Top 10 Shocking Pet Food Ingredients

I knew when I began to research the idea of shocking pet food ingredients in commercial pet foods, I did it with a healthy dose of skepticism. What I found is at minimum some practices that I was not comfortable with, and a sense that it could be a lot worse. In many cases it is down right disgusting, not to mention harmful and unhealthy to our pets. Many foods that have been declared unfit for human consumption are trucked off to pet food companies.

The bottom line is that every dog owners needs to make up his or her mind for herself. Do the research, hear what the author of Dog Food Secrets has to say and decide for yourself.

Many people believe today's dog food is inadequate and the long term effects of a commercial diet. If your dog doesn't have the same bounce in his or her step, or if you are just learning about canine nutrition. click the link above to see a video that explains it all.

Now there is a raging debate over this issue. Many believe that healthy dogs will do just fine on the lowest cost AAFCO certified dog foods. These have been time tested and well known commercial manufacturers have been testing different combinations of food components for a long time.   After watching this video on shocking dog food ingredients or doing your own research, it's really up to every owner to decide.

Here are 10 common ingredients that could very well be in your pets dinner tonight if you are feeding them a commercial pet food product.


  1. Euthanized cats and dogs (including collars, I.D. tags and flea collars, the fur is not removed)
  2. Diseased animals
  3. Hydrolized poultry feathers - pressure treated feathers from slaughtered poultry
  4. Hydrolyzed hair - pressure treated hair from cattle, horses, pigs, and other slaughtered animals
  5. Animal blood
  6. Dried poultry waste
  7. Dried swine waste
  8. Ground almond and peanut shells
  9. Various leftover parts from slaughter houses such as lungs, spleen and brain, just to name a few
  10. Stick marks - the chunk of flesh cut from an animal for human consumption that has been injected with hormones, antibiotics and other drugs

The scary thing about any shocking pet food ingredients is that there is a lot more that I have not even listed. Even some commonly added vitamins and minerals have been proven harmful. Quite often the ingredient list is misleading. It's hard to know what we should feed our dogs if we can not trust what we read on the label.

Do you know what a rendering plant is? According to Ann N. Martin author of Food Pets Die For, "Renderers accept the waste and leftovers from our society. This includes animals picked up by dead stock removal companies; dead zoo animals, road kill to large to be buried at the side of the road; restaurant and grocery store garbage, including the Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap; and hundreds of thousands of euthanized cats and dogs." Rendered product is quite common in pet foods. In fact the rendering facilities are often located near the pet food companies. Did you really ever expect it to be that bad? This is truly, truly disgusting.

But you know what? That's not all. In order to have an almost limitless shelf life, commercial pet food is quite heavily laden with harmful preservatives. Many of these preservatives have been banned from use in human food because they were found to be unhealthy.

A wonderful alternative to commercial pet food is making your own pet food at home. There are hundreds if not thousands of recipes for pet foods and snacks that you can make in your own kitchen. Many of these homemade pet foods can be made in bulk, frozen and stored for ease of use.

Considering all the unconditional love we receive from our pets don't we, at the very least, owe them a healthy dinner without any shocking pet food ingredients? They'll be happier, healthier and live longer. Besides we'll save all kinds of money on vet bills.

For more information, watch this video that provides the studies that support the concern from some Pet Health researchers regarding the quality of dog food. 

About the author of shocking pet food ingredients:

Anita Hamasaki is first and foremost a mother. She has three fabulous children to her credit. In addition to the kids, she also has a blue heeler by the name of Darwin and a beagle who goes by Bartley. Each are happy and healthy. 

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