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CA_POPPY's avatar
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Jan 16, 2016

Blue Buffalo 32 m settlement

I received an email from Blue Buffalo about a settlement and suspect it is not allowed for me to copy it here. It seems the skepticism of many vets and pet owners is justified, regarding actual ingredients of BB pet food vs labeling. It's all over the web if you did not receive the email.

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  • 4X4Dodger's avatar
    4X4Dodger
    Explorer II
    Jan 18, 2016
    If you Go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, in the lobby there was a glass case that held the remains of a 4000 year old mummified dog.

    Outside on the steps leading up to the museum were packs of sleeping dogs EXACTLY like the dog inside that was 4000 years old.

    And no this was not the 19th century "Pharaohs" dog.

    Do any of you really think that these dogs were fed a diet that was free of animal by products?

    And how do you account for their amazing hardiness and the fact that they are still in great numbers all over Egypt and in fact the world thriving on mankinds handouts and throwaways?

    What more pet owners need is some perspective on the real history of dogs, how dogs live and thrive in other countries and, well, a "reality check" on the whole pet food issue.

    Even a Chihuahua would probably rather be ripping at a bloody carcass of some animal, eating all the tasty bits, like the liver and intestines, bones and blood vessels than face a bowl of the same dried up processed dog food everyday. But wait! All that carnivore activity offends the sensibilities of so many who just dont want to think of their little "fluffy" as a Killer and carcass eater. God Forbid!
  • 4X4Dodger's avatar
    4X4Dodger
    Explorer II
    Jan 18, 2016
    dturm wrote:
    We're getting extremes here. Animals OK with anything, after all they have survived for eons with no special diets and the other extreme - absolutely all human quality food, no additives, no byproducts.

    The actual "best for the animal" is definitely somewhere in the middle.

    The implication that ALL byproducts are inferior and shouldn't be fed is what I have issues with. That does NOT mean that a diet should only have byproducts.

    To have a complete diet you NEED a source of calcium - bone meal is one of the best, absolutely a byproduct. If you don't source it somehow you'll get a calcium/phosphorus ratio that will eventually kill your dog.

    There are essential nutrients that are most easily sources through byproducts. They can be sourced other ways, but there is no reason that appropriate byproducts shouldn't be used.


    X2 and what better way to utilize those parts of the many millions of animals that we slaughter for our own needs than to feed them to our furry friends. This is the way dogs have been fed for MILLENIA. And I havnt noticed any signs of them dying out prior to the rise of designer dog foods like Blue Buffalo.
  • 4X4Dodger's avatar
    4X4Dodger
    Explorer II
    Jan 18, 2016
    Bionic Man wrote:
    4X4Dodger wrote:
    I think in America we get far too tied up in this issue. Think about what a dog will eat if he kills a chicken? All the guts, the cartilage and many of the bones. Dogs are primarily Carnivores and that means the entire carcass.

    On the other hand dogs are also opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything that they find appealing. My big dog Nigel would eat Mango and Papaya and coconut when we lived in SE Asia. They love fish. Though by no means is fish the kind of animal a dog would usually catch and eat.

    I think American pet owners worry too much about these things. And the Dog food industry plays on that. ALL of dog food advertising is aimed of course at humans and what appeals to them...not necessarily to the dogs.

    I have seen dogs survive and thrive on a diet of Rice and fish heads, garbage and fruit rinds.

    We have been sold a bill of goods by The Dog Food Companies and their so called "Research".


    Don't you think a dogs lifespan might just be a little longer with a quality diet? I do. And to me, that is what this is about.

    Same goes to the comments about some of the junk that people eat. I don't know anyone that has a consistent diet of liver and meat byproducts. And I don't want my dog to have a diet that is largely based on that either.


    No I dont agree. I have seen dogs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East that have lived very long lives as pets and eaten EVERYTHING.

    Second, I dont think there is a SHRED of credible evidence that a diet that does not include animal by-products is any worse or better than a diet that is designed to appeal to HUMAN sensibilities, political dietary correctness and our own ideas of what is healthy.

    This is Madison Avenue at it's very best. Convincing people that they need something expensive that they don't need.

    Now I do not allow my dogs to eat just anything mind you...but I am not fooling myself...it's because I dont want to get up in the middle of the night to let them out because they have a case of the runs.

    The life span of your dog certainly has more to do with the breed and it's proclivities to medical problems than to the food they eat. Their lifespan is a function of what MAN has wrought with their fascination for "designer" dogs or dogs that meet a certain need.
  • BCSnob's avatar
    BCSnob
    Explorer
    Jan 18, 2016
    Their longer lifespans likely come from better health care (especially vaccines) and better safety management (fewer pets roaming free).

    The longer lifespans and poorer genetics (decreasing genetic diversity, greater inbreeding) are leading to increasing rates of cancer, allergies, immune deficiencies, etc. The poorer genetics (and greater awareness due to improving health care) are leading to increasing cases of food intolerance requiring special diets. Pet food companies are exploiting (and promoting) this increased awareness and increased rates of food intolerance to upsell owners $pecial pet foods.

    There is real educational value in reading up on the nutritionally balanced raw food diets; I'm not promoting adoption of these diets. Reading up on the natural sources of the nutritional requirements is educational; how much heart muscle, liver, bone, skeletal muscle, etc. are needed to satisfy the various nutrient requirements will give you a different perspective on the use of "by-product" in pet foods.
  • DOTLDaddy's avatar
    DOTLDaddy
    Nomad
    Jan 18, 2016
    ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
    ....To me, it's like some people just live longer, and there is no real explaination as to why.
    I think you've hit the nail on the head with that statement. Some things in life defy explanation.
  • DOTLDaddy's avatar
    DOTLDaddy
    Nomad
    Jan 18, 2016
    dturm wrote:
    ...

    To have a complete diet you NEED a source of calcium
    ...
    Hence, a dog's natural compulsion to chew on bones? :@
  • ROBERTSUNRUS's avatar
    ROBERTSUNRUS
    Explorer
    Jan 18, 2016
    Don't you think a dogs lifespan might just be a little longer with a quality diet? I do. And to me, that is what this is about.


    :) Hi, my dog is 18 years old and the funny part is that people always ask "What do you feed him?" Well we try to feed him good stuff, meaning canned dog food with chicken, ham, turkey, or hamburger meat mixed. Previous owner fed him almost everything that was on the table.

    We had four prior dogs, two at a time. The one that lived the longest was 12 1/2 years old. This dog was 13 1/2 years old when he adopted us. To me, it's like some people just live longer, and there is no real explaination as to why.
  • dturm's avatar
    dturm
    Moderator
    Jan 17, 2016
    We're getting extremes here. Animals OK with anything, after all they have survived for eons with no special diets and the other extreme - absolutely all human quality food, no additives, no byproducts.

    The actual "best for the animal" is definitely somewhere in the middle.

    The implication that ALL byproducts are inferior and shouldn't be fed is what I have issues with. That does NOT mean that a diet should only have byproducts.

    To have a complete diet you NEED a source of calcium - bone meal is one of the best, absolutely a byproduct. If you don't source it somehow you'll get a calcium/phosphorus ratio that will eventually kill your dog.

    There are essential nutrients that are most easily sources through byproducts. They can be sourced other ways, but there is no reason that appropriate byproducts shouldn't be used.
  • Bionic_Man's avatar
    Bionic_Man
    Explorer
    Jan 17, 2016
    4X4Dodger wrote:
    I think in America we get far too tied up in this issue. Think about what a dog will eat if he kills a chicken? All the guts, the cartilage and many of the bones. Dogs are primarily Carnivores and that means the entire carcass.

    On the other hand dogs are also opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything that they find appealing. My big dog Nigel would eat Mango and Papaya and coconut when we lived in SE Asia. They love fish. Though by no means is fish the kind of animal a dog would usually catch and eat.

    I think American pet owners worry too much about these things. And the Dog food industry plays on that. ALL of dog food advertising is aimed of course at humans and what appeals to them...not necessarily to the dogs.

    I have seen dogs survive and thrive on a diet of Rice and fish heads, garbage and fruit rinds.

    We have been sold a bill of goods by The Dog Food Companies and their so called "Research".


    Don't you think a dogs lifespan might just be a little longer with a quality diet? I do. And to me, that is what this is about.

    Same goes to the comments about some of the junk that people eat. I don't know anyone that has a consistent diet of liver and meat byproducts. And I don't want my dog to have a diet that is largely based on that either.
  • 4X4Dodger's avatar
    4X4Dodger
    Explorer II
    Jan 17, 2016
    I think in America we get far too tied up in this issue. Think about what a dog will eat if he kills a chicken? All the guts, the cartilage and many of the bones. Dogs are primarily Carnivores and that means the entire carcass.

    On the other hand dogs are also opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything that they find appealing. My big dog Nigel would eat Mango and Papaya and coconut when we lived in SE Asia. They love fish. Though by no means is fish the kind of animal a dog would usually catch and eat.

    I think American pet owners worry too much about these things. And the Dog food industry plays on that. ALL of dog food advertising is aimed of course at humans and what appeals to them...not necessarily to the dogs.

    I have seen dogs survive and thrive on a diet of Rice and fish heads, garbage and fruit rinds.

    We have been sold a bill of goods by The Dog Food Companies and their so called "Research".

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