3 Facts About Commercial Pet Foods That Could Kill Your Dog

The dark side! Yes, we are now entering the dark side of the pet food world. You may have heard of the term 'natural reared.' This refers to a movement among pet owners that is about raising your dog on fresh and natural ingredients. Done properly, it can save you hundreds in vet bills. Obviously this group is a big proponent of feeding a raw or homemade diet. You would be surprised at some of the very disturbing truths about packaged foods. In this article, I give three of them.

1. The Disturbing Truth About The Ingredients Used

Of course, you, as a concerned pet owner, read the ingredients labels of the foods you purchase. You also know that a good brand uses meats as the first few ingredients. But what you may not have known might really surprise and shock you.

The meats that are used for our pet foods can actually be anything that is below human grade. Even if the bag says they use human graded sources, it does not always mean that the ingredient still qualified as such. If human grade raw meat gets contaminated, it can no longer be sold in stores, but it certainly can be processed into kibble. Your dog or cat could actually be eating meats that came from sick or dead animals (the ones that die before they reach the slaughterhouse).

Yet another disturbing matter is that an estimated 40% of euthanized shelter animals get sent to processing plants to be turned into pet food. No wonder that compost gardeners will tell you that pet stool is poison to a garden!

2. Medicines?

There was a reported case of a baby girl close to a year of age who died from eating cat food. Research found that it was the presence of penicillin in the dry cat food that caused the adverse reaction. Studies found the penicillin level was 600 times higher than what is allowed in human grade foods.

3. The Process Of Drying The Meats

In order to achieve the kibble texture, the meat or rather the carcasses must first be ground. Since money and time are big factors, time is not wasted on removing flea collars, pesticide tags, plastic bags, and whatever else the carcasses come with. All of it is dumped into a huge grinder that grinds it all up. Afterwards, this is cooked for one hour at 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Then it is squeezed to get rid of all moisture and turned into powder. While this process will kill off bacteria as well as beneficial enzymes, it has no effect on sodium Phenobarbital which is used for euthanasia.

Disturbing, is it not? No wonder our pets get upset stomachs by switching foods. It's not because they have sensitive stomachs, but rather because they are not able to digest all those harmful ingredients.

Do your research though. There are a few brands that are good to feed your pets. These are usually found at feed stores and specialty stores.

Want To Feed Homemade Dog Foods?

Recipes will ensure they are getting everything they nutritionally.

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Koi Feeding - Facts You Need to Know About Feeding Your Pet

The Koi fish is known for its gorgeous and attractive color, and it is a very entertaining pet to own. Now, one of the amazing traits of the fish is that it can be trained to feed right out of your hand. It recognizes the person who feeds them, so they get to gather around them when feeding time comes. It's such an enjoyable creature that gives life to your backyard pond!

These are omnivorous species; they feed on both plant and meat matters. They have sharp appetites as they dwell in waters reaching 61 - 75°F. They're very active in summertime, and this season is the time that they should be fed with a good quality of diet. They have two food sources: the environment that they live in and their owner. They'll eat whatever comes in their way, as long as it fit in their mouths. Their diet include insects, worms, snails, acorns, grasses and the foliage of underwater plants (which can give some problems to their owners at times). They also feed on special treats like lettuce, peas and watermelons.

Owners should always remember that they just need the right combo of fats, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals; and this can be given to them by feeding them pellet food. The pellet foods that can be bought from local pet stores are made to float in the surface of the water so that the fish will come to the water's surface to snatch them (which gives the owner a great time to observe his pets). Part of caring for them is to make sure that they are healthy, have good appetites, and also free of any kinds of injuries. The vivid colors of the fish indicate that they are having a healthy diet.

The digestive system of this fish will slow down when winter comes, which makes it unnecessary to feed them. They make take the liberty of nibbling on the algae found at the bottom of the pond. But owners should always keep in mind that if the temperature drops below 50°F, the fish may become ill if there's any food left in their stomach that will become bad.

When it comes to feed the fish, owners need not to put a lot of stress in matters on how much the fish should be fed and when would be the right time to do it...and this makes feeding time the most relaxing parts of the day for the owner. They can take pleasure on their pets' willingness to interact with them, thus seeing them in a different way. With the Koi, it's all fun and games when it comes to food!

Mike Araujo is a Koi expert. To get more information on Koi feeding and how to care properly for your pets, visit http://www.koipondreport.com/.