Just saw this. Very well done and enlightening doc about the pet food industry, including a history of how and why it developed, and the ill effects pet food has on our companion animals.
If you want to know how to get, and keep, your dogs and cats healthy, this is a must-see.
The pet food industry is a nasty entity.
I have not seen this documentary but will be watching this weekend.
I have 4 dogs. I do excessive researching, e-mailing and calling to companies.
If they won't share information or have ever had a recall then they are out.
Unfortunately those companies are becoming rare. Some brands that were respectable
have sold out to large corporation only interested in making more money by
reducing quality ingredients.
Most of this is just research and asking questions. Not believing what you see on TV.
Sorry to go on but this is a sore subject with me.
I am looking forward to watching this.
Thanks for the heads up.
Yep, it's a nasty business, all right. I doubt it was originally so greed- and profit-driven, but now it is, and has been for numerous decades. I understand the reasons for initially creating dry and processed dog/cat food -- WWII, ignorance about nutrition for humans, let alone for our companion (and other domesticated) animals. Even human doctors are lagging far behind, lead by the pharmas and other corps, and vets are even worse.
Good for you for doing research for the sake of your four dogs' health and well-being. Agree that a number of formerly good pet food companies have sold out to large corporations, who only care about their PR and, most of all, profits. Regardless of the expense to our animals, and even to ourselves (emotional expense at the suffering or death of our companion animals by either illnesses or death, as well as in the form of completely unnecessary vet bills). It's sickening.
Like you, I've done research, and some pet foods I knew long ago to stay away from -- anything obviously artificially colored or over-processed that didn't any longer even resemble actual food. Later, as I learned and researched more, I knew to stay away from -- or at least limit - pet foods that were either dry or canned.
I had a cat I dearly loved who became ill with a mystery illness in her later years. The most highly recommended vet here, to whom I took her, could only find that she had a light level of kidney disease, and insisted I put her on Hill's prescriptive (!) diet to help her. I did not have a good feeling about that food (which is also, conveniently, far more expensive than others), and researched it. Only to find out there was only ONE test done, way back in the 1940s, that gave any indication that lowering the amount of protein in a cat's diet did *anything* to lower the stress on a cat's kidneys, and that test was inconclusive!
He told me the vast majority of cats have kidney disease. I asked him why. Cats are less domesticated than dogs as it is, and did he think there was some inherent flaw in cats' kidneys that would cause this? He had no answer, and had NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT BEFORE! Good fvcking grief! How could a supposed man of science, NOT think about cause and effect?
When I asked him about food (i.e. Hill's he was prescribing) I asked him if he thought a human being, existing solely on packaged and canned food would be consuming a healthy diet, he was silent at first, and then said "No." He'd never thought of it before! Yet this was exactly what he was prescribing not only for my ill cat, but for innumerable other patients, who were suffering from a wide variety of illnesses!
He wasn't a bad man. He did like and care about animals, but had been so brainwashed by the antiquated schooling he'd had, and the drug companies, and the pet food companies, he'd ceased *thinking*.
Anyway, yeah, it's a sore topic with me as well, and I learned the hard way, as many of us have done. I switched my dog from corn- and wheat-based dry food, to brown rice-based (made by Trader Joe's), and don't give her much of it. The rest is veggies I cook in low or no sodium chicken broth, with a cut-up raw chicken leg with the fat trimmed off. Every morning she gets a small raw beef bone, again with the fat trimmed off.
Dogs and cats' bodies have evolved for thousands of years to eat raw meat. Their saliva has evolved to counteract bacteria, and their guts as well. They have short intestines, opposed to us humans, which is also designed specifically to deal with RAW meat. But us modern humans think "Ew! I don't want to have to handle and deal with raw meat. Cooked food is where it's at!" Sure, for us, but NOT for them. Dogs and cats, and other carnivores, never adapted to cooked food, never created and used fire, and it's completely unnatural for them to exist on it.
In the two years I've been doing this, the rust-colored staining around her mouth (which I've learned is a result of a yeast infection, and is NOT normal, but an early sign of a health problem) has disappeared. Likewise around her vag.
Anyway, yeah, likewise sorry to go on, but I feel it's *such* an important topic for anyone who has and loves their companion animals, or even anyone who knows someone who does.
I'm glad you're going to be watching this soon. I already thought I knew a lot about this, and on a practical level I did, but this documentary goes beyond what I already knew.
Hey, thanks for caring!
Oh Cat, I always knew there was a reason I liked you.
Hills is one of the biggest scams out there. There are so
many vets that prescribe this. Why? Because they
pay a higher fee to the vets. Why? Because its vastly
over priced. Also a history of recalls. As recent as
6 months ago.
The "rules" for pet food labels also is ludicrous. One word can
make a huge difference in what is in the bag compared to
what is on the label.
I have went through several vets because we don't see eye to eye
on nutrition or vaccinations.
I know when I go to Wendy's and eat a double baconater it is not good for me.
Your pets don't know this. They trust you to make good decisions.
My dogs get some kibble, some canned and always fresh meat, veggies, cottage cheese, eggs etc....
Even most canned food is questionable because of carrageenan.
The sad truth is my dogs probably eat better than I do. At least I make my own
decisions. Your pets can't.
Educate yourself.
The Possible Canine
DogAware
have great information on them.
I have talked to both of these ladies and they are there to help.
Likewise, Godewey! Sorry it's taken me a while to reply.
As far as Hills and vets prescribing it, I honestly think in most cases it's because the vets don't know any better, and it's what they were taught in their education, which is virtually *nothing* when it comes to nutrition. Human doctors lag far behind too, but it's much worse with vets.
I didn't know Hills had been subject to recalls as recently as 6 months ago! What irony that Hills is supposed to be food for animals that are *ill*, when in reality it's either *making* them ill, or worsening their condition! How do these people sleep at night?
Oh yeah, this documentary goes into the whole labeling thing, and what a farce it is. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house. There is virtually NO regulation.
I hate to admit it, but the same is true of me and my furred one: she eats better than I do. But, as you said, *I* have a choice, and she doesn't.
Thanks for your post, and the good info you provided! Much appreciated :)
I saw this the other day and it's gives the viewer a great insight into what to feed your furries.So much meatby products in most of the Well known products.
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I love animals too so I would really like to see this movie. They should have promoted it more, it didn't know it existed until now.
I didn't know it existed until randomly coming across it on Netflix. Agreed, they should have promoted it more. Hope you can find and watch it. It's *really* good, and important for any animal lover to see.
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I'm just going to preface this by saying I don't have pets, and probably won't, since my mom is allergic to both dogs and cats and I'm allergic to cats; that and I don't have time or money to care for a pet effectively. But I do have a soft spot for animals and can't stand any form of animal cruelty.
I haven't seen the documentary, but judging from the posts here, things seem pretty bad. Human diet issues are bad enough, but making "pet food" that the animals can't even digest correctly is revolting.
Human diet issues are bad enough, but making "pet food" that the animals can't even digest correctly is revolting.
Well, technically the pets could hunt if you let them outside, right?
Still, it's awful that this kind of thing is allowed to happen.
Hi Leia,
In reality, very few companion animals live in, or are allowed to range free enough, areas where they're able to to hunt their own food of choice. Cats are the most free to do so, but until so more and more of them are kept as inside animals, with no access to the outdoors, and to food prey. Even so, those who aren't are limited to prey within their (usually very restricted) territories, and are also susceptible to rodents, such as rats, who've been poisoned, or reptiles who are inherently poisonous.
Dogs are far less so, and if allowed to range free, or relatively free, in a rural area, run the real risk of being shot and killed by neighbouring farmers.
Other animals, such as birds and reptiles, which are kept in cages or terrariums, have no choice whatsoever, but to eat what us humans feed them.