Kibbles
Because I needed something new to keep me up late, I just stumbled across a link to yet another Nutro recall; this one over bad mineral content in cat food. But what's interesting is a lot of people have been having trouble with the brand *on dogs* since 2007, when it was bought by Mars Corp. They very quickly changed the formula and there are a lot of scary stories out there. Anecdotes, sure, but it's not anecdotal that they've added soybean oil. Also with the prior melamine scare... why were they sourcing from China to begin with?
So I really think we need to change; this is the brand recommended by our vet back in 2001, and Moose has been eating it happily ever since, but it's not the same brand anymore. I do not want to panic every time he barfs. (Given that sometimes... dogs just barf. But sometimes it's a real symptom. I also don't want to ignore a barf and then have him have real problems.)
I'd also like to find a brand that's truly gluten-free, so I can handle it and have it in my kitchen without having to always fret about cross-contamination. It's pretty clear that labeling in dog food is even shoddier than on human food, not just in that the standards are lower but some out and out lie; Gluten Free Fox has a dog who can't tolerate gluten or beef, and when she tested several kibbles labeled as gluten-free... well, they weren't. There's a brand that labels gluten-free yet has barley as one of the ingredients. When asked about it by a celiac, they blew smoke about "well we mean we don't add isolated gluten to our foods. Ours has *whole grain* barley." Yeah... I don't think that gluten-free means what you think it means. I wonder if the FDA labeling restrictions for it apply to pet food? I've been treating the dog food as contaminated even after we switched to a (by ingredients listed) gluten-free variant, because I know that the standards are low and that they probably merrily run it all on the same line. It means that I have to scrub and scrub my hands every time I touch the dog food, which gets old.
I'd settle for "more or less gluten-free" if it means both healthier and not immensely awkward. Looking at raw food, the major issue is that we really have nowhere to store it! Our small fridge and freezer are already packed full. I don't know of any kibble producers that don't also produce recipes containing oats or barley, which means I have to assume cross-contamination. I have to admit I'm kind of tempted to pick up some of those quick ELISA tests myself; they're about $11 a pop but it'd be nice to know for sure. (I could also test stuff I eat every day, hmm.)
Dietary constraints: the only one we know of is that Moose has a corn sensitivity; if fed corn he scratches constantly and develops hot spots. It also affects his digestion. The gluten restriction is all on my end, but I'm definitely okay feeding dogs grain-free. Dogs are omnivores and scavengers but fruits and vegetables seem a lot more in-line with their evolution than grains, as far as plant food sources go. If it makes Jack less of a picky eater then so much the better, too. (Jack prefers fatty and meaty foods and isn't very interested in grains at all.)
Some companies/sites to look into later:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=grain_free
From: http://www.dogtorj.net/id39.html (sadly two of the "clean" products listed were sampled and tested positive for gluten by Gluten Free Fox)
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/
http://www.healthypetnet.com/
http://www.canidae.com/
So I really think we need to change; this is the brand recommended by our vet back in 2001, and Moose has been eating it happily ever since, but it's not the same brand anymore. I do not want to panic every time he barfs. (Given that sometimes... dogs just barf. But sometimes it's a real symptom. I also don't want to ignore a barf and then have him have real problems.)
I'd also like to find a brand that's truly gluten-free, so I can handle it and have it in my kitchen without having to always fret about cross-contamination. It's pretty clear that labeling in dog food is even shoddier than on human food, not just in that the standards are lower but some out and out lie; Gluten Free Fox has a dog who can't tolerate gluten or beef, and when she tested several kibbles labeled as gluten-free... well, they weren't. There's a brand that labels gluten-free yet has barley as one of the ingredients. When asked about it by a celiac, they blew smoke about "well we mean we don't add isolated gluten to our foods. Ours has *whole grain* barley." Yeah... I don't think that gluten-free means what you think it means. I wonder if the FDA labeling restrictions for it apply to pet food? I've been treating the dog food as contaminated even after we switched to a (by ingredients listed) gluten-free variant, because I know that the standards are low and that they probably merrily run it all on the same line. It means that I have to scrub and scrub my hands every time I touch the dog food, which gets old.
I'd settle for "more or less gluten-free" if it means both healthier and not immensely awkward. Looking at raw food, the major issue is that we really have nowhere to store it! Our small fridge and freezer are already packed full. I don't know of any kibble producers that don't also produce recipes containing oats or barley, which means I have to assume cross-contamination. I have to admit I'm kind of tempted to pick up some of those quick ELISA tests myself; they're about $11 a pop but it'd be nice to know for sure. (I could also test stuff I eat every day, hmm.)
Dietary constraints: the only one we know of is that Moose has a corn sensitivity; if fed corn he scratches constantly and develops hot spots. It also affects his digestion. The gluten restriction is all on my end, but I'm definitely okay feeding dogs grain-free. Dogs are omnivores and scavengers but fruits and vegetables seem a lot more in-line with their evolution than grains, as far as plant food sources go. If it makes Jack less of a picky eater then so much the better, too. (Jack prefers fatty and meaty foods and isn't very interested in grains at all.)
Some companies/sites to look into later:
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=grain_free
From: http://www.dogtorj.net/id39.html (sadly two of the "clean" products listed were sampled and tested positive for gluten by Gluten Free Fox)
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/
http://www.healthypetnet.com/
http://www.canidae.com/