Dog Community

Myths about protein dispelled...

Luvntzus

Posted : 1/1/2007 11:38:55 AM

I found this article to be very interesting!

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/protein.html

papillon806

Posted : 1/1/2007 1:42:46 PM

Thank you Luvntzus!

I actually find that article to be very informative, and very accurate. I appreciate how they mention:
"Dogs need meat! Dogs thrive on meat-based diets. (Caution: an ALL meat diet is hazardous too!) Dogs can and do assimilate grains such as corn, barley, oats, wheat and soybean meal. Remember, though, that grains provide mostly carbohydrates and only limited amino acid (protein) profiles. Extra carbohydrate intake, above the immediate needs of the dog (which occurs often with grain-based diets) prompts internal enzyme factors to store that extra carbohydrate (sugar) as fat. "
[size="4"][font="times new roman"]
[size="3"]I also appreciate:
"[/size][/size][/font]Meats and meat by-products (meat by-products are blood and organ tissues and do not include hide, hair, hooves and teeth) are exceptionally high quality protein sources for dogs. (That#%92s right! Meat by-products are excellent sources of nourishment for dogs. By-products do not contain floor sweepings, old flea collars, gasoline or machine parts. We all need to have an open mind and take a look at what by-products really are.)"

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paulaedwina

Posted : 1/1/2007 3:13:50 PM

I know what meat by-products are; the USDA has very specific definitions for these terms. I won't pay money for it. Like I said; the pet food industry is more about what your dog CAN eat - which is why they're a good place for waste streams from other industry, more than what your dog SHOULD eat. If you're offering me free dog food that has some by-product in it I'd think about it, otherwise I won't exchange money for crap. I live in the boonies - I could pick deer up off the road for free.

Paula

Luvntzus

Posted : 1/1/2007 4:48:35 PM

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

I know what meat by-products are; the USDA has very specific definitions for these terms. I won't pay money for it. Like I said; the pet food industry is more about what your dog CAN eat - which is why they're a good place for waste streams from other industry, more than what your dog SHOULD eat.

Paula

I think it's safe to say that dogs should eat mostly muscle meat, but organs like liver are very healthy additions to the diet.

paulaedwina

Posted : 1/1/2007 4:54:14 PM

ORIGINAL: Luvntzus

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

I know what meat by-products are; the USDA has very specific definitions for these terms. I won't pay money for it. Like I said; the pet food industry is more about what your dog CAN eat - which is why they're a good place for waste streams from other industry, more than what your dog SHOULD eat.

Paula

I think it's safe to say that dogs should eat mostly muscle meat, but organs like liver are very healthy additions to the diet.

I agree. But I bet you that if I give my dogs a kibble with no by-product and supplement them with a little bit of organ meat from the local poultry farm they're getting a better mix of meat protein (like you said; mostly muscle meat) than if I buy a kibble with meat by product. Then it's not a little bit of organ meat.

Paula

Bobsk8

Posted : 1/1/2007 9:15:11 PM

ORIGINAL: papillon806

Thank you Luvntzus!

I actually find that article to be very informative, and very accurate. I appreciate how they mention:
"Dogs need meat! Dogs thrive on meat-based diets. (Caution: an ALL meat diet is hazardous too!) Dogs can and do assimilate grains such as corn, barley, oats, wheat and soybean meal. Remember, though, that grains provide mostly carbohydrates and only limited amino acid (protein) profiles. Extra carbohydrate intake, above the immediate needs of the dog (which occurs often with grain-based diets) prompts internal enzyme factors to store that extra carbohydrate (sugar) as fat. "
[size="4"][font="times new roman"]
[size="3"]I also appreciate:
"[/size][/size][/font]Meats and meat by-products (meat by-products are blood and organ tissues and do not include hide, hair, hooves and teeth) are exceptionally high quality protein sources for dogs. (That's right! Meat by-products are excellent sources of nourishment for dogs. By-products do not contain floor sweepings, old flea collars, gasoline or machine parts. We all need to have an open mind and take a look at what by-products really are.)"

[]

Meat by-products are crap in my opinion and they are used in the cheapest pet foods that are on the market. They are made up many times from dead, and diseased and dying animals...... I don't know about you, but I am not feeding that junk to my pet......

[linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_by-product]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_by-product[/link]

papillon806

Posted : 1/1/2007 9:22:41 PM

I don't believe anything from wikipedia....

But anyways...I wouldn't feed anything with meat by-products, but I don't mind if it has a specified by-product like chicken, etc.

paulaedwina

Posted : 1/2/2007 7:56:08 AM

Wikipedia cracks me up. I'm in grad school and constantly having to tell people when I'm doing peer reviews not to use wikipedia as a citeable source. Wiki files are alterable by any user therefore their definitions lack rigor. It seems to be catching on though - people quote wiki left and right.

Paula

ron2

Posted : 1/2/2007 8:37:08 AM

made up many times from dead, and diseased and dying animals

What do wolves eat?

Anyway, I got in the habit of not feeding by-product to my dog because I thought, at the time, that it was difficult for them to keep a consistent level of protein, depending on by-product source. But, in reality, by-product is a rich source of protein.

But sometimes, I will feed my dog the heart and liver from a chicken. Oops, there's by-product.[

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brookcove

Posted : 1/2/2007 8:45:03 AM

I use Wikipedia as a catchall source - kin dof like the dictionary - somewhere to start. Many times you CAN find citations in it - it's good for biographies. And the graphics tend to be public domain, yay, so when I write stuff for newsletters I go there first to see whether someone has done the legwork for me already to find a public domain graphic. Like an article I wrote on CERF - I didn't realize that NIH has an eye institiute and has graphics you can use for free with a citation. Now I know! So it's not useless.

I assume, if I refer someone to a Wiki article, that they'll use common sense in weeding out the iffy citations. And I don't use it for support of controversial subjects ("See? Wiki says that . . .!")

Bobsk8

Posted : 1/2/2007 12:12:01 PM

[linkhttp://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html]http://www.fuzzyfaces.com/lfood2.html[/link]

[linkhttp://home.att.net/%7Ewdcusick/02.html]http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/02.html[/link]

[linkhttp://www.thedogbowl.com/PPF/category_ID/37/dogbowl.asp]http://www.thedogbowl.com/PPF/category_ID/37/dogbowl.asp[/link]

[linkhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/dfchart.htm]http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/dfchart.htm[/link]

[linkhttp://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients]http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients[/link]

The list of information on how meat meal byproducts are bad for your pet is endless. I don't think it's rocket science to realize that feeding something to your pet that you wouldn't touch yourself with a 10 foot pole, is rather absurd. Imagine telling your family as they sit down for their dinner meal, " And this is made with meat byproducts" . That should do wonders for the appetite and their life expectancy as well....

Misskiwi67

Posted : 1/2/2007 12:24:38 PM

Anyone else here like hot dogs or bratwurst?? Pigs feet, head cheese, or other exotic ethnic food, particularly around the holidays?

Everyone say it with me now, in your best Homer Simpson voice... Mmmmm... by-products...

Just because we don't eat by-products daily doesn't mean they aren't fit for human (or canine) consumption.

I also love that everyone STILL quotes than ancient pentobarbital study. Don't you think some of those companies might have changed sometime in the last 9 years???

Luvntzus

Posted : 1/2/2007 12:38:16 PM

Plenty of people DO eat by-products! Liver and onions, "chitlins", hotdogs, etc. I wouldn't mind feeding Gingerbread a food that had a specified by-product source; as in chicken by-products, not "meat" by-products and only if the food had something like chicken meal as the first ingredient.

But anyway, the article was mainly about how high protein (30% and above) is actually good and necessary for a dog to truly thrive, so far people seem caught up with the by-products. [8|]

dogslife

Posted : 1/2/2007 12:38:48 PM

Is feeding a dog human food a bad idea? As long as it is within a healthful ratio/ meat, vegie, some carbs? I dont know but I just gave my guys some turkey soup, which they seemed very fond of.

My huskies, unanimously hate liver. They love cooked meat. They do not seem near as interested in raw meats. My female slowly eats kibble, as if she has no appetite for it - no matter the brand...while the male will eat kibble and everything else. But they really prefer meat and vegies all in all.

ottoluv

Posted : 1/2/2007 12:39:31 PM

Just because we don't eat by-products daily doesn't mean they aren't fit for human (or canine) consumption.

None of those sites have any GOOD evidence that they are bad IMO, my buddy was in Europe for the new year, they ate Tripe for good luck at midnight!!! I guess it was a cultural tradition, a little different then the black eyed peas here