From: mlhb@mammoth.dr.att.com (Sky Warrior)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Old Shoes = Nutrition??
Date: 19 Nov 92 16:03:46 GMT

In article <BxxKCw.4FE@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, kjt34420@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kristin J. Thommes) writes:
|> I've been looking for this article for some time to run it in Usenet and I
|> =finally= found it in a drawer.  I thought this would interest some of you,
|> especially those who have been posting about the relative quality of pet
|> foods.
|> 
|> "Old Shoes"
|> 
|> The ingredients panel and chemical analysis on dog food labels ARE NOT
|> GUARANTEES OF NUTRITIONAL QUALITY.
|> 
|> The old adage "you get what you pay for" applies more to pet foods than to 
|> most food items.  Dog food labels and dog food advertisements, in print and
|> on TV, are ingenious.  They apparently try to lead prospective customers to
|> believe their product is really made from sirloin, tenderloin, rounds, rib
|> roasts and chops, etc.!  Can anyone =seriously= believe they are getting this
|> quality of meat (which sells for $1.25 per pound and up) in a can or carton of
|> dog food which sells for 15 to 25 cents per pound?

 [  Amusing Analysis of Dog Food versus Old Shoes Deleted  ]


First, let me say that there ARE trash dog foods out there and that not all
dog foods are the same.  However, those dog foods that are sold as "Complete
and Nutritionally Balanced" are generally suitable for dogs.  Dog food is 
manufactured under FDA supervision with FDA inspectors (like human foods) because
dog food manufactures are making certain nutritional claims.  (Granted, I don't
know how good the FDA inspectors are and I believe this could be a topic in and
of itself).

However, don't be fooled into thinking that the "prime cuts" that we humans eat
are appropriate for a dog.  Just muscle tissue is not enough to provide adequate
nutrition for a dog.  While most people turn up their noses at organ meats and
entrails, dogs love that stuff.  In the wild, when a wolf kills an animal, the
wolf will eat the stomach, intestines, and then the major organs first.  These
provide wonderful vitamins and minerals and (because their systems are vastly
different than ours, and can process choresterol) fats.  

The meat that is used to make dog food is usually horsemeat (which is $0.45 a
pound) and beef that is unfit for human consumption (which is anywhere from 
$ 0.34 to $0.40 a pound).  These are prices I can buy it and I'm sure that
dog food companies, who deal in bulk, can get it cheaper yet.  The main problem
with dog food companies is that the quality of the meat, meal or by-products
depends on the company itself.  For example:  chicken meal is a meal made from
dehydrated and ground muscle tissue of chicken.  Chicken by-product meal can be
made from either ground organs alone or organs and beaks and feathers.  In terms of
nutrition the Chicken by-product meal is more nutritious if made from organs alone
than the chicken meal!!!!  You really have to call the manufacturer to find out
how the meal was made.  (Same with "by products"  -- is it nutrious by products or
not?)

Mushers are always trying to concoct a better blend of food for their dogs, 
because most dog foods (even the high energy types) are inadequate for working 
dogs.  We have become intimately familiar with dog food labels and try to work
off of that.  Most premium dog foods are acceptable to housepets and in fact,
some overdo it with protein and fat which causes health problems in pets that
do a little more than a daily walk.

I feed Kasco to both my housepets and my sled dogs.  The housepets get Kasco
Maintenance (I believe a 22/12) in the summer and Kasco Mini-Chunks (25/15?)
in the winter.  The sled dogs get Kasco Mini-Chunks in the summer and Kasco
Hi-Energy plus supplimentation (meat, eggs, fat, wheat germ oil, bonemeal, Brewers
Yeast) in the winter.  

I have found that I generally have bigger, healthier dogs (both housepets and
sled dogs) than most people.  Before I switched to Kasco, I was using Iams and
Eukanuba.  I recommend both.

Sky Warrior

-- 
-----------------------------                                              
SKY WARRIOR aka MLH Bonham  | "Good tea.  Nice House." -- Lt. Worf
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