Homemade Pet Food Has Risks Too.
As I write this article the latest additions to the pet food recall list just came - from "Natural Balance" pet foods - Venison and Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison and Green Pea Dry Cat Food. According to the FDA website, the company received reports of dogs and cats showing signs of kidney failure after eating these foods. Company testing discovered traces of melamine thought to have originated from a rice protein concentrate that they use only in these two foods. For more information and an up to date full list of recalled pet foods and treats, go to www.fda.gov or www.aspca.org.
Melamine is used to make plastic hard and shiny, for things like dinner plates and wall paneling. It has been detected in small amounts in some samples of wheat gluten, used in some pet foods, including the Menu food products that started all this. But melamine had previously been shown to have a wide safety margin in dogs. At high doses it acts like a "water pill" and makes dogs pee a lot. Cats may be more sensitive to melamine. According to an article from the American Animal Hospital Association (www.aahanet.org) researchers have identified unique crystals and lesions found in the urinary systems of dogs and cats ill or dead as a result of eating melamine-contaminated food. They still can't explain how the melamine would cause these things and there is still uncertainty about whether the melamine is the cause, or if there is another contaminant that is associated with the melamine.
The American Association of Veterinary Diagnosticians has developed a diagnostic protocol and a survey form for veterinarians to fill out to help determine whether a case of renal failure in a dog or cat was caused by one of the contaminated foods.
Because of this issue there is renewed interest in homemade diets for pets. I found a raft of information on the Internet about homemade diets, and a lot of them were obviously unreliable quackery. (Feeding raw meat to dogs or cats is of no proven benefit and carries a risk of serious infections like E coli, Salmonella, and Toxoplasmosis. (There's a good reason why humans cook their meat.)
Angel Memorial Hospital, affiliated with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, at www.mspca.org, offers free information. Click on "Recall Update:Recipes... " and then click on "Sample Cat (or Dog) Recipes."
Dr. Rebecca Remillard is a nutritionist at Angel Memorial Hospital and she also provides free information at www.petdiets.com. She is board certified in veterinary nutrition and has a PhD in animal nutrition. She also has years of experience. The website sells no food, books or other products, but does offer a consultation service. Nutrition information and recipes for homemade diets are available free. When I called Dr. Remillard for information for this column she said that the original contaminated batch of gluten was "food grade" which means it could have easily been used in human food. Even homemade diets might be contaminated, and, if you check those recall lists, the chance of your pet being poisoned is miniscule.
Feeding homemade diets is also lot of hassle, and it is not easy to make sure the diet is balanced. Cats are especially sensitive. A small error can, over time, cause serious problems like blindness and fatal heart disease. If you decide to cook for your pets, be sure you get a reliable recipe and follow it and the feeding instructions exactly.