THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON

In the search for the best pet food, people have fallen victim to marketing catch phrases such as "natural," "organic," "premium," "grain free," "no corn," etc. Such slogans are designed to convince people that if the special food bearing the special slogan is fed, there need be no worry about pet health.

Unfortunately, even manufacturers do not seem to realize that so-called natural foods, premium foods, organic foods, and foods devoid of purportedly deleterious ingredients are ALL harmful if fed exclusively.

The fundamental principle of toxicity is that the dose makes the poison. The fifteenth century Swiss alchemist and physician, Paracelsus, credited as being the father of toxicology, said "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."

Even things essential to life, such as water and oxygen, if in excess, can be harmful. One pet food, even if considered the best pet food can be toxic if fed exclusively. Although it's easy and convenient to just pour one food from one package day after day, don't.

For optimal health, feed a variety of properly designed pet diets and supplements, and rotate with whole fresh foods.

It takes a little more effort and some thought to feed with the wisdom of variety, but a little pain now is so much better than the tragedy of expensive and painful disease later.

A dog's or cat's body has great capacity to detoxify almost any substance in small enough doses. It can even detoxify large doses as long as the toxin is not dosed constantly.

The melamine disaster from tainted Chinese ingredients should teaches a lesson. No one food can be trusted. The lesson is not that we need to analyze so-called complete and balanced foods for every conceivable toxin. That would be a practical impossibility.

Rather, we need to feed our pets like we eat, with variety and rotation. It is so incredibly sad that if people who had melamine tainted food had been feeding in this manner, thousands of dogs and cats might have been spared the tragedy.

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Thought for the day: "If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." – Immannuel Kant

Phrase for the day: 'food-borne pathogens' - Microorganisms which can grow in food under certain conditions and either cause infections when consumed or toxicity from the toxins they produce. They are kept in check by a healthy immune system which can be stimulated by certain nutrients, food processing methods, and with ingredients such as probiotics.