# What is Pet Food made of ?



## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

A lady in another forum thinks that pets get and die from cancer because of the pet food. And the reason is that most dog foods are made up of road kill, diseased animals that died on farms, diseased animals from pet shelters, beaks and feathers and old or spoiled food not good enough for consumption. She also said that food companies purchase the grease discarded by restaurants and use it in the food. 

I am having a hard time believing the other stuff she writes because if this is really true it is outrageous. But with no regulation for the pet food industry who knows. Pets today are eating the rendered carcasses of dogs, cats, possums, skunks, raccoons, cows, pigs, chickens, horses and even zoo animals... Whenever you see "meat meal" on the label in dog or cat food it refers to "slaughtered mammals". I will stop here, you don't want to know the rest. It certainly is not for sensitive stomachs.

Maybe somebody on this forum can research this ? I am not good at that. I have heard before about the beaks and feathers but not about the other stuff.

One thing is sure, more and more dogs and cats are sick. When I grew up veterinary patients were mostly farm animals. Our pets rarely needed a vet. Surely breeding cannot be the only culprit. When my late lhasa was diagnosed with diabetes, the mother of my vet was wondering why suddendly a lot of pets came down with diabetes. That was about 15 years ago.


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## PreciousPrince (Feb 27, 2006)

Sadly, that's true for some pet foods out there. I think it's shocking that in this day and age things aren't different. However, there are many choices of excellent food too, that offer human grade if not organic food for our pets. You just have to look beyond your local grocery store or petsmart. Here is a link for a short video that I like: Video Yes, it's on the Life's Abundance website so of course it plugs Life's Abundance, but it's still an interesting video and worth checking out.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

The pet food industry is regulated, Maltese Jane, just not very well. It is regulated by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

I know I've posted this a million times, but since we get newbies all the time, some of you may not have read this.

http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1


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## Malteseluv (Feb 6, 2007)

Thanks for posting that link LadysMom...It is extremely informative! Everyone should really take the time to read through it.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Years ago, when Bil-Jac first came out with their dry kibble we exhibitor/breeders got free samples.

The joke was when you opened the package of kibble it clucked. You could actually pick the feathers

out of the pieces of kibble.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Here are AAFCO's definitions of pet food ingredients. It's an eye opener!

AAFCO DEFINITIONS OF DOG FOOD INGREDIENTS

AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials) sets guidelines and definitions for animal feed, including pet foods. 

Alfalfa Meal - the aerial portion of the alfalfa plant, reasonably free from other crop plants, weeds and mold, which has been suncured and finely ground. 
Animal Digest - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. 
Animal Fat - is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". 
Barley - consists of at least 80 percent sound barley and must not contain more than 3 percent heat-damaged kernels, 6 percent foreign material, 20 percent other grains or 10 percent wild oats. 
Barley Flour - soft, finely ground and bolted barley meal obtained from the milling of barley. It consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm. 
Beef (meat) - is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle, and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. 
Beet Pulp ("beet pulp, dried molasses" and "beet pulp, dried, plain") - the dried residue from sugar beets. 
Brewer's Rice - the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent. 
Brown Rice - unpolished rice after the kernels have been removed. Not a complete AAFCO definition. 
Carrots - presumably carrots. No AAFCO definition. 
Chicken - the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails. 
Chicken By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. 
Chicken Liver Meal - chicken livers which have been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. 
Chicken Meal - chicken which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. 
Corn - unspecified corn product. Not a complete AAFCO definition. 
Corn Bran - the outer coating of the corn kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the germ. 
Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled) - ground corn germ which consists of corn germ with other parts of the corn kernel from which part of the oil has been removed and is the product obtained in the dry milling process of manufacture of corn meal, corn grits, hominy feed and other corn products. 
Corn Gluten - that part of the commercial shelled corn that remains after the extraction of the larger portion of the starch, gluten, and term by the processes employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup. 
Corn Gluten Meal - the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. 
Corn Syrup - concentrated juice derived from corn. 
Cracked Pearl Barley - cracked pearl barley resulting from the manufacture of pearl barley from clean barley. 
Dehydrated Eggs - dried whole poultry eggs freed of moisture by thermal means. 
Digest of Beef - material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue. The tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. 
Digest of Beef By-Products - material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts, other than meat, from cattle which includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defated low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs. 
Digest of Poultry By-Products - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. 
Dried Animal Digest - dried material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto. 
Dried Kelp - dried seaweed of the families Laminaricae and Fu-caeae. If the product is prepared by artificial drying, it may be called "dehydrated kelp". 
Dried Milk Protein - obtained by drying the coagulated protein residue resulting from the controlled co-precipitation of casein, lactalbumin and minor mild proteins from defatted milk. 
Dried Reduced Lactose Whey - no AAFCO definition available. 
Dried Whey - the product obtained by removing water from the whey. It contains not less than 11 percent protein nor less than 61 percent lactose. 
Feeding Oatmeal - obtained in the manufacture of rolled oat groats or rolled oats and consists of broken oat groats, oat groat chips, and floury portions of the oat groats, with only such quantity of finely ground oat hulls as is unavoidable in the usual process of commercial milling. It must not contain more than 4 percent crude fiber. 
Fish Meal - the clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil. (Be aware that according to US Coast Guard regulations, all fish meal must be preserved with Ethoxyquin) 
Ground Corn (ground ear corn) - the entire ear of corn ground, without husks, with no greater portion of cob than occurs in the ear corn in its natural state. 
Ground Dehulled Oats - presumably ground cleaned oats with hulls removed (ground oat groats). Not an AAFCO definition. 
Ground Wheat - presumably a coarser grind of wheat flour. Not an AAFCO definition. 
Ground Whole Brown Rice (Ground Brown Rice) - the entire product obtained by grinding the rice kernels after the hulls have been removed. 
Ground Whole Wheat - ground whole kernel, presumably equivalent to AAFCO's Wheat Mill Run, Wheat Middlings, Wheat Shorts or Wheat Red Dog, whose principal differences are in the percentage of crude fiber. 
Ground Yellow Corn - same as ground corn, except that the corn used is yellow in color. 
Kibbled Corn - obtained by cooking cracked corn under steam pressure and extruding from an expeller or other mechanical pressure device. 
Lamb Bone Meal - (steamed) dried and ground product sterilized by cooking undecomposed bones with steam under pressure. Grease, gelatin and meat fiber may or may not be removed. 
Lamb Digest - material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed lamb. The tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. 
Lamb Fat - obtained from the tissues of lamb in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". 
Lamb Meal - the rendered product from lamb tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. 
Linseed Meal - the product obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from flaxseed by a mechanical extraction process. It must contain no more than 10 percent fiber. The words "mechanical extracted" are not required when listing as an ingredient in the manufactured food. 
Liver - the hepatic gland (of whatever species is listed). 
Meat and Bone Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. 
Meat By-Products - the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. 
Meat Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. 
Peas - peas. 
Potatoes - potatoes. 
Poultry By-Product Meal - consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. 
Poultry Digest - material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed poultry tissue. 
Poultry Fat (feed grade) - primarily obtained from the tissue of poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty matter natural to the product produced under good manufacturing practices and shall contain no added free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat. It must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids and not more than 3 percent of unsaponifiables and impurities. It shall have a minimum titer of 33 degrees Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the word "preservative(s)". 
Powdered Cellulose - purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant materials. 
Rice Bran - the pericarp or bran layer and germ of the rice, with only such quantity of hull fragments, chipped, broken, or brewer's rice, and calcium carbonate as is unavoidable in the regular milling of edible rice. 
Rice Flour 
Soy Flour 
Soybean Hulls - consist primarily of the outer covering of the soybean. 
Soybean Meal (Dehulled, solvent Extracted) - obtained by grinding the flakes remaining after removal of most of the oil from dehulled soybeans by a solvent extraction process. 
Soybean Meal (Mechanical Extracted) - obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from the soybeans by a mechanical extraction process. 
Soybean Mill Run - composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal. 
Tallow - animal fats with titer above 40 degrees Celsius. 
Turkey - unspecified turkey. Not a complete AAFCO description. 
Turkey Meal - the ground clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails. 
Wheat Bran - the coarse outer covering of the wheat kernel as separated from cleaned and scoured wheat in the usual process of commercial milling. 
Wheat Flour - wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must not contain more than 1.5 percent crude fiber. 
Wheat Germ Meal - consists chiefly of wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or short. It must contain not less than 25 percent crude protein and 7 percent crude fat. 
Wheat Mill Run - coarse wheat bran, fine particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flour and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must contain not more than 9.5 percent crude fiber. 
Whey - the product obtained as a fluid by separating the coagulum from milk, cream or skimmed milk and from which a portion of the milk fat may have been removed.


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## camfan (Oct 30, 2006)

I think you are wise to not believe everything you read. No matter what the topic, it's best to take an overview of ALL the information that's out there before any conclusions are made. The pet food industry IS overviewed by a branch of the FDA (see Marj's post above). (I worked for the gov't for 8+ years so I have a solid understanding of how it all works). Unfortunately, there is not enough funding for it to be CLOSELY monitored. Inspections are not mandatory nor required so what ends up happening is that the gov't often doesn't get involved until there is a problem. The larger food producers produce their OWN funding for scientific studies, etc. (like Science Diet) but the other, smaller chains do not have that kind of resource. We are left having to "trust" what is written on the bags and to "trust" the claims of the manufacturers and what they list on their bags and cans of ingredients. I think after all that has happened in recent days that the FDA is going to have to start getting a lot tighter on their pet food regulations. I really hope that is the result of all that's going on.

I do think there are still manufacturers out there who put a lot of gross stuff in their food--you'll see it listed on their lists of ingredients, though, under padded types of descriptions like fillers, etc. But people are wising up to reading what is in their pet's food these days and I hope that people make wise choices for their pets. Just like I don't buy food with a lot of processing, fat, "fillers" and artificial & less than healthy ingredients for my own body, I don't want to do it for my pet, either.


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## Deanna (Jan 14, 2005)

I think it's really important to pick a food that uses _human grade_ food, such as Natural Balance.


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## kathym (Aug 5, 2006)

one of my coworkers said he was going to try this new food,since all of this happened THE HEALTHY PET GOURMET,www.thpg.com. it was very educational even if you dont buy any product. i was really upset when i starting reading what is in a lot of the food that is out there .Baci eats only dry Merrick. so i feel safe but if i could aford this is a option.


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## Chyna's Mommie (Feb 23, 2007)

> Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids.[/B]


From the article Marj posted. Is this true?


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## kathym (Aug 5, 2006)

i just read the artical that marj posted, i feel like throwing all of Baci.s food away, i did wet the food with organic chicken plus some broth,OMG


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## kathym (Aug 5, 2006)

I JUST RAN TO MY LOCAL PET FOOD STORE, I GOT THE NATURAL BALANCE SWEET POTATO AND FISH. I CAN SAY I GAVE IT A TRY , NOT WETTING IT bACI DID NOT COME UP FOR AIR







I DID MIX IT WITH HIS OLD FOOD. HE NEVER LIKES IT DRY SO THIS IS A FIRST, THANK YOU ALL , I FEEL SAFER


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

> I think it's really important to pick a food that uses _human grade_ food, such as Natural Balance.[/B]


I am feeding Natual Balance canned Lamb at the moment and Evangers dry, Chicken & Brown Rice, both these companies say they use only natural wholesome ingredients and not grain fillers.
I find the Lamb smells really palatable, it has carrots & potato chunks also, and both the boys seem to like it which is a huge plus with Scooby the fussiest little guy I have ever known. If he could live on what we eat he would be very happy, but I know he simply cannot do that long term.
Even though I want to trust both these companies I am still of a mind to search out a really good recipe to attempt to make their food, at least that way I do know for certain what is going into their little bodies. 
My biggest concern is Scooby is still considered a convalescing patient and he certainly doesn't need any added toxins in his little body right now.

http://www.evangersdogfood.com/dog/

If you email Evangers and tell them you want to try their product they will send you some samples, they are quite generous too. If you want to try their dry food you must tell them though or they will send all canned food. Make sure you include your home address when you ask for samples of their product.
It is getting to the point where we need guarantees that all foods we feed our precious little furkids are safe and free of inferior byproducts, but can we trust any dog food company to tell the ablsolute truth








Our vets keep telling us to feed commercial foods saying we have to use them for nutrition, yet some of those foods contain ingredients that really worry me after reading the previous article posted. 
Hopefully the two brands I have chosen are safe and what they say they are


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