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26 Jun 2014

Avoiding Bad Ingredients In Pet Food

Posted By : Guest

Just as people are becoming increasingly aware of how many preservatives, hormones, synthetic dyes and chemicals are present in many conventional food sources, and how detrimental they can be to human health, so are they realizing that synthetic chemicals are not good for their beloved pets, either. The health craze that has been sweeping the modern world hasn’t stopped at human food. Your veterinary technician will agree: high quality pet food is worth the price.

People need healthful, nutrient-rich food with plenty of vitamins and minerals and as few chemicals and “fillers” as possible for long life and an overall sense of well-being. So does your pet. High quality pet food usually costs a bit more because rather than using cheap, empty ingredients, quality pet food is packed with protein-rich nutrition, with natural rather than chemical preservation. If you can afford it, buying high quality types of pet food is altogether worth the money for the benefits to your pet’s health.

Many of us have been convinced that the "healthy", "natural", "premium" labels on pet food must mean that the food inside the bag is good for our pets. Alongside these words are claims of 100% complete and balanced that leave us to assume we are providing the best food for guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas and birds, feeding the same dry diets day in and day out. Yet, most people do not fully appreciate what goes into these pet foods.

The pet food industry has a broad range of unsavoury options when it comes to what substances may be used in pet food and freedom to print enticing pictures, however misleading, on their packaging. It is only when our pet's health begins to degrade and eventually fail, that most people begin to question why. After all, a healthy body can only be as good as what is put into it.

Are you able to identify the ingredients that are healthy and the ones that are not?

Many pet foods contain chemical preservatives. These preservatives are used to help prevent the oxidation of vitamins, to keep fats and oils from becoming rancid and to prevent the loss of colour in certain ingredients.

The most commonly used chemical preservatives are ethoxyquin, BHT and BHA. Originally, ethoxyquin was developed as a preservative for rubber and later it was used as a pesticide for apple trees. Many years ago vitamins were subject to oxidation (loss of potency) from exposure to heat, air, light and water from coming into contact with salt and minerals. Thus, these preservatives were used as anti-oxidants.

Chemical Preservatives

Although feeding your rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla or bird commercially made pellets is a good choice, because they provide all the major nutrients, are inexpensive and have a long shelf life, they have a disadvantage. The artificial preservatives in the pellets (used to keep the fat from spoiling) could be toxic to your pet. You can avoid the potential problem with artificial preservatives by switching to a brand of food that uses only natural preservatives like either vitamin C or vitamin E. In any case, the most common artificial preservatives you'll most likely find among the ingredients on the small animal and bird food labels are:

Ethoxyquin

Sodium nitrate/sodium nitrite

BHA/BHT

If you see the presence of even traces of these preservatives in the rabbit, guinea pig, chinchilla or bird food you're thinking about buying, you'll do your pet a great deal of good if you skip that product and choose a healthier, safer alternative.

Ethoxyquin

Ethoxyquin is a preservative used mostly in dry pet foods. It's commonly used as a pesticide spray for apple scale (a type of fungus that grows on apple skins) and as a rubber hardener. It's described in Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary as "Hazard: Toxic by ingestion."

No more than 5 ppm (parts per million) of ethoxyquin are allowed in human food, but there can be up to 150 ppm in pet food. Ethoxyquin has been linked to stomach and bladder cancers in rodents. Although large doses of ethoxyquin are toxic to guinea pigs and chinchillas, they won't be able to eat enough food to get a toxic dose of ethoxyquin.

Sodium nitrate/Sodium nitrite

Sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite are used to preserve some brands of small animal food and to preserve freshness. The two chemicals are considered carcinogenic in animals when they combine with amino acids to form nitrosamines, which could cause stomach cancer as well as acute liver damage.

To avoid sodium nitrite/nitrate, check the labels on pet foods. Nitrite/nitrate-free foods may not last as long as the treated ones, but you could avoid a lot of problems in exchange for reduced shelf life.

BHA and BHT

BHA and BHT are used primarily as preservatives in dry pet food to prevent the fat in the food from turning rancid. If you feed your rabbit, guinea pig or chinchilla pellets, they're probably preserved with BHA or BHT. These substances are quite similar; they could be called chemical cousins. BHA is suspected of causing certain cancers of the gastrointestinal tract in rodents. BHT promotes urinary bladder carcinogenesis, and it could be a promoter of thyroid carcinogenesis as well. Additional effects are stomach cancer and liver and kidney damage. Again, check the ingredients label for these preservatives. BHT, like ethoxyquin, is a very popular preservative.

Other Safer Preservatives

By using coated (protected) vitamins, and by using cold-pressed pellets, the need for added chemical preservatives is all but eliminated. Of course, proper inventory rotation also helps. Where some type of preservative is needed, the use of mixed tocopherols (vitamin E) and citric acid (the natural acid from citrus fruits) have been shown to act as a preservative and to help prevent the formation of molds. This is a natural alternative to the use of chemical preservatives, but often requires special equipment and is more expensive.

Two leading pet food manufacturers, Burgess and Roudybush made the decision to eliminate chemical preservatives from their products and to provide pets with a more natural wholesome diet. With strict quality control and the use of more expensive ingredients, virtually dust-free products are available to consumers to provide premium, natural nutrition for their pets.

Food Dyes

Blue 2, Red 40, and Yellow 5 and 6 have been documented to contribute to hypersensitivity (allergic-type) reactions, behavior problems, and cancer in humans. More recently, caramel colour has come under fire as it contains 4-methylimidazole (4-MIE), a known animal carcinogen. When it comes down to it, artificially colouring food only appeals to humans and not pets. These chemicals linger inside your pet's body and can cause personality changes and allergic reactions as well as tumors of the bladder, thyroid and kidneys.

Artificial Flavours

Many of the "artificial" flavours used in pet foods are actually natural ones like cinnamon or clove oil, but others are artificially created from chemicals. These substances can harm your rabbit-for example, Benzaldehyde, formerly used as a pesticide and a solvent, is now used for artificial cherry and almond flavours.

One of the most serious charges against artificial flavouring is it causes allergies in pets and weakens the immune system against the onset of further allergies. Studies done in the 1970s show that artificial colouring and flavouring provoke hyperexcitability and other personality disorders in children, so imagine what they might be doing to your rabbit.

Rolled Oats

The ASPCA recommend that you do not feed your guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla rolled oats because it can cause digestive upset. Recently rolled oats is being used frequently for small animals as a necessary fattening agent. Unknown to many, rolled oats are steamed groats that have literally been rolled out and flattened, with the bran (nutritional part) discarded. The main problem with oats is that it is too high in magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.

It also contains phytate which has the tendency to bind minerals and prevent their absorption. This can cause a lack of absorption of essential nutrients from the main diet of small animals. In chinchillas and guinea pigs, magnesium function is strictly coupled with the function of calcium and phosphorus. It is essential for the mineralization process and growth of bones and enamel. Chinchillas suffering from dental disease is often found with elevated magnesium levels.

Ash Content

Sometimes you will see the ash percentage listed on some brands of pellets. Ash is what is left of the mineral content of the pellets after the heating process. You want a fairly low percentage of ash as this has been linked to urinary tract infections in rabbits. Since chinchillas have similar digestive system to rabbits, it is most likely they will be vulnerable to urinary tract infections as well. High quality pellets should also look and smell fresh.