Your Dogs & Cats Need Meat - - NOT Dried Pet Food

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http://www.mercola.com/2005/aug/27/meat_first.htm

 

Your Dogs & Cats Need Meat - - NOT Dried Pet Food

 

By Beth Taylor and Steve Brown

 

When people begin the search for better dry foods for their animals

they're often told, " Look for more meat! " We certainly think that a

meat-based diet is best for dogs and cats, as long as the food is

balanced with the necessary vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. But a

meat-based diet is not what you find in a bag of dry food, no matter

what the label says!

 

The purpose of this article is to help you evaluate the amount of meat

in dry pet foods, to look at a few of the common ideas about buying

" healthier " foods, and to assist you in getting more fresh meat into

your animal's diet the best way: adding it yourself.

 

The weight of ingredients determines the order in which they are

listed on the label.

 

The rules about labeling allow ingredients with the same weight to be

listed together. The manufacturer can choose the order of ingredients.

For example, if a formula is 15 percent by weight meat, rice, wheat

and rice flour, the manufacturer will almost always list the meat first.

 

The label will read " meat, rice, wheat, rice flour?. " Look closely at

all the grain sources when you read an ingredient panel for pet food.

If you see three grain sources after the meat, that food is mostly

grain, and the manufacturer is playing the " meat first " game.

 

Should " Real Meat " come first on the label?

 

Manufacturers use two different types of meat in their dog and cat

foods: real meat and meat meal. Meat meal is the meat with the water

removed for ease of handling and production. One pound of chicken will

yield about .3 pounds of chicken meal. (See our article for more

detailed information about calculating dry matter basis.)

 

Production managers prefer to work with meat meals, not real meats.

Real meat is a tricky ingredient for manufacturers. Because it is

mostly water, meat causes problems in production.

 

Real meat also requires significant amounts of freezer space, which

most pet food plants do not have. Meat meals are easier to use and

store than real meat. It's the marketing departments that want meat

listed first, and they often dictate which ingredients are used.

 

The marketing departments of some of the leading premium dry pet foods

have taught us to look for real meat in their dry pet foods, or, at

least, meat listed first on the label. This is not necessarily good

advice.

 

In theory, it seems that real " Chicken " or " Lamb " should head the list

of ingredients on a pet food label Labels of " healthy foods " tell us

that " Real Meat! Never Been Frozen " is included, and it looks like

this must be the major ingredient. This is not always the case!

 

All the water is still in the chicken or lamb, and not in any of the

other ingredients. If the water were removed from the chicken, it

would weigh 60-75 percent less. Based upon its dry matter (DM) weight,

may move far down the ingredient list.

 

The " Real Meat " Formula: Chicken, Ground Rice, Rice Flour...

 

In the " Real Meat " formula above, there are three major ingredients.

In many of the formulas we've seen, the first three ingredients all

have the same amount by weight – each would represent about 25-30

percent of the formula.

 

On a DM basis, however, this food may have very little meat protein in

it. Even if it's 30 percent " real " chicken, on a DM basis it's only

about 7-8 percent chicken!

 

Most of the protein comes from grain and other non-meat protein

sources. The " meat first " does not add a lot to the protein level of

the food, but it makes the food attractive to consumers.

 

This does not mean that all real meat first foods have low meat

content on a dry matter basis. The quality brands usually have,

besides fresh chicken, some chicken meal to enhance the meat based

protein sources.

 

Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour...

 

The above food formula, on the other hand, probably has much more meat

protein than the last example. On a dry matter basis, this has at

least 25-30 percent meat – perhaps three times as much meat as the

previous example.

 

" Look for two or more meat sources in the first five ingredients " --

does this really mean more meat?

 

This advice, often seen in articles on how to choose healthy foods, is

intended to be an easy way to sort out the " more meat " food from those

that use mostly grain or soy to boost their protein levels. However,

having meat listed two times does not necessarily mean more meat.

 

Chicken, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Poultry Fat, Chicken Meal...

 

The chicken meal in the above formula may be a very small part of the

food. The first four ingredients may be 95 percent of the formula. The

chicken meal may be there just so the salesperson can say, " We have

two types of meat in the first five ingredients – more meat. "

 

" Meat First " with dry ingredients: How much lamb, how much rice?

 

Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Flour, Rice Bran... Rice Gluten

 

The ingredients listed above from a box shows the main ingredients of

a popular, simple, lamb and rice " healthy " dry food. Rice and rice

parts are listed four times. There may be the same amount of lamb meal

as ground rice, rice flour and rice bran, because they are listed in

order, and might each contribute the same weight to the formula.

 

The rice gluten listed further down the line is pure protein, and is a

contributor to the protein level of the food, which allows the

manufacturer to use less meat meal. This food may contain greater than

three times more rice than lamb.

 

The protein doesn't all come from meat!

 

Some of the protein content of all dry foods comes from the grain. For

example, wheat can have 14 percent protein. It's often used in dry

food because gluten -- the protein in wheat -- helps to hold food

together as well as providing a boost to the protein level of the food

that costs less than meat ingredients.

 

Want more meat? Add it yourself!

 

We think it's wise to add fresh meat to dry foods. Dry foods are high

in carbohydrates, and lower in protein than is the natural diet of

dogs and cats. Meat adds protein, and therefore decreases the

percentage of carbohydrate.

 

A typical maintenance dry food provides 50 percent or more of its

calories as carbohydrate. The natural diet of a dog has about 14

percent of the calories coming from carbohydrate. Though dry cat foods

are higher in protein than dog foods, they are far higher in

carbohydrate than is optimum for a cat.

 

If you feed dry food, your animals will benefit from the addition of

fresh meat and other foods. We recommend adding up to 15 percent (by

volume) fresh, raw or lightly cooked meat to your animal's diet.

 

If you want to feed more fresh meat than this, learn to make your own

fresh food diet, or purchase a commercially prepared complete

meat-based diet. If your cat or dog is ill, we recommend that you

consult with a veterinarian who is familiar with fresh food diets to

help you.

 

We hope that this discussion will help you decide that no dry food can

provide a meat-based diet! Our dogs and cats (and other carnivore

companion animals) will be healthier and live longer if we feed them

according to the needs of their species.

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

There is indeed a special relationship that exists between pets and

their owners that goes far beyond the sharing of a home together. Our

happy-go-lucky, four-legged friends also provide us with constant

unconditional love, devotion, friendship and something else that might

not be at the forefront of most people's minds -- health benefits.

 

If you have a dog, I highly recommend you read their excellent book,

See Spot Live Longer. Using philosophies similar to my own regarding

the importance of nutrition, See Spot Live Longer presents solid

evidence that a good diet is just as important for dogs as it is for

us. When fed a proper raw diet appropriate for their body, hundreds of

people, including veterinarians, have witnessed vast health

improvements in their dogs.

 

Authors Steve Brown and Beth Taylor, both pet health and nutrition

experts, provide an all-inclusive argument for feeding your dog a

naturally balanced raw meat, bone and vegetable-based diet that

provides much higher quality nutrition than any dry or canned dog or

cat food. By convincingly covering all the bases, readers will:

 

* Review case studies of dogs and cats with chronic illness that

improved after fed a healthy diet of fresh food.

* Dispel the myths that are sabotaging your dog's health

* Learn how the ancestral dog's diet compares to the modern diet

dogs eat today.

* Realize the canine anatomical digest process to better

understand why and when our animals are at risk from different types

of food and potential toxins.

* Find out why dry and canned dog foods may be harming your dog.

* Find out what real fresh foods will protect your dog from cancer

and other disease.

* Discover the importance of exercise and how keeping your dog fit

will add years to its life.

* Learn practical, cost effective solutions to feeding your dog

better for a longer and healthier life.

 

 

 

Related Articles:

 

Sardines and Eggs: Natural, Affordable Omega-3 Treats for Your Pet

 

Processed Foods No Good for You or Your Pets

 

Structural Joint Problems in Dogs

 

Why Do Your Pets Need Vitamin E?