral allergy symptoms to these pests because they accidentally ingest them while grooming. Probably one of the many causes of eosinophilic mouth ulcers in cats.
More info; about people at Tree pollen allergy reacts with some foods.
Common Cross reactions:
Allergies to a specific pollen are usually associated with OAS reactions to other certain foods. For instance, an allergy to ragweed is associated with OAS reactions to banana, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, zucchini, and cucumber. This does not mean that all sufferers of an allergy to ragweed will experience adverse effects from all or even any of these foods. Reactions may be associated with one type of food, with new reactions to other foods developing later. However, reaction to one or more foods in any given category does not necessarily mean a person is allergic to all foods in that group.
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- Alder pollen: almonds, apples, celery, cherries, hazel nuts, peaches, pears, parsley, strawberry, raspberry
- Birch pollen: almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas,[10] carrots, celery, cherries, chicory,[11] coriander, fennel, fig,[12] hazel nuts, kiwifruit, nectarines, parsley, parsnips, peaches, pears, peppers, plums, potatoes, prunes, soy, strawberries, wheat; Potential: walnuts
- Grass pollen: fig,[12] melons, tomatoes, oranges
- Mugwort pollen : carrots, celery, coriander, fennel, parsley, peppers, sunflower
- Ragweed pollen : banana, cantaloupe, cucumber, green pepper, paprika, sunflower seeds/oil, honeydew, watermelon, zucchini, echinacea, artichoke, dandelions, honey (if bees pollinate from wild flowers), hibiscus or chamomile tea
- Possible cross-reactions (to any of the above): berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc), citrus (oranges, lemons, etc), grapes, mango, figs, peanut, pineapple, pomegranates, watermelon
How does one cope! Knowing what you are allergic to helps because you can avoid the foods that go hand in hand with pollen allergies. Thorough cooking to breakdown the proteins in food into smaller bits can eliminate the allergic reaction. (Yes, fruit vegies and grains all have proteins or polypeptides) Cooking in water works the best to preserve the good elements in fruits and vegies, such as: poaching, stewing, baking in water until the food is really mushy like babyfood. Indian cuisine is well know for this method of cooking where any vegie becomes part of the sauce. Breaking down foods in acids like lemon, lime or vinegar can also work if allowed to marinate for hours to overnight.
Allergies to insect bites in pets.
This is an excellent articles on how insect bites lead to allergies in pets.
Scientists also know that the flea, tick, & mite- type insects can transfer proteins in their saliva that are identical to proteins in beef and Pork. This is how a single allergy to biting insects can develop into a allergy reaction to food. Called Tick-food cross reaction allergy.
So what can be done to prevent food -insect cross reaction allergy? Thorough cooking (at minimum 30 minutes at low boil in water until the meat falls to pieces) is usually enough to breakdown the proteins. Commercial foods and treats are usually not cooked long enough to breakdown the proteins so many hypoallergenic foods fail. In humans this phenomenon is called “tick-food allergy cross reaction”, and cross reactions can also happen with many pollens called pollen-food cross reaction or Oral Allergy Syndrome.
This explains why homemade pet-foods, and a few of the freeze- dried, pressure treated pet-foods can extremely helpful to reduce allergy symptoms.
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Anti-inflammatory supplements have also been shown to be very effective. High quality, fish oil with omega 3 fats being the best of all these products. This is the one time I recommend buying fish oil from your local vet. The prescription form of fish- omega 3 FA are filtered, concentrated which removes water, unneeded non-omega 3 fats and both heavy metals like mercury and other chemical contaminates. I have done numerous price comparisons, based on the effective dose of Fish-Omega FA (mgs) and found that the cost per pet is the same as over-the-counter brands.
Most veterinarians can/will sell these products without an appointment because of overwhelming science that shows how high quality fish oil prevents most diseases including teeth & gum disease.
Note to remember: Flax seed or borage oil are not effective in dogs nor cats. Carnivores lack the liver enzymes that convert vegetable Omega 3 fats into a form our bodies use to suppress inflammation. You are just getting expensive poop. These seeds or oils are added in tiny amounts to pet foods and treats to sell more product to health aware consumers.
PetFoodReport what is really in pet food
This is a highly detailed and accurate report into how dog food is made. The first part of the article on the Maillard reaction is of interest to owners of dogs or cats who have had IBD diagnoses.
Website on Home-Prepared Dog &Cat Diets
Great resource check it out !! here is the link
Important info about – “Ractopamine” – what is this chemical and why do dog owners need to know about it?
Sometimes I wonder what could possibly be going on inside the brains of agriculture researchers. Here is a good example. Ractopamine is a drug that has been approved for use in beef and pork in 2006. Based on one study where six healthy male human volunteers given a single oral dose of 40 mg of ractopamine was approved as safe for human consumption.
What is it. Technically it is a drug, that is a beta-adenoreceptor agonists. These type of drugs are used to treat asthma in people. Beta- adenoreceptors exist through the body and when needed internal hormones bind to these receptors to dilate our blood vessels, speed up the heart, open the bronchial airway and alter the metabolisms of the nutrients we or animals eat. In food animals it is used to increase the percentage of their growth that goes to meat fiber production and lower the percentage of fat in the same muscles. It does this quite well and is approved for use in feed to cattle and pigs for the last month of life before slaughter. The result is an animal with leaner muscle with better rate of growth. The opposite of feeding estrogenic hormones in the 1960’s, which increased growth rates, but did so by adding a higher percentage of fat. The meat producers are certainly responding to public interest in leaner meat.
The meat from these animals does contain very low levels of remaining drug, called residues. The FDA had no choice but to approve it because of the lessening of their powers to control such things and the drug is know to disappear from the human blood stream with 24 to 48 hours and therefore is consider to be very low risk to humans.
Studies attempting to prove safety for the longer term feeding of this drug were reviewed and the main reviewer’s comment was “The study did not comply with appropriate standards for protocol and and was therefore not considered to be suitable for the assessment of the safety of residues of ractopamine.”
Dogs on the other hand were used in studies and found to be much more sensitive to the drug. It has been used experimentally, giving at several oral doses. The most common effects were rapid heart rate and restlessness even at the lowest dose test . More problems were seen in dogs than other species so they were no longer used as a research subjects. It is banned in racing animals.
What if you have a dog with multi-drug sensitivity? Yes this drug is a potential danger and the dose must be lowered by 50% to 70% depending on how many copies of the MDR-1 gene are present in a dog.
So is meat containing residues of this drug included in the general meat supply in America. The answer is yes. I have not found statements indicating meat with or without this “feed-additive” are identified or singled out in anyway. I recommend to owners of dog who have any health problems making your own dog food to get your meat locally or use organically grown only. The same receptors are in the muscle and secretory cells of the GI tract and will only make digestive problems worse.
Further what can we do as consumers. I certainly want to know which batch of meat I am eating has this residue or does not have it, so I can choose. Send this posting and attached article to every one that you know. Lets see if we can go viral to get the subject before the consuming public, doctors and congress. I see no benefit to humans that this residue is in the meat we eat. There are no studies that this meat will will consumed contribute to lowering of cholesterol of fatty acids in the blood that are related to heart disease in humans. Which I hope is the end goal of the meat producers. The averge amount of time for the drug to disapear from blood or meat when feed to animals is< 24 hours, but the metabolites can be in the meat and blood for 4 days in pigs.
Our meat is sold worldwide and many countries are discussing whether they will accept this meat and I think the American consumer should have the same option as consumers in Japan, Taiwan or China.
Dr Smith Holistic Petcare 