Do Not Fall for the Marketing if Your Pet Has Cancer
One of the biggest fears pet parents have is finding out their pet has cancer. If you have or ever do receive the awful diagnosis, do not fall for the marketing of the big pet food manufacturers!
This infuriates me more than the other prescription foods on the market that contain absolutely no medicine, are not tested for medicinal purposes and receive a free pass when it comes to antiquated feeding trials. This is a total marketing ploy and Hills knows it! This is a blatant example of big pet food manufacturers preying on pet parents when they are completely vulnerable and desperate to do anything possible to save their pet. Shame on them for trying to profit off such a terrible situation.
Let's look at why this food is not going to help, but rather cause more issues! We know everything after salt is less than 1%, though prescription foods can contain more salt, this one seems to adhere to 1% salt. Let's take a look at the ingredients that make up this food:
Chicken, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Fat, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Meal, Brown Rice, Cracked Pearled Barley, Egg Product, Chicken Liver Flavour, Coconut Oil, Fish Oil, Ground Pecan Shells, Pork Liver Flavour, Lactic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Citrate, Flaxseed, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Citrus Pulp, Carrots, Iodized Salt, DL-Methionine, Pressed Cranberries, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Choline Chloride, L-Tryptophan, Natural Flavours, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, L-Carnitine, Beta-Carotene.
Let's break this down even further!
Acceptable Ingredients:
- Chicken
- Carrots
- Coconut Oil
Controversial Ingredients:
- Whole Grain Wheat
- Corn Gluten Meal
- Soybean Meal
- Fish Oil (we don't know the source fish)
- Ground Pecan Shells
- Dried Beet Pulp
- Natural Flavours
Cheap Fillers:
- Whole Grain Wheat
- Corn Gluten Meal
- Soybean Meal
- Brown Rice
- Cracked Pearled Barley
- Ground Pecan Shells
- Dried Beet Pulp
- Dried Citrus Pulp
This food contains several high-glycemic carbohydrate sources. We already know our dogs and cats have no biological requirement for carbs. We also know when they eat carbs, carbs turn to sugar and sugar feeds disease. We also know cancer thrives on sugar so feeding a food full of sugary starches will not help us heal a body that is fighting cancer.
Let's look at another new "ingredient", which is literally garbage! Ask yourself when was the last time you ate the shells of a pecan? Aside from being waste from the human food industry and trying to pass them off as a source of fibre, dogs ingesting mycotoxins from pecans can lead to tremors and seizures, as well as other neurological issues. In addition, pecans are susceptible to developing aflatoxin. Aflatoxins are produced from a mold that grows on pecan shells known as Aspergillus. If we're trying to heal a body, why on earth would we put any ingredients in the food that could actually cause more harm?
We know mushrooms are a huge immunity booster and we know Turkey Tail mushrooms are known to fight cancer! Turkey Tail mushrooms have the ability to regenerate white blood cells, and stimulate the creation of macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells, which are all essential for enabling the immune system to ward off pathogens like cancer and fight infection. Where are the mushrooms? Where are the mushroom supplements? Where are the less processed, fresh whole foods! We know even for humans, processed food is a contributing factor when it comes to cancer, so how would an ultra-processed "food" full of controversial fillers and no cancer fighting foods or ingredients ever help a body heal?
Diet is key at all stages of life, but if the unthinkable were to happen, nourishing a body full of fresh, whole foods gives us a much better chance than filling it full of subpar ingredients that are excessively processed. Think about a conversation with your doctor, if you received a cancer diagnosis, your doctor is not telling you to go live the rest of your days on a highly processed fast food diet! Your doctor is going to stress the importance of eliminating all processed foods from your diet and ensuring you eat healthy, fresh, whole foods! Our pets are no different!
You've likely heard us say it before and we will keep saying it as long as big pet food manufacturers continue to put their profits above our pets! The pet food industry is one of the most lucrative industries in the world and it is also one of the most deceptive industries in the world! This recent launch of a "food" made for pets fighting cancer is evidence of that! This is a total marketing ploy designed to give pet parents a false sense of hope that they're helping their pet. This food won't help, it won't fight the disease, it certainly won't cure the disease and in all likelihood, it will cause more problems and make your pet even more sick. We need to nourish a body that needs to heal and we absolutely cannot nourish a body with an ultra-processed bag of garbage and filler!