A word of caution regarding fish-based dry kibble foods

Many pet food companies have exploded with fish varieties of food formulas.

Salmon, sardine, mackeral, haddock and other varieties of whitefish to name a few. Many people think that pets with food allergies are less likely to have a problem with fish-based foods than with chicken or other protein sources. While this may be true for some pets, this is not always true, and there is definitely a down-side with consistently feeding fish-based foods.

First of all, there is a huge concern with the level of contamination in our oceans now, which means that it is not really a good idea for anyone (person or pet) to eat a diet that is based on daily consumption of fish (unless perhaps you live in a remote area of the world and are catching your own fish and eating a variety of different seafoods). Secondly, there are specific preservatives that are used to preserve fish-based diets into a dry kibble form, so that they can last in a bag for awhile without going rancid quickly.

Many of us know that common food preservatives such as BHA & BHT should be avoided, as they are well known to have carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties. However, few people have heard of Ethoxyquin, which is the chemical typically used to preserve fish in dry food diets. All of these preservatives can build up to toxic levels in the body when they are consumed regularly, even if the amount per meal is determined to be “safe” or below toxic levels. Furthermore, Ethoxyquin has been linked to kidney disease and kidney failure in pets, in addition to its carcinogenic properties.

The bottom line is, that for many reasons - I recommend to avoid dry food diets in general, and opt for fresher sources of pet food which include canned, dehydrated raw, freeze-dried raw, fresh-frozen raw (or homecooked, if done right!).

But if you do choose to feed dry food, I definitely caution against consistently feeding exclusively fish-based diets.

It is much better for most pets to be eating a variety of protein sources, not only for improved all-around nutrition, but also to help avoid heavier levels of unwanted additives in certain types of foods.