Reminder: Buy Only Treats Made in U.S.

There's been another recent report of a dog dying after eating a jerky treat that was purchased at Walmart. Read more here.

Just as I wrote in 2012, this warning still holds true today. (Yes, these treats are still sold in stores!)  Please remember to read the packages when you buy treats! Are they sourced/made in the USA? Don't buy them if they not!

Rawhide Chews

Rawhide chews for dogs have been around forever so you may not think twice about giving them to your dog, but do you know how they are actually made? According to holistic veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker,  "...the name "rawhide" is technically incorrect. A more accurate term would be processed-hide, because there's nothing raw about these chews. Not only are rawhide chews often found on lists of pet poisons, they can be problematic in other ways as well."

One example of that is the recent recall of five brands of rawhide chews for dogs due to being contaminated with chemicals. Are you currently giving rawhide chews to your dog? Check this article for the brands and lot numbers involved in the recall and to learn more about it:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2017/07/24/rawhide-dog-chews-chemical-contamination.aspx?

To learn more about rawhide manufacturing, check out this video created by Dr. Becker and Rodney Habib:




Another way in which rawhides are problematic is that they are a serious choking hazard. Never leave a dog unattended while chewing a rawhide. I've lost count the number of times over the last 15 years that we have saved a dog from choking to death on a rawhide by pulling them out of their throats. I wonder how many dogs are not so lucky because no one was there to help them.

Oddly enough, as I was writing this article I received an email about a dog who sadly just recently choked to death on a treat called "No Hide" that claimed to be an alternative to rawhide and that it was NOT rawhide, when in fact DNA testing showed them to be made with beef rawhide. Beef was not listed in the ingredients at all. These treats claimed to be chicken or salmon. It's unbelievable sometimes what these manufacturers are allowed to get away with. You can read the entire article here:  http://truthaboutpetfood.com/is-no-hide-dog-treat-actually-hide/


If you do currently give your dog rawhides, I hope after reading these articles and watching this video that you think twice about it going forward. Your pets count on you to do what's best for them. There are safer and healthier treats available.

UPDATE: Just hours after posting this I received notice that the No-Hide treats mentioned above were not made under USDA inspection, though the company's claims allude to they are. How sneaky. Read more about it here.

More Testing on Pet Foods

For some time now I have been warning people not to feed their pets any food or treats that contain seafoods, and for good reason -- they are loaded with heavy metals.You can read the previous articles where I wrote about pet food testing that was done back in  May 2017 and Jan 2015. I also gave 9 reasons to avoid seafood cat foods in April 2016 (as if heavy metals isn't enough).  But this isn't just about cat foods. This is about any pet food or treat that contains any seafood ingredient. More and more research and testing is being conducted on pet foods -- not by the pet food companies themselves of course, but by outside sources. 

After reading this very disturbing but not surprising article on the subject, just released by Karen Becker, DVM, I was looking at the Clean Label Project's list of product ratings of their scientific testing on 900 pet foods and treats. I was only looking at the section on cat wet foods, but with a little investigating I discovered my suspicions were true. All of the cat wet foods that were tested and showed having less than a 5 star rating on the list (the fewer stars, the more heavy metals in them) had a fish or seafood ingredient in them. All of them. Even the ones labeled beef or chicken and duck! They either had fish in the list of ingredients, some form of seafood, or fish oil or dried kelp.

It's worth mentioning here that when I have gone to a pet supply store to buy wet cat food and read the list of ingredients on different foods, I discovered that the pet food manufacturers are putting fish or other seafood ingredients in many of the foods without mentioning it at all on the front of the label. In fact, it's very misleading. You think you are getting a "chicken" only or a "beef" only food for example, because that's what it states on the front of the can, but if you actually read the list of ingredients, you will find fish in there! And usually it's one of the first 5 ingredients. So if you don't read ingredients, you could very well be feeding your pets seafoods or fish (and therefore heavy metals) without even knowing it.

So what does this mean? Unfortunately it means that you must read the ingredients of every pet food and treat you buy. And if there is any type of fish, fish oil, dried kelp or any other form or derivative of seafood in the list of ingredients, don't buy it! DON'T BUY IT! You will be slowly poisoning your pets with heavy metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and others if you feed these types of foods and treats to your beloved pets. And if you are already feeding them these foods, stop! Please. And if you give your pets any type of supplement like fish oil or dried kelp and it's not certified organic with the seal of The Non-GMO Project Verified, then you can be sure that they contain toxic heavy metals. (USDA Certified Organic has no limits when it comes to heavy metals.) A safer alternative to generic fish oil or salmon oil is (sustainably harvested) krill oil.

I'm with Dr. Becker - the safe amount of any toxin or heavy metal should be 0 ppm.

Please read this article by Dr. Becker:

Busted: 55 Times Worse Than Giving Your Pet Water From Flint, Michigan

Dog Chews

There are so many choices when it comes to dog chews or bones these days. Some can be a serious choking hazard. There have been several occasions over the years where we pulled dog chews out of the throats of choking dogs. Some dog chews may also cause intestinal blockages if large pieces are swallowed, while others can be a dental hazard and fracture teeth. Which ones are the best for your dog? Dr. Karen Becker, DVM offers us great advice on how to choose the right dog chews or bones for our dogs in these two short videos.

Dog Treat Warning

Are you feeding chicken jerky treats to your dog? If you are, be sure to check the package and see if they are made in China. If so, throw them out! It doesn't matter what brand they are. If they are made in China you are taking a big risk by feeding them to your dog. FDA officials are warning pet owners to avoid chicken jerky treats made in China.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration has logged at least 353 reports in 2011 of illnesses and some deaths tied to imported chicken jerky products, also sold as chicken tenders, chicken strips or chicken treats. The FDA's latest (updated) warning was posted on Nov. 18, 2011. This was the agency's third alert about chicken jerky treats, with previous cautions issued in 2007 and 2008. Though these alerts have been out for years, I still see clients buying them.

Dog owners and veterinarians are reporting that animals have been stricken with a range of symptoms within hours or days of eating chicken jerky, including serious problems such as kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, a condition marked by low blood sugar. Though the illnesses appear tied to chicken jerky products manufactured in China, the source of the problem remains a mystery.

Please report every incident of pet illness or death you and/or your veterinarian believes to be related to a pet food or treat to the FDA and to your State Department of Agriculture.  For reports to the FDA, you can do this online using the Safety Reporting Portal.  For reports to your State Department of Agriculture, ask to speak to the person in charge of pet food.

2/11/12 Update: Click here for more interesting information regarding these treats. Keep up the good work, Susan Thixton! (This woman is a blessing!)