Do you feed your dog or cat dry commercial pet food?  Do you know that there are special ways to handle and store it?  Here’s some excellent advice Chelsea of Hero’s Pets sent me. 

First, keep in mind that your animal companion’s food is just as perishable as your own.

After you purchase your food it is important to remember that, like a loaf of bread, just because it comes in a bag and has an expiration day a year or so long, doesn’t mean it lasts on your home shelf for that long. The expiration is how long the food is good for BEFORE it is opened, while it is still in an oxygen barrier bag. As soon as you open the bag it is exposed to oxygen and begins to degrade. Natural foods do not contain heavy, toxic chemical preservatives and must be treated how you would treat your own food.

Do NOT:

• Do not leave the bag open and exposed to air after opening it.
• Do not store the food in the sunlight.
• Do not let the food get wet and if it does get wet, throw it away.
• Do not keep the food past expiration even if you do not open it.
• Do not throw the bag away. Even if you store it in an airtight container you MUST keep the batch code.
• Do not poor in your new food before the old food is COMPLETELY gone unless you poor out the old food and put it ON TOP OF the new food.
• Do not accidentally let your pet get into the bin and binge eat.  Especially higher quality pet foods are designed with calories packed into every cup so you don’t have to feed as much. A 50lb dog that gets into a food storage bin and free feeds can literally eat as many as 55,000 calories in one binge. That can lead to bloat (which can kill your pet if not noticed within 30-45 minutes and requires a VERY expensive trip to the vet if you do catch it in time), obesity, diarrhea, constipation, and other health problems. Make sure your bin has a secure top to keep out your dog, other animals, insects and mice. Also make sure it is stored in a secure location such as on a shelf or in a room with a door that closes on it’s own (especially in homes with young children).

DO: 

• Feed the food within 30-45 days of opening the bag.
• Throw away what you don’t use by that time.
• KEEP THE BAG (which includes the barcode, expiration date and batch code).
• Store the food in an airtight container (preferably still in the original bag inside the airtight container)
• Store the food in a cool and dry place.
• Rinse the container between EVERY use (oils that have perforated your container eventually go rancid and contaminate new food).
• If the bag of food you purchase doesn’t fit in your container, then line the food bin with an airtight bag. Pour in what WILL fit and keep the rest either in its original bag, tightly sealed in a cool, dry place until it will fit in the bin.  OR (better yet) put the remainder of the food in zip lock bags in your freezer;  remove them as needed (making sure to cut the barcode, batch code and expiration date off the original bag and tape it onto a storage bag). OR purchase smaller bags (you may spend more per pound but you spend less at the vet because the health effects of eating rancid food are not good). 

–
Hero’s P.e.t.s.
(Planetary & Ecologically Trusted Supplies)
Littleton, CO  303-972-1926
Contact Chelsea if you have questions about food or food handling.

More articles you might enjoy: Dog and Cat Food Labels: Marketing Tricks That Cost You Money by pet nutrition expert Dr. Jean Hofve’s, my Dog Food: 10 Scary Truths and my webpage: Dog Food: What to Feed and Why.  Sign up to receive our posts by e-mail or RSS feed.  Stay tuned for our article Dry Dog Food Dangers, and learn why you should rethink feeding kibble!

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1)      Commercial dog food is “fast food.”

Heavily-processed fast foods (burgers, fries, tacos, etc.) as a big diet component can cause major health problems in people. How can fast foods be good for dogs? Only dog food manufacturers think this nonsense makes sense. Dogs and people share roughly 75% the same genetic makeup, and we have similar nutritional needs. What we’re doing to our own health with processed foods, we’re also doing to our dogs. And it’s happening faster.

2)      People food is good for dogs.

Despite what you’ve heard from friends, vets and pet food manufacturers, wholesome ”people food” is good for dogs.  People food is only bad for dog food makers. The same fresh, nutritious foods people eat can offer your dog the nutrition he needs and save you a mountain of vet bills.  It just takes a little education to learn the small differences between human and canine nutritional needs. (Hint: no onions, grapes or raisins. Rinse off rich spices and sauces. Go easy on carbs and avoid wheat and corn.)

3)      Don’t presume the food your vet sells is a superior product.

Veterinarians, like medical doctors, learn relatively little about nutrition in school. Much of what they do learn comes directly from pet food company vets, sales reps, articles, studies, and seminars. If your vet hasn’t studied and experimented on his or her own with raw or homemade diets, it’s unlikely that he or she  knows bad food from good, and may be acting on outdated information or superstition. And if vets profit from selling one brand, and not another, they have a conflict of interest that may influence their opinions. (Some may even be prohibited by a manufacturer from selling more than one brand.)

4)      The quality of processed commercial foods is suspect.

Dog food may legally contain “4-D” meat: meat from dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals. Add a little road kill, mill floor sweepings labeled as grain, and corn contaminated with high levels of pesticide (yes, really) and you have a recipe for ill health. The cheaper the food, the cheaper the ingredients, the worse the nutrition. Read the labels!

5)      Kibble does not clean teeth.

Almost all dogs age three and over have dental diseases. Most of these dogs eat kibble. That should tell you something.  Although a small study once suggested that kibble might clean teeth better than canned food, better doesn’t mean effectively. Hoping to avoid brushing our dog’s teeth, we too willingly grasp at kibble’s unsubstantiated health benefits. But pretending that kibble or hard treats will keep teeth clean will only lead to huge vet bills, lost teeth and much canine suffering.

6) “Complete and balanced” does not mean “optimum.”

“Complete and balanced” means that a food meets minimal theoretical health requirements for the average dog.  Food boasting that it conducted Feeding Trials often just test only the lead product in a line of foods.  Trials, too, are for only a small number of dogs for a short period of time. Over time, nutrient and enzyme deficiencies are inevitable. Of course, complete and balanced is better than not complete and balanced, but again, better does not mean good.

7)      Feeding the same food day after day limits nutrition.

Imagine eating corn, rancid fat and chicken wings (without meat) every meal of your life, with the same mix of cheap vitamins and minerals added. Nutritionists urge people to eat a variety of foods, both for improved nutrition and also to prevent allergies. Dogs need variety, too. But variety can cause gastrointestinal upset in dogs, right?  In the short run, yes. Nutritionally-deprived animals have sick guts. In fact, intestinal upset when switching foods is a sign your dog needs more variety. Once good nutrition has healed a dog’s digestive system, the dog can eat different foods every meal — just as people do. Just switch foods gradually over several weeks while your dog’s gut heals.

8)      Kibble is not better than canned.

Whereas canned food is preserved by the process of canning, most kibble is preserved artificially. (Ever contemplate how much preservative must be required to retard spoilage of food left out all day?) Kibble begins as a dry cooked meal whereas canned food is canned fresh.  Kibble is exposed to more heat than canned (destroying nutrients). Worse yet, kibble is linked to kidney and bladder problems in cats, and to bloat, a deadly problem especially for large, broad-chested dogs. It’s also dehydrating. Of course, canned isn’t perfect either. Fresh is best, raw or cooked. Next best is frozen prepared food and then dehydrated and freeze dried foods, all available at better pet stores.

9)      Some common foods can be hazardous to canine health.

Cooked bones and rawhide chews can cause major health problems requiring emergency surgery. Wheat-based treats can bring on allergies. Onions, grapes, raisins, chocolate, the article sweetener Xylitol and other common foods can be toxic for dogs and must be avoided.

10)   Corn kills.

Most kibble is loaded with corn, a cheap filler. Unfortunately, the corn isn’t the luscious kind you and I eat. It’s feed corn (like cattle eat), or cheap feed corn remnants. Even corn meal dust counts as corn. The corn may even have been condemned for human consumption, there being no upper level of pesticide contamination for pet foods. If that weren’t bad enough, corn (which gives us both high fructose corn syrup and corn oil) is fattening. Any wonder so many dogs are obese and suffer from diabetes?

*****

Improving your dog’s diet can add years to your dog’s life and save you a fortune. It doesn’t require a lot of work or expense. It just requires a little knowledge and the desire to give your dog the healthy body he or she deserves. Check out the two chapters in my book, Scared Poopless: The Straight Scoop on Dog Care. (Read an excerpt about dog food myths.) And check out Dog and Cat Food Labels: Marketing Tricks That Cost You Money and Dog Food: What to Feed and Why.

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