Pet Tip Of The Week: Corn.

Our Miracle!

Who of us doesn't like corn? Cream or corn, corn chowder soup, corn kernels, corn on the cob (dripping with butter and salt of course), corn bread, pickled corn, corn flakes, corn chips and corn syrup. Oh and lets not forget pop corn. Corn is pretty yummy and its almost as big a staple in our kitchens as is potatoes, rice, and beans. As good as corn is, did you know that it is absolutely not good for dogs and cats?

Corn is a cheap filler. Basically corn fills the tummy, but offers no nutritional value whatsoever besides being a carbohydrate. Most...I say most, but not all of the supermarket brand pet foods are the lowest grade. They use cheap fillers...corn, and meat by-product, which is also the lowest grade of meat. Calling it a “meat” is a stretch but I'll harp on that in another discussion.

Over a period of time corn, because it has no nutritional value, can actually cause damage. Dogs have a hard time digesting it. You wanna test this? Feed your dog some whole kernel corn then follow them around outside for a couple of days. You will see the corn in their stool.

So lets take a look at some supermarket brands of dry pet food, starting with dogs. I will only list the first three ingredients because it is about 75% of the food content. Everything after that is in lower percentage rates and on a downward scale through the last ingredient.

Purina Dog Chow:
Whole Grain Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Corn Gluten Meal. Notice the first ingredient is Corn. Then comes meat and bone meal which is meat and bones ground and mixed together for a protein and calcium source. Then there is corn again. The majority of this food is corn.

Beneful Healthy Weight Dog food:
Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken-By-Product, Corn Gluten Meal. Again, this dog food is made of mostly corn but at least there is a specific meat source. However by-product is bone, ligaments, beak, and parts unsuitable for human consumption.

Iams:
Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum. As far as supermarket dog foods, Iams is a better quality because the first ingredient is Chicken, Not chicken by product, or chicken meal, but real chicken, however sadly, quickly followed by corn as the second ingredient.

After Iams hit the supermarket and many vets started to recommend it because of the Chicken. Purina needed to develop a better quality food. Thus came...

Purina ONE Naturals:
Chicken, corn gluten meal, poultry byproduct meal. A direct competitor to Iams with chicken being the first ingredient, followed with corn, and then adding another protein source within the top three ingredients.

Now lets look at cat food.

Purina Cat Chow.
Corn Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal. Like their dog chow, the main ingredients are mostly corn. I'll touch on this later but corn is especially bad for male cats and here it is the first ingredient.

Friskies Indoor formula:
Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal. This is even worse then Purina because the first two ingredients are corn. This also disappoints me because Friskies is claiming this is an indoor formula. Indoor cats have less activity, get less exercise, yet the first two ingredients are carbohydrates instead of a lean protein.

Special Kitty:
Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal. Getting a little better with the Chicken by-product being the first ingredient but as you can see the main bulk of this food is corn.

Iams
Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal. This is a little better. It has full blown real chicken in the first ingredient. But then its followed by a by product meal, which is low grade, and then there is the corn. However giving credit where credit is due. Iams, understands the importance of the very first ingredient being a meat.

So why am I harping on corn when so many pet food manufacturers use it? Because it's bad. Again, because there is no nutritional value of corn and it is used as a filler, prolong use of cheap pet food can cause, dental disease, chronic digestive disorders both in the stomach and bowels, bloating, hyperthyroidism, pancreatitis, diabetes, bladder infections, kidney failure, liver failure, and even heart failure. Corn filled diet is also connected to Cushings Syndrome. A low nutrient diet strains the immune system and pets lose the natural resistances to infections and yes even to cancers too since it is abnormal cells that the immune system is failing to recognize and attack.

Corn is especially bad for male cats. An adult male cat's urethra is only about the size of the tip of a ball point pen. Corn causes crystals and a male cat can't pass the crystals in the urine. This is a very painful blockage. Most of the time, the only cure for this is a male kitty sex change. The surgeon goes in, does a little rearranging and some stretching of the urethra, a couple of THOUSAND DOLLARS later, the crystals can pass through, and now your boy kitty is going like a girl kitty. I am not making a funny here. It really is a sex change operation for your poor boy. The upside to this is that generally the problem is cured and kitty can relieve himself without pain. The down side, if not caught in time the urine can back wash into the system, cause septicemia and kill within a day.

Now you know why I don't like corn in pet food. It's just bad for them! Bottom line is, cats and dogs are carnivorous animals. They need mostly protein, not mostly carbohydrates. Thus said, there are premium quality pet foods found in specialty stores such as petsmart and petco that is VERY good for you pets that are high in protein and contains no corn or meat by-products. In fact, they will be eating better then you are! Some premium food that serve both dogs and cats are: Wellness, Halo, and Blue Diamond. That's just three but there are many others. Just go to a specialty pet store and start reading the labels on bags of food. A word of caution though, they do sell foods that have corn in it. So know that, just because a food brand is sold in a specialty store, doesn't mean it is always special. You need to read the ingredients.

Generally premium foods do come with a premium price and in this recession, sometimes its hard to have a balanced meal to feed your children! So I am going to touch a little on medium quality foods. Medium quality is okay until aging sets in and some dietary or health needs arise. A good one for dogs that you can get at supermarkets is:

Natural Life: Adult Lamaderm Lamb Protein & Rice
Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Oatmeal. Rice and oatmeal are not bad. I would like to see another meat in this mixture for higher protein content, but natural life (lamb blend) replaced the corn with oatmeal and that's a big bonus in my opinion. Natural life chicken blend disappointed me because I found corn as the second ingredient.

A good blend for cats that you can also find in supermarkets is:

Newmans Own. (by the late Paul Newman)
Organic Chicken, Chicken Meal, Organic Soybean Meal, I'm not really big on soybean, but it is a protein. The first three ingredients are protein which is what makes this okay for your cat.

The specialty pet stores also carry medium quality foods because it is more accommodating to your bank account. They have a much broader variety then the supermarkets. I want to caution you though. Some of the medium quality foods will slip corn into the 4th or 5th ingredient. So be sure to read the entire ingredient list before you buy. Otherwise you are paying more money for corn.

In closing I want to say that I would never tell someone to stop feeding their pet store brand food. In this economy I would rather see you feed your pet what you can afford, then give them up because times are really tight right now. I myself have had to feed the cats in our rescue store brand foods. Usually I go with the medium grade foods and add a protein powder, so that I can afford to feed our special needs cats their prescription diets. But there have been some weeks when I have mixed the medium grade with the bottom of the barrel just to keep them fed. This tip is only to give you information that you may not have known. As long as your pets have you, thats all they really need.

Thank you for reading. I hope you find this tip of the week helpful. If you would like to treat your dog or cat to a healthy gourmet treat, please take a moment to visit our store at: www.OLA.com/store/MMKR. OR contact me at: MarysMiracleKittyRescue@Yahoo.com

All sales go to help support the kitties in our rescue.

Thank you
Marys Miracle Kitty Rescue