Are cats, dogs, or horses ever used as ingredients in pet food?

Hello. Horsemeat used to be commonly used in pet foods, but since all slaughterhouses for horses have closed down in the US, I do not believe there are any dog food companies using horsemeat in their products anymore. Horses are slaughtered in Mexico & some countries do still eat horsemeat, so unfortunately, many beautiful horses are purchased by killers in the US & shipped elsewhere. But unless they are making their own, horsemeat is no longer processed in the US. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Dog: A commercial diet food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. It's best to feed a dog a high quality commercial diet because it is extremely difficult to get the correct balance of nutrients a dog needs to be healthy. A dog should have as much water as they want, and it's best to have a source of fresh water available at all times. Cat: As with cats, a commercial diet is best. Cats are obligate carnivores, and they have to have specific levels of protein as well as essential amino acids in order to be healthy. Cats should never be fed a vegetarian diet as that is fatal to them. I'd recommend a high quality cat food such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. As with dogs, cats should have access to a source of fresh water at all times. Horse: Horses have specific dietary needs because they are herbivores and have a long digestive track. There are three components to a horses diet: forage (hay, grass), concentrates, and supplements. Horses should have at least 50% of their diet be composed of forage. They should have access to water at all times.

No , none of these ingredients are known toxins but it also depends what type of product was made of out them. Without knowing exactly what type of product your dog/horse ate it is impossible to be sure that they will be ok.

Hello, by products are commonly used in dog food and have been used for many years. They are generally safe for our pets to consume unless they have a specific allergy to chicken or beef. If so, there are other protein sources for dog food including lamb, duck, venison, and some states even kangaroo. If Prince seems to be doing well on this kind of food, then I would not worry about changing his diet to another food. However, you may find other foods that do not use by products and instead use chicken breast or leg. Likely wise with the beef products. However, do expect these kinds of food to be more expensive. Hope this helps and best of luck.

I see what you mean now, thank you for clarifying. I apologize for not answering your question the first time. When you said rations, I would thinking of something else. Dehydrated meats are fine. Dehydrated protein sources are a more concentrated source of digestible protein, and many pet food companies dehydrate the meat. I personally like Royal Canin as a dog food. Its a very high quality dog food. Other brands I would recommend include Hill's Science diet, Purina ProPlan, and Iams. I hope this helps! :-)

Again, there is no known problem with these ingredients. The stigma about byproducts is especially annoying, because byproducts like liver, kidney and other organs have great nutritional value compared with meat. The reason behind the stigma is not easy to understand. It really has to do with a series of non- professionals speculating on unsupported theories and then spreading the information as if it's truth. The same happens with people...just look at all the fad diets that come and go. While there may be some shred of evidence that these ingredients may have potential to cause harm, there is not nearly enough for a professional to say that they are bad and other ingredients are good. You can see that the pet food industry has responded to the unsupported claims of grains, natural ingredients, byproducts and even raw food, but please don't take that as confirmation that these ingredients are bad or good. It's nothing more than sales strategy and responding to consumer demands. This is a huge topic that I cannot begin to cover here, so I'll give you a couple links to some helpful articles: https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food https://www2.vet.cornell.edu/news/20130205/what-pet-food-should-i-feed

Hello! All great questions and comments - and you're right, there's a lot of conflicting information out there regarding food. Some of the information you're going to find is based on personal preference or a value bias. Corn is a good source of digestible carbs, fatty acids, and protein - but these things are better digested in dogs than in cats (who are obligate carnivores), and some people prefer to minimize grains, so those people might state corn is "bad".... in my opinion, the focus on grains is based more on trends in human nutrition than evidence-based pet nutrition. Statements regarding what pet foods are "good" vs "bad" will also come from personal preference...your vet can probably explain what made them state that Purina is better than Merrick, and another vet might have their own input on the matter. I do personally like both Purina and Hills because I find their products consistent, reliable, and I like that those companies put a lot of their profits back into nutrition research to work on creating good foods - but that doesn't mean they're the only good foods out there. Raw food is another hot topic. I have worked extensively with dog mushers, and raw meat is a very common component to their food - and I'm fine with that. However, I also have a degree in Public Health, and know that raw foods increase the likelihood of foodborne illness such as salmonella both in the pets themselves, and in the humans who are in contact with them. So, again, there are going to be different sides to the conversation. It's confusing when there's conflicting information! Try to sort through what's based on research and evidence, and what is based on the personal opinions and biases of the speaker. Good luck! Hope this helps.