Original post: December 10, 2010
The latest eruption of pet poisoning has created frenzy among companion animal owners and manufacturers of foods. The recall involves a variety of brands from the highly processed mainstream brands to those designed to be more wholesome; over 100 brands recalled! Melamine is one of the contaminants identified in the food but experts claim that there may be multiple contaminants including rat poison! How does rat poison or any of these foreign materials get into the food supply of our beloved pets? Melamine is likely to have been added purposely to these feeds to raise nitrogen levels and the perceived appearance of higher protein content. This is plain unlawful cheating at the expense of our health! Who do we trust?
It’s even more confusing when we consider the fact that this rat poison, aminopterin, is banned in North America. Melamine is a synthetic heat stable plastic which has no place in food but it makes it into the food chain as cheap filler that poses as a protein to boost protein levels in feed. Protein is the more expensive component of feed so artificially raising it improves monetary return for the cheating manufacturer but this plastic is non digestible and does not deliver any nutritional value while presenting obvious risks. Even if there were no health risks associated with its inclusion, where’s the integrity in all of this and who’s to say that this doesn’t happen in our human food supply! A material supply company practicing such horrific lack of integrity should not be allowed to ever participate in the industry again and nor should its principals.
Most of these chemicals are only traceable or identifiable if one is testing specifically for the compound so we don’t really know if there are more contaminants involved. This raises many questions. How many times in the past has there been non-lethal poisoning that we’ve not been aware of and how would one know if a mild poisoning was to occur again in the future? Are common diseases in our companion animal or human populations associated with such practices? Not an easy question to answer and therefore not an easy case to win in a court of law either. Hence the blatant disregard for wellness in the face of profit. We need to protect ourselves and our animal companions with powerful antioxidant shields to combat this unknown.
Hills Pet Nutrition recalled many of its Prescription Diet products originally designed to treat ailing animals. Menu Foods recalled more than 60 million containers of food after several animal deaths. But how many more pets have been affected to experience mild symptoms which may induce metabolic havoc to surface as disease in the years to come. This recent contamination isn’t the first and it’s definitely not going to be the last incident. In October of 2003, Petcuream Pet Nutrition, announced a voluntary recall of their Go Natural pet food which allegedly caused liver disease and kidney failure in dogs.
It’s not enough that we need to monitor our curious and naïve companions to ensure they don’t get into toxic pesticides, or into the medicine cabinet, we need to place blind faith in a highly commercialized food industry which continues to fail us. We may not have complete control over the diligence food manufacturers employ or the vulnerability to environmental toxins but we can prepare the body to tolerate and neutralize this toxicity when encountered. And I assure you your pet will meet toxicity again in one form or another. Not only can we apply powerfully protective strategies to defend our pets from common poisons we can do the same for ourselves with relative ease. An antioxidant shield is the answer. Research shows time and time again it works, and if administered correctly it’s powerful protection.
What about chocolate? It’s common knowledge that chocolate can kill our companions if they eat enough of the dark variety containing higher levels of the theobromine. Some plants can be toxic to dogs and cats such as poinsettias and mistletoe. How do we keep our pets out of our neighbors’ gardens and yards which may have been sprayed with weeding chemicals and growth facilitators? We can educate ourselves about environmental and dietary hazards but it’s almost impossible to account for every possible risk. In fact, our pets are likely subjected to frequent mild poisons which elicit subclinical symptoms we may never know about. Think back to consider days or weeks when your companion animal seemed to be lethargic or a bit off. What was the cause? Did he get into a puddle of antifreeze? Dogs love antifreeze. It tastes sweet. Although large volumes can cause liver damage, complete kidney failure and death, mild exposure can cause slight damage and long-term disease whose cause may never be known.
You may restrict your pet to the yard but what about the run off of the neighbors’ weed chemicals? How does this affect your pet and how does this influence you and your children long-term? The answer may not be clear cut but the toxicity of some of these chemicals is extremely profound and you may never know that you or your companion animal has been contaminated. We need to be prepared. We need to pre-saturate our delicate cells with natural antioxidants and not just one type.
Antioxidants work in synergistic combinations. Research clearly supports their use but one needs to know what those precise combinations are and at what proportion they should be used in order to develop a protective shield which works from the inside out. We have little control over when and where we’re exposed to poisons and even less control over contact by our pets. However, we do have command over how much antioxidant protection we want.
Third world countries, for example, often apply potent pest controls legally within their jurisdiction and the contaminated crops they grow can make it into our North American food chain even though our regulatory organizations know very well that these pesticides are extremely toxic. These poisons may be banned here in North America but they’ll pervade the food we eat without our knowledge. I’m sure this is more likely the case with pet food since it is less regulated than our human food supply. This is the very scenario we encountered with the latest pet food scare. The only reason we were made aware of this recent contamination is that some pets fell sick relatively soon after consuming the food. However, if the exposure was such that the symptoms were mild and the health ramifications distant in the future, we would have never known where the mild toxicity came from.
Our coffee and cocoa bean industries are clear cut examples of the same. They employ organophosphates and other neurotoxic compounds to protect their crops; compounds which are banned in many North American states and provinces. However, we are exposed to their subclinical damage as they slowly and unnoticeably snip away at our health. Coffee, for example, is not at all bad for us if consumed within reason, however, the neurotoxic organophosphates, which often permeate the non-organic bean causes many of the symptoms and disease that we think caffeine is responsible for.
Organophosphates and organochlorines are employed profusely in many countries that Canada and the United States import food from. These compounds were originally designed for chemical warfare to kill humans- nerve gas. They’re used in many of our garden pesticides today. Many of the ingredients collected for the manufacturing of feeds come from countries where these compounds are not regulated at all. Small but frequent neurotoxin exposure can accumulate to impose significant consequences including brain toxicity and cognitive disturbances. Organophosphates also interrupt the endocrine system to interfere with thyroid activity, pituitary function, and insulin efficiency. These compounds also hamper sperm production, testosterone levels, and ovulation.
Most of us never know how or how much we’re exposed; we just complain about dis-ease or symptoms of disease. Impotence is a huge problem today as is infertility. Wonder why? When it comes to our pets we only know there’s a problem when it has inflamed to advanced clinical levels and by that time it is often too late. The best cure is prevention and internal protection which we do have control over. Natural antioxidants in the right combinations and proportions can help protect us from the inside out. BiologicVET nutrient-based medicines are designed to create this protective shield within the body.
Obesity and cancer affect a huge number of canines these days, and our felines seem to be suffering from diabetes and obesity in epic proportions. Recent genetic research shows that a greater free radical load on the body caused, in large part, by poor quality food, adversely affects gene function. One of the gene systems pinpointed is directly involved in the production of hormones (prostaglandins) that contribute to inflammation and tumor formation. Our pets are assailed by inflammatory disease from joint pain to gastrointestinal disorders. Inflammation is the general propagator of most disease symptoms.
Researchers are now jumping on the bandwagon and finding the nutrients play a huge role in health and protection of that health. Research shows that uncontrolled free radicals accelerate genes beyond their normal activity. Free radicals (oxidation) can be accelerated in the body by poisons, stress, and poor food quality such as processed foods. Most of what our pets eat is processed if bagged, dry food is the staple. If we were to eat boxed cereals for most of our own meals we’d age faster and experience age-related disease sooner in life. If boxed or bagged dried food is not an accepted staple for us why is it acceptable for our pets? The reason is convenience; our own convenience.
If this is destined to be the way you feed your pet, incremental metabolic support must be included in their bowl. Properly formulated supplement preparations are designed to improve nutrient density of feeds and meet metabolic needs. For our companion animals, the influence of processed food has an even more profound outcome than it does in humans since they have a faster rate of aging then we do. Processed and poorly regulated for toxicity these cardboard foods are accelerating that aging process and killing our pets.
Antioxidant supplementation literally helps protect cells from the unnatural influences our food and environment deliver. Supplementing our animal companion’s food with a basic multivitamin/mineral formula that contains a healthy and strategically proportioned level of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamin cofactors, is the key to better health and improved quality of life.
The benefits also depend on how these compounds are prepared and delivered to the body. In addition many of these ingredients come in multiple forms and different levels of activity influencing how efficacious and how available they are in the body.
Choosing the right supplement for therapy and prevention
Our pets’ digestive system is shorter than
ours; it runs faster than our own. Properly manufactured powdered forms, which do not contain binders, are abs
orbed more efficiently and in this form the delicate antioxidants are spared from further processing. Additionally, these nutrients MUST be provided in the correct proportions for the specialized metabolism of your canine or feline companion. Human supplements are designed for our own metabolic needs and are not best suited to treat and maintain our pets’ health. Use products formulated especially for animals. Your pet’s health is in your hands and it is your responsibility.
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