Everyday people all around the U.S. go to the store to buy their pets some pet food, unaware that the food they are buying is slowly killing their pets. It is important to note that yes, there are certain brands that are not harmful to your pet, but it is important to know what exactly you are feeding your pet. The effects of store-bought pet food puts your pet at risk of illness. Some of these illnesses may include salmonella, kidney failure, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease. With these effects in mind, it is important to keep in mind and check what is in your pet food before you purchase it for your pet. It is also important to know whether or not it’s a good choice for your pet to buy them whatever pet food you find at the store without checking it.

Additionally, there are many ways to avoid this issue at hand by checking what is in your pet food’s ingredients.  Some ingredients that you can watch for according to All about cats are “Whole Ground Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Whole Wheat, Corn Syrup, Carrageenan, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, BHA.” There can also be highly potential toxic metals that can be found in pet food according to Spectroscopy, “In the 2019 study, the levels of uranium, beryllium, and thorium were again examined, and it was found that the 2019 samples of pet food had a greater number of samples that contained significant uranium levels than in 2009.” This is a growing concern that goes unseen as people continue to buy these pet foods that could possibly contain high levels of uranium or any other toxic metals in their foods. It is also known that some companies may even add additives in order to make a pet addicted to that certain food that makes them want more under the impression that they are “picky” and only like that certain food brand. Unfortunately, my cat Oreo started eating this certain cat food brand and when I switched to another brand he refused to eat it and would starve himself which forced me to go back and buy the brand he likes instead. My mom said that he was just “picky” but I still felt as if something was off so I decided to do research of my own. That is when I realized that the brand I was feeding my cat contained so many harmful ingredients and had been adding additives to its food in order to keep my cat attached to only their food brand. According to an All about cats article they conducted research on how this brand,  “Meow Mix Tender Centers had the highest mycotoxin mold contamination of all the foods tested and these levels were considered “high risk”. This brand is a common brand that I have seen people buy for their cats not knowing these horrible effects. All about cats continues to explain that “Mycotoxins are created by fungus or mold and commonly grow on grains like wheat and corn. Consumption of mycotoxins can cause acute illness or, if ingested in small amounts over time, may result in chronic suppression of the immune system, cancer, and kidney and liver toxicity.” This is important to take under consideration the next time you go to the store and buy whatever pet food you find before checking it.

This does not only affect cats of course, it can also affect your dogs as well. I conducted research on the food that people most commonly buy their dogs. I have found that certain kibble brands can be super harmful. For example, some common dog food brands that are harmful according to Golden Meadows  are Purina Beneful that apparently has been recalled so many times with claims that it is a poisonous dog food but every day I see people buy it for their pets, Caesar dry and wet dog food which contains BHA and other oxidized and rancid oils, and last but not least Ol’ Roy which has also “been repeatedly recalled for containing drugs like pentobarbital, a euthanasia drug, and salmonella contamination” and also contains ingredients that may raise your dog’s risk for bloat. Some ingredients you can watch out for according to TPLO are BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole), white flour, meat meal, Any artificial food coloring, corn syrup, rendered fat, vegetable oil, farmed salmon, Nitrates, Xylitol (a really important one to watch out for) and Melamine. Another well known brand for dogs is Rachel Ray’s dog food because it contains unnatural chemicals such as glyphosate, an active ingredient used in weed killers, was found in tests done by an independent lab according to cornucopia pet foods which can even cause your dog to die by consuming large amounts of pentobarbital. With this in mind, I hope this encourages you to check the pet-food you give your pets.

Some better alternatives for your pets would be making sure you are feeding them fresh foods and researching what exact foods are good for your pet and which ones you should avoid as a whole. There is also so much out there that you can use to research what foods best suit your pet’s needs without affecting your budget for pet food. Websites such as Healthy Pet Foods provide good information on what can be good foods that will benefit your pet’s health and help them live a long and happy life. It’s our responsibility as pet owners to ensure that we do what’s best for our pets.