What should I feed my pet?

The recent RECALL by MENU FOODS should have made the public more award of the 'crap' in non human grade commercial pet foods. Of course any human food can be recalled too, however odds are better it won't be, as it's regulated and produced at a higher standard.

Also keep in mind that many of the good foods are still manufactured by MENU FOODS. We personally will not support any company that uses menu foods as we don't like that Menu Foods experiments on animals. For more read our BAN MENU FOODS PAGE.

As to Pet Foods, Don't delude yourself into thinking that human grade dog/cat food means less chance of contamination. Anything made for consumption - human or animal will always run the risk of some kind of contamination, somewhere in production. However we feel if you do your homework you can make the most educated choices possible. And you run a lower risk.  Meat meals, poultry meals, by-product meals, and meat-and-bone meal are common ingredients in dry pet foods. The term “meal” means that these materials are not used fresh, but have been rendered. While there are chicken, turkey, and poultry by-product meals there is no equivalent term for mammal “meat by-product meal” — it is called “meat-and-bone-meal.” It may also be referred to by species, such as “beef-and-bone-meal” or “pork-and-bone-meal.”

What is rendering? As defined by Webster’s Dictionary, to render is “to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting.” In other words, raw materials are dumped into large vat and boiled for several hours. Rendering separates fat, removes water, and kills bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other organisms. However, the high temperatures used (270°F/130°C) can alter or destroy natural enzymes and proteins found in the raw ingredients.

Because of persistent rumors that rendered by-products contain dead dogs and cats, the FDA conducted a study looking for pentobarbital, the most common euthanasia drug, in pet foods. They found it. Ingredients that were most commonly associated with the presence of pentobarbital were meat-and-bone-meal and animal fat. However, they also used very sensitive tests to look for canine and feline DNA, which were not found. Industry insiders admit that rendered pets and roadkill were used in pet food some years ago. Although there are still no laws or regulations against it, the practice is uncommon today, and pet food companies universally deny that their products contain any such materials. However, so-called “4D” animals (dead, dying, diseased, disabled) were only recently banned for human consumption and are still legitimate ingredients for pet food.

We also recommend that you keep yourself up to date: Join the free RECALL ALERTS email subscriptions the FDA offers at their site. Sign up with your most frequently used email addy so you can keep up to date. I have already seen candy that gets distributed by Macy's (made elsewhere) get recalled and today it was vitamins for humans! The other day was BJ pig ears. This email alert you are signing up for is for only the *life threatening* RECALL alerts. 

Go to www.fda.gov look for recall info, then sign up where it offers you the option of subscribing for alerts.

Of course it's always best if you can make your own foods all of the time or even part of the time- but if you can't, try always to add some human food each day. Contrary to what your vet says, Table food is the best thing for your dog. Just be careful to know what human food is NOT good for them. Want to make your own food or supplement your pet food? Read here on how to make your own food.  However, when you can't...........

Most people are unaware of the many wonderful human grade foods (listed below)- as these companies do not advertise in order to keep their prices competitive with lesser quality foods. Sure a better food is going to cost a little more, but truly JUST a little bit more. That is because the quality is higher so cup for cup you will feed a smaller amount of the QUALITY FOOD- so over all it will cost almost the same. An example is:

Please ask your local pet supplies stores and supermarkets to start carrying this better brands listed below and stop selling the crap! If not order online!

REMEMBER NATURAL or ORGANIC doesn't mean it's HUMAN GRADE or even HEALTHY for your cat or dog! Some have 'organic sugar/organic corn syrup' as an ingredient- NEVER use ANY product with CORN SYRUP or SUGAR as an ingredient- even if organic.  For example, TIMBERWOLF ORGANICS IS NOT and organic food. It is HUMAN GRADE but NOT organic. And NATURAL PLANET ORGANICS have some HUMAN GRADE ingredients such as their chicken, rice, oats, barley and flax but the rest is NOT 100% human grade and it is NOT ORGANIC.  We know this is confusing - that is why we did the work for you. Our list is below of what is 'all human grade' and also what is organic.

 LEARN TO READ ALL INGREDIENT LISTINGS. CORN SYRUP IS CORN SYRUP and is VERY BAD for ANIMALS and feeds cancerous cells! Corn syrup is only for dogs in emergencies who are hypoglycemic.

What about HONEY and MOLASSES?

(Treats with added Honey and Molasses (black Strap is GOOD) in small amounts ok from time to time)  But not when listed as "CANE" then it's been processed to a basic sugar and they are twisting the wording to make is 'sound' better!

Don’t give treats or food with chemicals BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin & propylene glycol, corn syrups, sugar; or menadione aka dimethylprimidinol sulfate READ YOUR LABELS!  (Honey and Molasses in small amounts ok) SEE OUR QUICK TIPS for more.

HUMAN GRADE PRODUCTS