Kibble Breakdown: Source of Protein

The main reason I don't have trust in kibble companies is because there is no way to know for sure exactly what is going into the kibble. For example, the label may say "bone meal." Bone from what animal? Was it a diseased cow? Was it someone's pet dog? Both are legal to put into pet food.

Back up to the invention of pet food. It can be hard to believe that pet food has only been around about 50 years but it's important to look at the roots and how it's evolved. Here is a quick history lesson from Sojos.

"It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that pet food really caught on. Canned horse meat was introduced in the United States under the Ken-L-Ration brand after WWI as a means to dispose of deceased horses. The 1930’s saw the introduction of canned cat food and dry meat-meal dog food by the Gaines Food Co. During WWII metal used for cans was set aside for the war effort, which nearly ruined the canned pet food industry. But by the time WWII ended, pet food was off and running again, and sales had reached $200 million. For companies such as Nabisco, Quaker Oats, and General Foods, pet food represented an opportunity to market by-products as a profitable source of income. The number one benefit was convenience, and with the economy booming, people could now afford the luxury of pet food. At first, canned pet food was the primary type sold, but by 1956 the first extruded pet foods were hitting store shelves. Extrusion is the process by which pet foods are formed into pellets, and then sprayed with synthetic nutrients to compensate for nutrition lost during processing."

Even the start wasn't so great. Deceased horses and byproducts. One can assume these horses were old, diseased, injured, or simply not needed anymore. A valid argument can be made that wild canids, like wolves, often kill and eat the animals that are old, diseased, sick, injured, or already dead and rotting. This is true. They do just fine eating those animals. They can handle the bacteria. Wolves will even kill each other and cannibalize each other so why fuss about feeding dogs to dogs? Why the fuss about the quality or source of the meat?

The health of your pet is directly affected by what they eat, therefore I want to know exactly what my pets are eating. A sick old wild elk being eaten is different than a dog which was euthanized and those chemicals are then going into the pet food. As mentioned it is legal to use dead pets as a source of protein in pet food. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. It took me a while to grasp the idea that companies would actually do that. It doesn't seem possible that a beloved family pet could be turned into food for other pets but it it's true. Some sources that verify this is not only legal but it actually does happen:

1. Video- Former AAFCO President Admits Pet Food May Contain Pets

2. EPA document, saying "Independent [rendering] plants obtain animal by-product materials, including grease, blood, feathers, offal, and entire animal carcasses, from the following sources: butcher shops, supermarkets, restaurants... and animal shelters."- Emissions Factors and Policy Applications Center, Chapter 9: Food and Agricultural Industries, Section 9.5 Introduction to Animal & Meat Products Preparation

3. An FDA study on pet foods testing for the presence of pentobarbital, the chemical used to euthanize pets- Dog Food Survey Results

Please note that the last study about pentobarbital was conducted in 1998 so may be out of date. Regardless, pentobarbital was confirmed in several brands of dog food including Purina ProPlan and Ol'Roy. From my understanding, pentobarbital is broken down and wouldn't be able to be tested for when it reaches a certain temperature, so pet foods processed at higher temperatures may still contain dead pets.

How do companies get away with it? Why don't people know? In the pentobarbital study, the rendered ingredients tested were animal digest, animal fat, beef and bone meal, beef tallow, and meat and bone meal. Beef tallow (aka beef fat) and beef and bone meal are the only ones that are a named source. It says beef; it's beef product. The others, well, who knows what that's from? Exactly. That's how pets end up in pet food. Who would buy a food that said dog fat or cat digest? Companies get away with it by not naming the source, such as "meat and bone meal."

I would never, ever feed a product that had unnamed sources. You don't know what it is or where it came from.

By-products are also something to me wary of. Let's take poultry byproduct meal for example. The AAFCO definition is "Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices." In other words, no meat. Clean carcasses. While byproduct itself is not something to really by wary of, do understand that it is not providing a significant amount of protein, if any. The necks do have a little meat but it's not much. I feed feet and heads to my pets but as part of a balanced diet that mainly consists of meat.  Byproduct as a sole animal source is not acceptable. Dogs need a diet consisting of animal-based protein. Byproduct is not enough.

An animal "meal" is again something to use caution with. The quality cuts of the animal have typically been removed and "meal" is made of the leftover bits, including bone.

Especially avoid fish meal as "According to US Coast Guard regulations, all fish meal not destined for human consumption must be conserved with Ethoxyquin (unless the manufacturer has a special permit). This preservative is banned from use in foods for human consumption except for the use of very small quantities as a color preservative for spices. So unless the manufacturer either presents a permit or states "human grade" fish or fish meal is used, you can be pretty sure Ethoxyquin is present in the food even if it is not listed." Ethoxyquin is considered a hazardous chemical under the criteria of the OSHA Hazard Communication standards. Hill's Science Diet and Eukanuba are known users of ethoxyquin. There is also a nice loophole in labeling. Manufacturers of pet food only need to list the ingredients which they add. In other words, if the fish already has ethoxyquinin it when they buy it then it doesn't need to be listed on the label. Another reason to avoid fish meal is simply because you have no idea what kind of fish is in it or where the fish came from.

Really, I just like to know what meat I'm feeding my pets and the best way I know how to do that is to get meat that was intended for human consumption, or get wild game. I will feed them scraps and leftovers and bones. I have fed a wild rabbit that Denali happened to catch and kill. I would feed fresh roadkill depending on species and condition- heck I'd love to get a fresh deer! I feed my pets meat that is freezer burned. The dogs get meat that is a little ripe. Dogs can bury a chunk of meat in the backyard for a week in summer then dig it up and eat it and suffer no ill consequences. There is a lot of hype about what not to feed and what to watch out for in pet food. Dogs can handle some pretty gross stuff but I am not willing to guess about where it came from and what chemicals are in it. If it's not good enough to be put in the meat section at the grocery store (or hunted and eaten), I don't want them eating it.

There are good kibble manufacturers and ones that I do trust and recommend. While it can be difficult to know with 100% certainty what goes into the kibble I do believe that some companies have their heads and hearts in the right place and do want to provide a quality product. It's worth your time to research each and every ingredient on the label to see what's in it, what it's for, what it does, and side effects or concerns. It's worth your time to do some research into the parent company of the manufacturer. It's worth your time to research pet food recalls to see which manufacturers have a good reputation. It's worth your time to keep track of the ingredients in the specific food you feed and notice when the formula changes. It's worth your time to notice when the manufacturer is bought out and changes may occur. It's worth your time to find and feed a quality food that keeps your pet as healthy as possible.