LOL!
Posted on 01/12/2004 3:12:30 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Lola, a 2-year-old Siamese cat of generous proportions, likes to graze all day long. "She weighs 12 pounds!" said Alison Lewis, her owner. Until the discovery last month of the country's first case of mad cow disease, Lewis thought more about how much she fed Lola than what she was feeding her. For the first time, standing in the pet-food aisle of a Queen Anne grocery the other day, Lewis studied the ingredient list on the bag of fish-flavored dry food Lola prefers. "There's lots of stuff that looks really nasty," she said. "What exactly is animal digest? And beef tallow?" With the federal government making moves to improve the safety of the beef humans eat, pet owners such as Lewis are wondering whether their pets' bowls are filled with a potentially deadly product. "Obviously, if there's a contaminated (cow) and if its brain and spinal cord make it into the pet food, then yes," there is cause for concern, said Rebecca Remillard, a small-animal veterinarian who specializes in pet-food nutrition at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. Stricken cows carry the highest concentration of prions, deformed proteins that many scientists believe cause the disease, in their brain and spinal tissue, which are routinely shipped to rendering plants for use in pet foods. The same tissues, considered "high-risk materials" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are no longer allowed in the human food supply when they come from older cows. Scientists believe the disease is spread when animals eat feed containing tissue from contaminated cows. About 100 cats in England and elsewhere in Europe have died of the feline form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, an always fatal disease that causes a slow deterioration of brain tissue. There are no known cases in dogs. In cats, the disease causes loss of coordination, twitching, shaking and dementia. "They tend to lose weight and eventually just kind of waste away," said Niels Pedersen, a specialist in feline infectious diseases at the University of California-Davis. In May, the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates pet food and other animal feed, recalled a batch of dog food containing rendered material from an infected Canadian cow. Imports of pet food produced in Canada also were put on hold. The domestic pet-food industry is quick to point out only one case of mad cow disease has been found in the United States. "That's not something I think pet owners need to worry about in terms of any risk," said Stephen Payne, spokesman for the Pet Food Institute, a trade organization that represents 95 percent of the nation's pet-food manufacturers. Pet-food companies buy 25 percent to 30 percent of the material produced by animal-rendering plants, which is used as a protein source. After slaughter, the parts of the cow not destined for human consumption -- about 45 percent of its weight, including bone trimmings, intestines and the spinal cord -- are sent to rendering plants. The leftovers are heated to between 250 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit, separated into fats and proteins and processed for cooking oils, vitamin supplements, pet food and other animal feeds. Rendering kills bacteria but can't protect against mad cow disease, which is not caused by a live infectious agent. At All The Best Pet Care, a pet-food store on Queen Anne, customers have been asking about the quality of beef in the products they're buying, manager Laura Bevin said. "We specialize in foods that use better-grade ingredients, human-grade and organic meats," Bevin said. "We move people toward that sort of thing." Owner Susan Moss, who founded the local pet-food chain in 1985, said there has been a proliferation in the past decade of pet-food companies that market foods made with human-grade meats, including beef. "More and more our pets are our babies," Moss said. Consumer concern over shelters paying renderers to pick up euthanized animals led many pet-food manufacturers to develop contracts that prohibit the practice, said Tom Cook, president of the National Renderers Association. In some states, although not in Washington, it's illegal to render euthanized animals. "Our members have contractual specifications for the material they purchase," said Payne, from the Pet Food Institute. "They may be parts of the cow that we don't necessarily eat, but they're excellent sources of protein, energy and vitamins." Remnants of the infected Washington dairy cow, sent to a rendering plant in Spokane, were packed and ready for shipment when the preliminary tests for mad cow came back positive. None of the products made it to market. "At this time, I feel like pet foods and animal feeds are safe until I see if we have a larger epidemic," said Ben Jones, president of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, an organization of state and federal animal-feed regulators. But the regulatory community is buzzing, Jones said, about whether the same cow parts banned from human foods, including brain, spinal cord and ganglia, should now be cut entirely out of the animal food chain. "I think it's something the association needs to discuss and get the science on," Jones said. For the most concerned owners of her patients, Remillard suggests they buy whole cuts of human-grade meat to feed their pets. But that's an expensive, time-consuming and not necessarily nutritionally sound option, Remillard said. "That would mean abandoning the commercial food industry and transferring the responsibility onto themselves" of making sure their pets eat a balanced diet, Remillard said. "I don't particularly think it's a good idea." Cats and dogs need about 42 nutrients to stay healthy, she said. Karen Mountain, owner of Bark, a pet-food store in Ballard, said she feeds her dog and cats raw cuts of meat. She likes to use meats her pets likely would hunt in the wild, she said. Her pit bull gets buffalo and beef. The two cats eat mostly turkey. "I have a hard time seeing a domestic cat take down a cow," she said. "If they had ground rat, I'd probably feed them that." PET-FOOD INGREDIENTS Meat: Clean muscle meat, or flesh from the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus. Beef tallow: Fat extracted from cooked-down animal carcasses, bones and scraps. Meat byproducts: The non-rendered clean parts from the animal other than meat, including lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, stomachs and intestines. Does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. Meat and bone meal: Rendered from animal tissue and bone with the moisture and fat removed. Only 10 percent moisture (unprocessed meat is 75 percent water). Does not include added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide, manure, stomach and rumen contents. Animal digest: Flavoring made from animal tissues treated with heat, enzymes or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Source: Association of American Feed Control Officials and the Food and Drug Administration
Found another one for Moe...
LOL! Mine either.
Huh? They use cow parts for oil and vitamins?
LOL!
Every pet owner should read this article, print it out and invest in a quality pet food! For years, I fed my basset hounds Pedigree. The name is associated with professional dog shows, implying that this was indeed a quality dog food. One dog was constantly licking his legs; the other basset had chronic ear infections. The cat was fed her daily ration of Friskies or Purina. Her coat was thin and dull. When someone suggested that all of these conditions might be food related, I laughed. Dog food is .... well, dog food!
After several years of hefty vet bills and a constant stream of medications to treat the ear infections, I did some research and was surprised at what I learned. To test the premise of 'food-related' allergies, I invested in a dog food product, made from all natural ingredients. Within less than 1 month, the ear infections disappeared ... gone! The cat was also moved to a better quality food. Her coat is now full and glossy.
Bottom Line - I pay slightly more for the dog and cat food, while the vet bills have completely evaporated. They visit the vet once a year. Since switching the dogs and cat to Wellness by Old Mother Hubbard 3 years ago, all 3 have come away with a clean bill of health.
There are many excellent pet food products out there. The key here is to avoid purchasing pet foods from a supermarket, or even from PetSmart or Petco. Go to the independent pet food retailer, ask questions, sample different products until you find the right one for your pets. You will save more on the vet bills than what you spend on the pet food. More importantly, your pet will live a far longer and healthier life.
If your animal has skin problems, chances are it's the food you're feeding him/her.
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