Owners Still Making Pet Food After Poison Scare

It seems the pet food recall may have longer-lasting effects than one might have first thought as pet owners find making food for their animals to be a safer and possibly more healthful alternative to prepackaged foods. According to this AP piece, books on cooking for pets have been moving steadily up the Amazon charts.

But those cooking for pets should be mindful of a few dangerous ingredients, including “salt, garlic, onions, grapes and chocolate.” (Presumably these are harmful to both dogs and cats, but they don’t specify.)

More interestingly, another vet’s book is advocating table scraps, commonly suggested to be harmful to dogs. The avoidance of table scraps has never made much sense to me, presuming the food the owners are eating is relatively healthful. Greasy or acidic foods don’t sit on our dog’s stomach too well, but he loves his vegetables.

This whole poisoning scare has also made me question the merit of “premium” brand dog food, as most of the popular brands like Eukenuba and Nutro were affected right alongside cheap brands like Wal-Mart’s Ol’ Roy. Sure, it’ possible that the same factories make different brands of food with ingredients of varying quality, but clearly there are some ingredients being used across all product lines. I was hoping a journalist would look into it, but I haven’t seen a piece yet.

Pet food scare inspires homemade chow [Yahoo/AP]