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Protecting Our
Animal Companions
by Deborah Straw |
Like many of us, our pets are living longer.
And as they do, they develop more cancers. According to
an October 1997 Morris Animal Foundation survey, cancer
is the number one killer of dogs and cats, and the
number one concern of pet owners. In the Morris study,
which surveyed 2,003 pet owners, the leading cause of
non-accidental death in dogs was cancer (at 47 percent)
and one of three leading non-accidental causes of death
in cats at 32 percent. That survey also identified
cancer as the leading cause of disease-related deaths in
ferrets (33 percent), rabbits (28 percent), and birds
(18 percent). Some seventy types of cancer have been
identified in domestic animals.
As with humans, there is no one cause for this
virulent disease, but there are plenty of things we can
do to prevent many cancers from occurring. Prevention
can start inside our homes. We generally think of
cleaners, paints and human medicines as the most
dangerous for our pets. But not all commercial pet
products are animal-friendly, either, even if your dog
or cat likes them.
One of the biggest culprits is commercial pet food.
Perhaps the largest moral reason not to feed your animal
these foods is that much of it contains rendered,
euthanized pets. Pets have been mixed with other
materials including those condemned for human foods,
including "rotten meat from supermarket shelves,
restaurant grease... '4-D' (dead, diseased, dying, and
disabled) animals, roadkill..." according to Ann
Martin, author of Food to Die For. In both the
U.S. and in Canada, this rendering of pets is not
illegal.
Martin, a Canadian writer who lives with several
animal companions, went a bit farther in her
investigations and discovered that some pets are
euthanized with sodium pentobarbital (s.p.) and then
rendered. This process does not break down the s.p., and
this rendered food goes into commercial pet food and
into feed for cows, pigs, and horses.
According to the Animal Protection Institute (API) of
Sacramento, California, commercial pet foods -- those
sold in convenience and grocery stores -- contain mostly
grains and meat by-products. The latter may be those
euthanized shelter animals mentioned above or even
"cancer-ridden livestock."
Two-thirds of the pet food manufactured in the U.S.
contains preservatives, according to API. A few
additives in these processed foods include coloring
agents; emulsifiers; lubricants; flavoring agents; pH
control agents; synergists; solvents; and a dozen or so
more. API notes that cancer-causing agents may be
permitted "if they are used at low enough
levels."
For example, three common preservatives in pet foods,
BHA, BHT, and EQ (ethoxyquin), have been shown to lead
to development of certain cancers. BHA and BHT are the
most common antioxidants in processed food for humans,
and EQ is the most common antioxidant preservative in
pet foods. ( Proplylene glycol, a cousin of antifreeze,
is also found in some semi-moist dog foods.) The API
lists an example of EQ found in some dogs' livers and
tissues months after the dogs had ingested it. As of
July 31, 1997, the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine
requested that pet food manufacturers cut in half the
maximum level for EQ.
The other important piece regarding commercial pet
food is that strict regulations do not exist regarding
pet food in either the United States or in Canada.
"What is needed, in both the Untied States and
Canada, are government-enforced regulations of this
industry. Until then, Buyer Beware," Martin
warns. Many veterinarians who practice both conventional
and holistic medicine recommend either a home-made diet
or a high-quality commercial diet combined with homemade
supplements. In our own case, our dog, Wanda, is much
healthier, in general, since she has been on an entirely
home-made diet.
Animals need toys, of course. All is not rosy here,
either. Rawhide chews, treated with chemicals, have been
known to cause choking and intestinal blockage. Some of
the residues found in poorly processed animal hides are
lead, arsenic, mercury, chromium salts, and
formaldehyde. If you do give your pup rawhide chews,
choose high-grade ones made in this country.
Smoked products, which smell barbecued, can also be
dangerous. Wood smoke contains approximately two hundred
compounds, some of which are carcinogenic. Plastic chew
toys are made of petrochemical polymers like
polyurethane and nylon. Pig's ears and noses are
processed with chemicals and are dyed. But, of course,
most dogs need to chew. Try commercial chews from
environment-friendly companies like Doctors Foster and
Smith, Pet Factory, and Ecology Rawhide Treats, or
occasionally give your dog large raw or lightly cooked
bones, carefully monitored.
If your cat or rabbit uses litter, be aware of what's
in many of these products. Two major problems with many
clay-based and clumping litters are sodium bentonite and
quartz silica (sand). Both have led to disease and to
death. Sodium bentonite can be used as grouting,
sealing, and plugging materials. It acts like an
expandable cement, swelling to fifteen to eighteen times
its dry size. This is not a pretty picture if we
consider our animals' internal plumbing. As cats often
lick themselves after using their litter, they may
ingest pieces of litter. Or they may sleep in their
litter box and then lick their bodies. A breeder of
Japanese bobtail cats and writer, Marina Michaels, has
lost kittens who passed clay stools until the day they
died. In the U.K., since the late 1980s, several rabbit
deaths have been reported due to clumping, scoopable
litters.
Quartz silica is what makes the litters so dusty when
poured and emptied. According to The International
Agency for Research on Cancer, crystalline silica in the
form of quartz or cristobalite from occupational sources
should be classified as carcinogenic to humans. The U.S.
National Toxicology Program describes crystalline silica
(in respirable size) as a substance that "may
reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen." Many
safer, easily disposable litters are now available, such
as those made of pulverized cedar; a mixture of corncobs
and pulverized cedar; recycled newspapers; cedar and
pine shavings; or biodegradable litters made of
multiporous crystals.
We should also be more vigilant about
the pesticides in flea products (some natural options do
exist and a home made diet should cut down on flea
infestations) and about multiple vaccinations.
These changes will take a shift in thinking and
shopping habits. Some will require spending more money.
But they will increase the lifespan of our cats, dogs,
and other companion animals. We can also improve the
lives of our animals by spending more time with them.
Like us, without stimulation and company, they become
bored or depressed. If we add more playtime and more
loving attention, we will all be healthier. These
creatures do so much for us; we need to repay the favor.
© Copyright 2001 Deborah Straw.
All Rights Reserved.
Deborah Straw of Burlington, Vermont, has been a
published writer for 25 years. Her first book, Natural
Wonders of the Florida Keys, an ecotourism book, was
published by Country Roads Press/NTC Contemporary
Publishing Group in August 1999. Why is Cancer Killing
Our Pets? How You Can Protect and Treat Your Animal
Companion was published by Healing Arts Press (an
imprint of Inner Traditions International) in November
2000. became the first Straw is also a widely published
essayist and fiction writer, with work in several
anthologies. Besides being a writer, she teaches writing
and literature classes at Community College of Vermont,
Burlington.
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