It is quite an unfortunate situation when our dogs are fed with contaminated foods that do nothing but, at best make them sick, but worse, sends them to an early grave. Ideally, no pet owner would knowingly feed his dogs with contaminated food but the truth is that it is often not intentional. But on the flip side there is the saying that “ignorance is no excuse.” More so in this day and age of the internet where just about any information is available to you at push of a button.

We humans are often advised to reduce or quit the intake of canned and other unnatural foods in order to reduce the adverse ill effects that these foods often cause. The same can easily apply to dogs. How often do you take the time to read the labelling of many over-the-counter foods you buy for your dog? How do you know that your dog is not allergic to several ingredients contained in that canned dog food you just purchased? Or that there isn’t some controversy surrounding the safety of this or that dog food brand?

Contaminated dog food obviously causes health challenges in dogs and it is equally a potential threat that may claim your dogs’ life if not noticed on time and managed properly. If one of the ingredients (meat, grain, poultry) used to prepare your dog’s meal is contaminated, it eventually affects the entire meal. It is therefore highly advisable that we instead give our pets healthy homemade dog food as an alternative.

If a human being feels nauseated or has pain in the stomach after consuming food that might be poisonous or life threatening, he would inform other people and medical attention would be sought. But in the case of dogs and other pets, they can’t possibly utter a word and before this ailment is noticed by an observant pet owner, it might be rather too late.

Which is why prevention is better than cure! Getting familiar with raw dog food or the ingredients used to prepare them, is the best way to avoiding contaminated food being fed to your dogs, as you would obviously be more aware of both the ingredients used in preparing the food, and the environment in which the foods was prepared.

Ingredients and contaminants of dog foods

The basic ingredients of dog food are poultry, grain and meat. These ingredients if not subjected to proper hygiene can lead to contamination. Poultry farm animals are susceptible to bacterial infection, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli which do not usually die during food production. When these bacteria are present in dog food, not only does it destroy the nutritional value of the food, but it can also lead to serious health complications for the dogs.

On the other hand, added grain feeds are usually mouldy, causing fungal invasion such as aflatoxins and mycotoxins that are known to be heat resistant, and as well as the synthetic additives, these additives affect the quality of the food and are lethal to dogs. Contaminated foods at the early stage cause diarrhoea, vomit and may lead to loss of appetite in dogs.

After some time, toxins such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and ethoxyquin become more potent. They cause organ failure, haemorrhage, and cancer which eventually cause the ill-timed death of your devoted and ever-loyal companion. All complications that arose from something as a simple but unnoticed contamination in just one food item.

So rather be safe than sorry, and be very careful with the foods we give our dogs.