All Natural Dog Food - What Meat Should I Feed My Pets? This is a question I am asked constantly by concerned pet owners, particularly when they have made the choice to swap to a natural, raw meat based diet. When making a decision about which meat(s) to feed, there are several key issues to be taken into consideration:
Availability.
Price.
Nutritional factors.
Suitability.
Farming practices.
Processing.
I will cover common meat sources available including Beef, and Chicken, and discuss the pro's and con's of each type.
BEEF - All Natural Dog Food.
Meat meal generally forms the protein component of dry foods, and is also used, in combination with milled cereal and gelatine, to form the "meaty chunks" in tinned pet foods. Typically, beef that ends up as pet food is from older cows (often called "choppers") which have been culled from a herd due to poor production or health related matters, and are not suitable for human consumption (older beef tends to be tougher, and have a stronger flavour - it is more often used in hamburger mince). In terms of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), beef is seen as a "heating" meat, because it originates from a colder climate (eg the UK).
The majority of beef used in processed pet food is actually meat meal - a combination of all non-useable or non-saleable body parts from the abbatoirs (eg bones with meat scraps left on, offal, contaminated carcass parts etc) - which is ground to a pulp and then dried at high temperature to produce a powdered product. Transport is quite stressful to cattle, and stress produces physiological changes in the body (as a result of the release of cortisol and adrenaline) which can negatively impact on the quality and consistency of beef. Mad cow disease has limited the export and import of beef into many countries, and has unsettled consumer confidence in the use of beef in pet foods. Beef is one of the most widely available and most commonly used meat source for pet food, second only perhaps to chicken.
A majority of beef is still pasture raised, and as long as the pasture is of reasonable quality, the nutritional profile of the beef will be good. Most beef is raised using traditional farming practices, which include the use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides, drenches and antibiotics.
It is also common practice in many countries, to use hormones and growth promoters to accelerate feed conversion efficiency and finishing. And of course, the most dramatic change in the use of beef for pet food has come about due to mad cow disease (BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy). Nutritionally, beef can be quite good, if it is raised naturally on pasture. I do have concerns with the practice of feedlot / grain fed beef, as the aim of this practice is in producing high fat (marbled) beef using prepared "pelleted" rations, and as such, the balance of the diet, and the additives used, must be questioned. Fresh beef is not as commonly used as pet food, mainly due to price constraints (generally upwards of $00/kg), but more to do with limited availability (most beef is sold for human consumption-HC). The processing of beef does have a few negatives - primarily the requirement for transport, often over long distances. Grain fed beef is primarily destined for human consumption, but concerns on its use as pet food relate back to the unnatural diet fed (high grain, little if any pasture), and the significant use of antibiotics in the grain ration (to prevent several illnesses that relate to the unnatural feeding style). As far as suitability goes, there is no doubt a pack of dogs would be able to pull down a calf, or even a sick or injured cow, and as such, beef can be seen as a natural source of prey. It has good amounts of protein, and can have quite high fat content (14%+), and this level can be much higher in grain fed beef. Beef and beef by products (by products indicating non-meat parts of the body like offal, bone, feet and horns) are the major red meat sources. It is still legal in the USA to use any one of 6 anabolic steroid hormones to promote growth in cattle intended for human consumption.
CHICKEN - All Natural Dog Food.
Chickens are a natural reservoir for salmonella, the bacteria being commonly found in the gut and faecal material. The diets are so basic in many minerals, that calcium density in the bones of the birds can drop from an expected 20% down to as little as 4%. The birds today have been selected and engineered to be fast growing, producing maximum sized breast and leg/thigh cuts, and to a lesser extent, wings. There is no green grass or shoots to feed on, and no natural anti oxidants. There is little emphasis placed on nutritional value, as taste, texture and yield are all that the producers are interested in for the end product. There is no doubt that wild chickens would be an ideal prey for both cats and dogs.
The very fact that they are relatively slow moving, and fly only when absolutely necessary would place them high on the predation list. And as if that wasn't enough, there is every chance that a significant proportion of the protein in these pelleted rations is actually derived from meat meal - I'm not sure about you, but I haven't met too many highly carnivorous chickens in my time, and it is accepted that the feeding of inappropriate meat proteins to herbivorous animals is how mad cow disease started in the first place?
In short, battery raised chicken meat is only as good as the rations they are fed on, and given that these birds are slaughtered at 12 weeks of age, there is little chance the rations are designed for good long term health. Chicken mince is very cheap, retailing from 50 cents to $00 per kg, and as such, is commonly used by both pet food processors and pet owners alike. This does not generally affect the breast, legs and wings that are collected for human consumption, but the carcasses, which are then minced up for pet meat, can have a cocktail of micro-organisms included. This is the primary reason why chicken mince spoils very quickly, and is most commonly sold frozen - it just doesn't keep. During the slaughter of birds, the viscera (organs and intestines) are removed from the abdominal cavity, and it is quite common for fluid from the intestinal tract (containing bacteria, and often, salmonella) to spill out onto the abdominal cavity wall, thus contaminating the carcass. Was this meat allowed to sit for any length of time in warm conditions, it is very possible that you would end up with a very nasty, and potentially dangerous, brew.
Nutritionally, chicken mince is highly questionable. As all ready mentioned in great detail, the modern farming practices of the intensive poultry industry leaves a lot to be desired, both on a nutritional level, and on an ethical level. Fresh chicken mince (more often frozen) is generally just the carcass portion put through a mincer, so it contains meat, fat, cartilage and bone. In fact the average size of a battery bird at slaughter nowadays is a massive 7kg, compared with a naturally raised (organic) chicken reaching 8 kg at 6 months of age. On top of this, the diets have a constant level of antibiotic included, to try and minimise the death toll, and a range of "growth promotants" included (not true "hormones", as they have been outlawed in most countries). Chickens are the most cheaply and intensively farmed (mass produced) of all the domesticated animal species (followed by pigs). A wild (organic) chicken would also provide excellent nutrition, as do their eggs.
Luckily for our pets, cats will simply not eat "off" meat, and dogs have a cast iron constitution, which is nowhere near as sensitive to the presence of bacteria, even salmonella, as us humans, and may at worst, have a mild bout of gastroenteritis from a bowl of spoiled chicken mince. It is widely available in pet supply outlets and often, direct from processing plants. When the birds are stressed, the bacteria can multiply in large numbers, which creates a food hygiene issue. And if this is not enough to put you off buying chicken meat (unless it happens to be organic), then there is the issue of bacterial contamination at processing. The problems became so severe, that it has become common practice to cut the tips off the beaks when the birds are first hatched, to minimise the damage they can do to themselves, and other birds.
The actual health of the birds comes a very poor second in the thought processes used in formulating rations, and as a result, there is a high death toll in battery raised chickens. The man made pellets and crumbles that the birds are raised on are geared to maximise growth rate, and meat yield, from breast and thigh cuts. The stress levels in housed birds are extreme; a situation that has lead to behavioural abnormalities like increased aggression between birds, feather plucking, and self mutilation. This is primarily driven by price. Poor general health naturally translates into poor nutritional value of the meat. These birds see little (if any) in the way of natural sunlight, and most likely suffer from vitamin D deficiency also. It can be very high in fat (18%+), and even higher in pet minces, where additional skin and fat often makes up a proportion of the mix.
Again, most chicken meat is used as chicken meal (powdered meat meal), which utilises the carcass (once the breast, legs and wings have been removed), some offal, and the beaks, feet and feathers. Fresh chicken necks are also very popular as a meat and bone source. Commercial "battery" chickens are raised and housed in sheds (in cages) their entire life, and are fed a man made diet from birth. And don't be fooled by the term "free range", as the simple reality is that these birds are still raised in sheds, and still fed the same rations, they are simply allowed to eat the pellets from the ground, and live in an open plan shed. The truth is, a vast majority of the birds at slaughter time, are so over-grown and malnutritioned, that they can barely stand up and support their own weight. Of greatest concern is the diets that these chickens are fed. Most humans do not choose to live exclusively on chicken meat, and as such, the biological value of the meat is not questioned or scrutinised. The commercial chicken industry is massive, and the housing and farming of these chickens bares no resemblance to the traditional image of chooks running around the farmyard. Chicken meat and by products are the most common source of pet meat used in commercial pet foods.
All Natural Dog Food - For more information visit: http://www.petdirectory.com.ar
Availability.
Price.
Nutritional factors.
Suitability.
Farming practices.
Processing.
I will cover common meat sources available including Beef, and Chicken, and discuss the pro's and con's of each type.
BEEF - All Natural Dog Food.
Meat meal generally forms the protein component of dry foods, and is also used, in combination with milled cereal and gelatine, to form the "meaty chunks" in tinned pet foods. Typically, beef that ends up as pet food is from older cows (often called "choppers") which have been culled from a herd due to poor production or health related matters, and are not suitable for human consumption (older beef tends to be tougher, and have a stronger flavour - it is more often used in hamburger mince). In terms of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), beef is seen as a "heating" meat, because it originates from a colder climate (eg the UK).
The majority of beef used in processed pet food is actually meat meal - a combination of all non-useable or non-saleable body parts from the abbatoirs (eg bones with meat scraps left on, offal, contaminated carcass parts etc) - which is ground to a pulp and then dried at high temperature to produce a powdered product. Transport is quite stressful to cattle, and stress produces physiological changes in the body (as a result of the release of cortisol and adrenaline) which can negatively impact on the quality and consistency of beef. Mad cow disease has limited the export and import of beef into many countries, and has unsettled consumer confidence in the use of beef in pet foods. Beef is one of the most widely available and most commonly used meat source for pet food, second only perhaps to chicken.
A majority of beef is still pasture raised, and as long as the pasture is of reasonable quality, the nutritional profile of the beef will be good. Most beef is raised using traditional farming practices, which include the use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides, drenches and antibiotics.
It is also common practice in many countries, to use hormones and growth promoters to accelerate feed conversion efficiency and finishing. And of course, the most dramatic change in the use of beef for pet food has come about due to mad cow disease (BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy). Nutritionally, beef can be quite good, if it is raised naturally on pasture. I do have concerns with the practice of feedlot / grain fed beef, as the aim of this practice is in producing high fat (marbled) beef using prepared "pelleted" rations, and as such, the balance of the diet, and the additives used, must be questioned. Fresh beef is not as commonly used as pet food, mainly due to price constraints (generally upwards of $00/kg), but more to do with limited availability (most beef is sold for human consumption-HC). The processing of beef does have a few negatives - primarily the requirement for transport, often over long distances. Grain fed beef is primarily destined for human consumption, but concerns on its use as pet food relate back to the unnatural diet fed (high grain, little if any pasture), and the significant use of antibiotics in the grain ration (to prevent several illnesses that relate to the unnatural feeding style). As far as suitability goes, there is no doubt a pack of dogs would be able to pull down a calf, or even a sick or injured cow, and as such, beef can be seen as a natural source of prey. It has good amounts of protein, and can have quite high fat content (14%+), and this level can be much higher in grain fed beef. Beef and beef by products (by products indicating non-meat parts of the body like offal, bone, feet and horns) are the major red meat sources. It is still legal in the USA to use any one of 6 anabolic steroid hormones to promote growth in cattle intended for human consumption.
CHICKEN - All Natural Dog Food.
Chickens are a natural reservoir for salmonella, the bacteria being commonly found in the gut and faecal material. The diets are so basic in many minerals, that calcium density in the bones of the birds can drop from an expected 20% down to as little as 4%. The birds today have been selected and engineered to be fast growing, producing maximum sized breast and leg/thigh cuts, and to a lesser extent, wings. There is no green grass or shoots to feed on, and no natural anti oxidants. There is little emphasis placed on nutritional value, as taste, texture and yield are all that the producers are interested in for the end product. There is no doubt that wild chickens would be an ideal prey for both cats and dogs.
The very fact that they are relatively slow moving, and fly only when absolutely necessary would place them high on the predation list. And as if that wasn't enough, there is every chance that a significant proportion of the protein in these pelleted rations is actually derived from meat meal - I'm not sure about you, but I haven't met too many highly carnivorous chickens in my time, and it is accepted that the feeding of inappropriate meat proteins to herbivorous animals is how mad cow disease started in the first place?
In short, battery raised chicken meat is only as good as the rations they are fed on, and given that these birds are slaughtered at 12 weeks of age, there is little chance the rations are designed for good long term health. Chicken mince is very cheap, retailing from 50 cents to $00 per kg, and as such, is commonly used by both pet food processors and pet owners alike. This does not generally affect the breast, legs and wings that are collected for human consumption, but the carcasses, which are then minced up for pet meat, can have a cocktail of micro-organisms included. This is the primary reason why chicken mince spoils very quickly, and is most commonly sold frozen - it just doesn't keep. During the slaughter of birds, the viscera (organs and intestines) are removed from the abdominal cavity, and it is quite common for fluid from the intestinal tract (containing bacteria, and often, salmonella) to spill out onto the abdominal cavity wall, thus contaminating the carcass. Was this meat allowed to sit for any length of time in warm conditions, it is very possible that you would end up with a very nasty, and potentially dangerous, brew.
Nutritionally, chicken mince is highly questionable. As all ready mentioned in great detail, the modern farming practices of the intensive poultry industry leaves a lot to be desired, both on a nutritional level, and on an ethical level. Fresh chicken mince (more often frozen) is generally just the carcass portion put through a mincer, so it contains meat, fat, cartilage and bone. In fact the average size of a battery bird at slaughter nowadays is a massive 7kg, compared with a naturally raised (organic) chicken reaching 8 kg at 6 months of age. On top of this, the diets have a constant level of antibiotic included, to try and minimise the death toll, and a range of "growth promotants" included (not true "hormones", as they have been outlawed in most countries). Chickens are the most cheaply and intensively farmed (mass produced) of all the domesticated animal species (followed by pigs). A wild (organic) chicken would also provide excellent nutrition, as do their eggs.
Luckily for our pets, cats will simply not eat "off" meat, and dogs have a cast iron constitution, which is nowhere near as sensitive to the presence of bacteria, even salmonella, as us humans, and may at worst, have a mild bout of gastroenteritis from a bowl of spoiled chicken mince. It is widely available in pet supply outlets and often, direct from processing plants. When the birds are stressed, the bacteria can multiply in large numbers, which creates a food hygiene issue. And if this is not enough to put you off buying chicken meat (unless it happens to be organic), then there is the issue of bacterial contamination at processing. The problems became so severe, that it has become common practice to cut the tips off the beaks when the birds are first hatched, to minimise the damage they can do to themselves, and other birds.
The actual health of the birds comes a very poor second in the thought processes used in formulating rations, and as a result, there is a high death toll in battery raised chickens. The man made pellets and crumbles that the birds are raised on are geared to maximise growth rate, and meat yield, from breast and thigh cuts. The stress levels in housed birds are extreme; a situation that has lead to behavioural abnormalities like increased aggression between birds, feather plucking, and self mutilation. This is primarily driven by price. Poor general health naturally translates into poor nutritional value of the meat. These birds see little (if any) in the way of natural sunlight, and most likely suffer from vitamin D deficiency also. It can be very high in fat (18%+), and even higher in pet minces, where additional skin and fat often makes up a proportion of the mix.
Again, most chicken meat is used as chicken meal (powdered meat meal), which utilises the carcass (once the breast, legs and wings have been removed), some offal, and the beaks, feet and feathers. Fresh chicken necks are also very popular as a meat and bone source. Commercial "battery" chickens are raised and housed in sheds (in cages) their entire life, and are fed a man made diet from birth. And don't be fooled by the term "free range", as the simple reality is that these birds are still raised in sheds, and still fed the same rations, they are simply allowed to eat the pellets from the ground, and live in an open plan shed. The truth is, a vast majority of the birds at slaughter time, are so over-grown and malnutritioned, that they can barely stand up and support their own weight. Of greatest concern is the diets that these chickens are fed. Most humans do not choose to live exclusively on chicken meat, and as such, the biological value of the meat is not questioned or scrutinised. The commercial chicken industry is massive, and the housing and farming of these chickens bares no resemblance to the traditional image of chooks running around the farmyard. Chicken meat and by products are the most common source of pet meat used in commercial pet foods.
All Natural Dog Food - For more information visit: http://www.petdirectory.com.ar
