Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:53 am Post subject: You are what you eat....
Having looked at the ingredients in the Hill's Large Breed Adult food last night and been shocked to find it doesn't actually contain any MEAT , I had a look this morning to see how it compares to the one food we all recommend steering clear of...Bakers.
Ingredients in Bakers Chicken Adult
Cereals, Meat and animal derivatives (Minimum 4% fresh meat in the soft moist kernel, minimum 4% chicken in the red and brown kernels), Vegetable protein extracts, Oils and fats, Derivatives of vegetable origin (0.5% beet pulp in the red and brown kernels), Various sugars, Minerals, Vegetables (minimum 4% vegetables in the green and yellow kernels). With antioxidants, coloured with and preserved with EC additives.
It's a bit to find Bakers actually has more meat in it than Hill's, even if it is only a small percentage.
Bakers has Sugar in, which is totally unnecessary in a dogs diet, also colourings and EC permitted Preservatives, which "could" be BHA/BHTs which have been linked to Cancers.....but Hill's has Chicken Liver Flavour (what the hell is that?) and Citric Acid, which has been linked to Bloat.
I suppose all I'm saying is READ THE BAG before buying ANY brand/make of food, as you really can't trust the name, reputation, advertising or anything...Let the ingredients speak for themselves.
Read and research, because what you put in your dog's bowl affects EVERYTHING....It's bones and muscles, it's brain, it's behaviour and most of all it's Health.
Corn is the biggest ingredient and chicken by-product meal - what's that? (I think that is probably the meat - more likely the sweepings up after the real meat has been taken off).
And Hills is the food most recommended by vets too. It isn't even cheap.
Faced with a list like that just reminds me why I use Burns, I understand what things are on their ingredients list.
Nice post Jules. (Have/are you ever been a researcher by any chance ).
Very True, I am currently a Sloppy Guiseppe Pizza and Lexi is a bit of Austrian Smoked Cheese (hides the AB's which she has taken to spitting out).
Seriously, when all the supermarket packaging changed and everyone had to put their calories etc on the back I was horrified at what I was actually buying us to eat. We spent six months "healthy eating" and my OH lost 3 stone.
If only the information on the back of Dog Food bags was as simple to understand. I have trawled the interweb looking to see if there is a "calorie counter" for dogs/dog food - i am sure there must be somewhere just haven't found it yet. I would be much more inclined to feed Lexi more chicken, rice etc (basically cook for 3 not 2) if i knew what the weight/calorie guidlines where.
(Have/are you ever been a researcher by any chance ).
No (although maybe I should have been ). I'm just a nosey cow with enough curiosity to kill several cats, who's passionate about human and animal health.
I did find a site with the calorie count of some of the well known brands of Treats (one Jumbone = more than a whole days calories for many dogs ) and I have found sites which give you the rough daily calorie requirements for dogs of varying sizes and lifestyles.....But like you, I've never found how many calories in dog food (unless it's BARF and then you can work it out from the individual components), or what those calories are made up of (fat, protein or carbs).
You must never loose site of the fact that pet food manufacturers are in business for one reason, to make money. They just choose pet food as the means to that end.
The laws concerning the inclusion of BHA/BHTs is a strange thing. By law a manufacturer only has to declare that it is in the food if they themselves add it. If it has already been added by their supplier, the rendering plant, they do not need to declare it. Vertually all dog food, whether it states it or not, does contain these carcinagenic addatives.
I've got Murphy on Fish4dogs complete now, literally just fish and potato and he's looking fab.
Hills ingredients are shocking, Royal Canin though is another with a list of "strange"ingredients and yet so expensive, I tried the Labrador version when Murphy was younger and the poo was on a parallel with Pedigree...
Vertually all dog food, whether it states it or not, does contain these carcinagenic addatives.
That's awful, John. It makes me so glad I don't really feed "dog food", although I suppose there is no real knowing what is inside the raw meat I feed either, what with "meat" animals being routinely fed antibiotics and growth hormones. I can't help but wonder if this is the reason why there are so many more joint and allergy problems these days.
It's incredibly difficult to find a good and wholesome food for dogs without spending an absolute fortune! I feed my cats two brands of cat food, one is dried and the other "pate" - I choose them because they're both very high in meat content (40% for the dried and 70% for the wet). Foods like Whiskas, Go-Cat etc all have 4% meat and that's it.
It's scary to think that pet-food manufacturers can get away with putting only 4% meat into their products, which people then of course buy because they're cheap!
I've been thinking of trying Chappie dried food (along with Nature Diet wet food) but can't find a list of what ingredients and how much meat is in it. It keeps saying it's low in fat (we're struggling with Charlie's weight again, although he's had 6 months with no exercise). Our specialist always recommends it. Can anyone find a list for me please
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
, I had a look this morning to see how it compares to the one food we all recommend steering clear of...Bakers.
).
). I'm just a nosey cow with enough curiosity to kill several cats, who's passionate about human and animal health. 
