yeast, allergies, itching, scratching, ear infections| GREATDANELADY.COM

And you wonder why your dog is itching, scratching, chewing and has reoccurring ear infections and trips back and forth to the vet for antibiotics and steroids?

You wonder why your dog was just diagnosed with allergies and it's recommended that you have expensive allergy testing done on your pet?

You wonder why your dog is miserable, this cycle of skin issues is NEVER resolved, and you have to take out a second mortgage on the house to pay off your vet bills?

You wonder why you are at the end of your rope and even considered having your pet put out of it's misery.

You wonder how did this happen when you are feeding a food that is advertised on television as a good food?

Why?.....It's called deceit in advertising and the goal is to make YOU think that you are feeding your dog a healthy food, when in fact the food you are feeding is far from it. Let's take a quick study in the methods of advertising deceit.

First - the foods you see advertised in many magazines and television are foods that are usually of the lowest quality on the market. That is why they advertise nationally. I tell my puppy buyers, if you see it on television...don't buy it. All the money goes into ads and not into product ingredients. Good products sell themselves because they work, nothing spreads faster than the word of a dog food that really works well.

Second - there are 4 levels of foods in the market place. Level 3 and 4 below are foods that are grain based and foods made from grades of ingredients not considered usable for human consumption. These foods are NOT on my list of acceptable foods, I feel they do not support the pet's immune system and support life long wellness and longevity.

Levels of Food in the Pet Food Industry

4. Utilitarian (lowest level) poorest quality ingredients using 4 D meats and low level grains and always grain based. These are found in grocery stores, Wal-Mart etc. and in big box stores.

3. Premium (second lowest level) advertised widely on television, the point is to make you think this is a good food so you purchase it. There are wide margins of profit on these low levels of food. They are grain based, meaning grain is the first ingredient listed on the ingredient panel which is an absolute NO for canines and felines. They also use by-products and crude forms of vitamins and minerals that are cheap and in low levels. These foods have food colorings, sugars, enhancer, preservatives in them and this type of food will keep your dog alive, but their health is often compromised with skin and ear problems, as well as early aging/arthritis. Often found in big box stores, Petsmart and Petco.

2. Super Premium - a much bigger step up in quality and some brands at this level are exceptional foods with human grade ingredients. They are free from sugar, food coloring, enhancers, by products and preservatives. These foods are meat based diets, first ingredient on the panel, which is what you want for your pet. Some of these foods have probiotics (beneficial bacteria) and digestive enzymes on the foods, which is superior for digestive health. Super Premium level foods are acceptable to feed. Only found in independantly owned pet supply, grooming shops, boutiques, kennels, one or two might be in Petsmart/Petco.

1. Holistic/Natural Organic - this level is the top of the line in commercial dog foods and you pay a little more but believe me you save in the long run with minimal vet bills. These ingredients are human grade and organic and have fruits/veggies and chelated or sequestered minerals which is critical wellness. I have a list of better foods at this website. Only found in independantly owned pet supply, grooming shops, boutiques, kennels, breeders.

SHAME ON THEM !!Outta Be A Law

He is an example of one of the most deceitful dog foods on the market today. Many dogs have skin problems and the owners are at the end of the rope. They think they are doing the best they can for their dogs, after all this food is advertised on television and in magazine as being "beneficial". Why, this food is even advertised in magazines that focus on health and wellness! But read and listen carefully, they never say Human Grade, USDA meats, all they focus on is the words like "wholesome grains" and "quality meats" which tells you nothing at all about the true quality of the food. Keep in mind;

You do NOT want a food that has a grain listed as the first ingredient, it should be meat or meat meal.
You do NOT want by-products of meat in your food, only specific meat meals or real meat.
You do NOT want wheat in a diet, many dogs have skin issues or yeast issues that are caused by glutens or yeast that is encouraged to grow due to glutens from wheat. Corn and wheat gultens are empty fillers in dog foods, they do not have nutritional value and high in gliadins the culprit in glutens that causes skin issues in pets and people.
You do NOT want sugar, artificial sweeteners, or food colorings in a food. We know how these things contribute to hyperactivity and allergies in children.

So take a look at this ingredient panel from this dog food that is marketed as a beneficial healthy food for your pet. The first 4 ingredients are horrible!! You have seen these ads on television and in magazines. I will mark in red, the ingredients that are proof of poor quality ingredients and yet the tell you this is a food that will be beneficial to your pet. .

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, animal digest, salt, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, zinc sulfate, glyceryl monostearate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid,menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.

And you wonder why your dog has skin problems, ear problems, bladder infections, infertility, and shedding issues? The majority of the time a dog is diagnosed with allergies it is really a problem brought on by poor quality diet over time, which has turned into a systemic yeast infection that get misdiagnosed as an allergy.

More Proof

If I have not convinced you so far that using a better quality food is an absolute necessity than take a look at this information. This information applies to level 3 and 4 dog foods only.

Article 1 - Pet Foods - What's Really In Them

Article 2 - This material appeared in the May/June 2002 issue of the FDA Consumer.

PENTOBARBITAL IN DOG FOOD
by Linda Bren -

The low levels of sodium pentobarbital that dogs might receive through their food are unlikely to cause any health problems, according to an FDA study.

Pentobarbital is an anesthetizing drug used for dogs and other animals, such as horses and cattle. Because it is also widely used for humane euthanasia of dogs, cats and other animals, the most likely way that pentobarbital could get into dog food would be in rendered animal products. Rendered products come from a process that converts animal tissues to feed ingredients. **

During the 1990s, the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) received reports from veterinarians that pentobarbital seemed to be losing its effectiveness for anesthesia in dogs. Based on these reports, the Center decided to investigate the theory that the dogs were exposed to pentobarbital through dog food, and that this exposure was making them less responsive to pentobarbital when it was used as a drug.

CVM developed and used a sophisticated process to detect and quantify minute amounts of pentobarbital in dog food. Upon finding pentobarbital residues in some samples of dry dog food, CVM scientists conducted further tests that led them to conclude that dogs eating dry dog food are unlikely to have any adverse health effects from the low levels of pentobarbital found in the dog food samples tested.

CVM scientists also developed a test to detect dog and cat DNA in the protein of dog food. Since pentobarbital is used to euthanize dogs and cats at animal shelters, finding pentobarbital in rendered feed ingredients could suggest that pets were rendered and used in pet food. Test results indicated a complete absence of protein material that would have been derived from euthanized dogs or cats. As a result of their study, CVM scientists assume the source of the pentobarbital in dog food is cattle or horses euthanized and then rendered.

After finding that the low levels of pentobarbital that dogs might receive through food are unlikely to cause them any adverse health effects, FDA officials did not think that further research into the issue was necessary. CVM officials say they plan to publish the study findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

** My editorial comment - you will note that it has been perfectly acceptable in the pet food industry to use the carcasses of euthanized dogs and cats - our pets - in commercial dog foods.

In other words, any animal that has been euthanized from an animal shelter or hauled off from your vets office, a farm or stockyard, can be taken to the rendering plant and rendered down for protein meal. So your dog, if fed a level 3 or 4 dog food, is eating food made from your dead pets or someone else's former pets.

Now I don't know about you, but when I was privy to this information years ago, it definitely made me take a look at what was in my pet's diet and move up to a human grade/organic product. All level 1 and 2 foods (Super Premium and Holistic Super Premium) foods must be made with only human grade USDA meat meals and at plants that are approved for human grade ingredients, that is the law.

Does your dog have itchy skin, chews at his body, has reddnes between the toes, reoccuring bladder or ear infections, smells yeasty or sour, has hair loss and numerous other conditions that the vet has determined is an allergy?. Then there is relief for your pet and wallet as well, once you understand why low level foods, over time, errod the health of your pet.

Here is my Mini-Course in Systemic Yeast Infections and it tells you how to fix this problem with your pet as well as prevent it .

To get your pet started on the best feeding program start here: CORE 4