Hello and Good morning fellow readers.

The cake baking went well yesterday, albeit being a tad dry...that of course was remedied with my overwhelming personality :-)

Today's newsletter is about a toxin that the regulatory agencies ALLOW to be in your pet's food.

TO avoid this I suggest home recipes.

You can get a complete collection here:

http://www.theonlinevet.com/innercircle.php

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Fungal toxins ALLOWED to be in your pet's food
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There has been more than a few pet food recalls lately-

A Dry Iams Dog food was recently recalled - the recall was limited to a small number of bags, BUT the wording of the recall concerned me, and it should concern you.

What BOTHERS me is that a fungal toxin is ALLOWED to be in pet food at all.

Here is the wording from the news release:

"The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has voluntarily retrieved a single production lot of dry dog food due to aflatoxin levels that were detected above the acceptable limit."

In other words, fungal toxins can be in your pet's food, so long as they are in 'acceptable limits'

You don't have to be a veterinary nutritionist to come to the conclusion that fungal toxins should NEVER be in your dog or cat's food.

Would YOU eat food with fungal toxins, or feed fungal toxin laced food to your children?

 
Here is what the Procter & Gamble Company news release also says:


Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring by-product from the growth of Aspergillus flavus and can be harmful to pets if consumed in significant quantities. 

Pets which have consumed this product and exhibit symptoms of illness including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, vomiting, yellowish tint to the eyes or gums, or diarrhea should be seen by a veterinarian.

In other words...grain is contaminated with mold, and turned into dog/cat food. You can bet that this grain will NOT make it to the human food supply.

Then IF your pet consumes to much of the toxin, they can have liver disease, serious intestinal disease, seizures, and IF consumed in high enough quantities, they can die.

There is no mention as to what happens to animals that regularly consume 'acceptable' levels of aflatoxins, but you can assume that their liver is affected, as it had to process this toxin.

My suggestion is to NOT feed aflatoxin to your pets.

And you may need to accomplish this by feeding higher quality dry food, home made food, and raw.

Here is a good way to start with my advised Dog and Cat Home recipes:

http://www.theonlinevet.com/innercircle.php


P.S. I do feed my dogs and cats dry kibble, and I will be contacting the companies to see IF they allow aflatoxins in their food.

I have been offering raw food more often lately, and Lewis my Lab is responding well, with more energy. I am offering ground turkey, mixed veggies, and my supplement.

My step by step instructions for feeding raw are also here:

http://www.theonlinevet.com/innercircle.php

P.P.S. This is the ENTIRE news release:


CINCINNATI, OH December 6, 2011 – The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has voluntarily retrieved a single production lot of dry dog food due to aflatoxin levels that were detected above the acceptable limit.   This product has already been retrieved from store shelves.  No illnesses have been reported in association with this production lot to date, and no other Iams pet food products are involved.


Iams ProActive Health Smart Puppy dry dog food with Use By or Expiration Dates of February 5 or February 6, 2013    

The affected product lot was distributed to a limited number of retailers located in the eastern United States (AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, ME, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, SC, VA).  These retailers have already removed this product from store shelves.  No other dry dog food, dry cat food, dog or cat canned food, biscuits/treats or supplements are affected by this announcement.

While no health effects related to this product have been reported, P&G retrieved this product as a precautionary measure.  Consumers who purchased the product listed should stop using the product and discard it and contact Iams at the number below for a replacement voucher.  Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring by-product from the growth of Aspergillus flavus and can be harmful to pets if consumed in significant quantities.  Pets which have consumed this product and exhibit symptoms of illness including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, vomiting, yellowish tint to the eyes or gums, or diarrhea should be seen by a veterinarian.