I understand that by-products are not good for dogs but like what exactly makes up by-products? Also why is corn/cornmeal bad for dogs?
By products are things you would never eat yourself and would never feed your animal if they were presented in their original form. Chicken by product, for example, can contain beaks, feet, feathers, intestines, etc. Beef by products contain hooves, horns, skin that cannot be used as leather, the tail, etc. Animal by products are even worse as these can contain euthanized animals (pets), road kill, dead zoo animals and diseased animals.
Grains are not good for dogs. There is a lot of controversy in the medical community now whether they are good in large quantities for humans. They contain a lot of starch and can cause insulin spikes which can cause weight gain and diabetes. Grains are usually placed in as fillers and used as a cheap source of (unhealthy) proteins.
Whole brown rice and oat groats are the exceptions. They contain a lot of nutrition but don’t cause the dietary problems that corn, wheat, white rice, etc. can cause.
Look at it this way–if your dog was loose in the wild and fending for himself, would you find him chasing rabbits and chickens or grazing in a wheat field or pulling ears of corn off the stalk? Your dog does not prefer grains, although some fruits and vegetables are good for him.
Check out http://www.castlehillpets.com for more information on what constitutes a quality pet food.
"by-products" are the garbage leftovers after meat is processed– things like beaks, feet, fur, feathers, etc
Corn is bad for dogs because dogs are carnivores. They cannot properly digest corn or corn products, and many dogs are actually allergic to it. Corn is nothing but a cheap filler ingredient.
References :
There’s very specific listings with the overseeing government body as to what goes into pet food. Each term means something and there’s a limit as to what’s allowed and not allowed. These are all part of pet food regulations established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). These regulations are more specific in nature, covering aspects of labeling such as the product name, the guaranteed analysis, the nutritional adequacy statement, feeding directions, and calorie statements.
Here’s a definition of Chicken by-product meal (byproducts are an inferior protein source)—
Definition: Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.
Examples:
Chicken by-product meal is considered an inferior source of protein for cats. Although cats may eat a certain amount of by-products "in the wild," the most nutritious commercial cat foods will show a named meat, such as "chicken" as the first ingredient, rather than "chicken by-product meal."
Here is a list of the AAFCO definitions (from pet food labels, so you can check what they actually mean by them).
http://www.braypets.com/frr/aafcodef.htm
References :
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/UCM047113
wheat and corn products are #1 culprits for food allergies in dogs. they aren’t that nutritionally sound, either.
References :
By products are things you would never eat yourself and would never feed your animal if they were presented in their original form. Chicken by product, for example, can contain beaks, feet, feathers, intestines, etc. Beef by products contain hooves, horns, skin that cannot be used as leather, the tail, etc. Animal by products are even worse as these can contain euthanized animals (pets), road kill, dead zoo animals and diseased animals.
Grains are not good for dogs. There is a lot of controversy in the medical community now whether they are good in large quantities for humans. They contain a lot of starch and can cause insulin spikes which can cause weight gain and diabetes. Grains are usually placed in as fillers and used as a cheap source of (unhealthy) proteins.
Whole brown rice and oat groats are the exceptions. They contain a lot of nutrition but don’t cause the dietary problems that corn, wheat, white rice, etc. can cause.
Look at it this way–if your dog was loose in the wild and fending for himself, would you find him chasing rabbits and chickens or grazing in a wheat field or pulling ears of corn off the stalk? Your dog does not prefer grains, although some fruits and vegetables are good for him.
Check out http://www.castlehillpets.com for more information on what constitutes a quality pet food.
References :
http://www.castlehillpets.com
http://www.trilogyonline.com/castlehill