GentleLake Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 http://news.vin.com/vinnews.aspx?articleId=36295 Yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 "In light of the ongoing mystery, Giger suggested that pet owners consider refraining from giving any commercial jerky treats to their pets. “While some may think pets cannot be without jerky treats, I do not consider them as part of a healthy diet or treat, even when labeled ‘all natural,’ and thus, currently do not recommend any,” he said." I would agree with this completely. Someone explained to me a while back that dog jerky is not salty, unlike jerky intended for people. The saltiness wouldn't be good for dogs, but it is the saltiness that prevents the growth of microorganisms. After the package is opened, the jerky strips can absorb moisture and are a good substrate for bacterial growth. This made sense to me, and I've avoided jerky of any kind ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 I have always avoided giving my dogs jerky treats; in fact I am pretty restrictive on treats in general. I note from the cited article: “Because we do not use any fillers in our chicken strips, our treats are very high in protein,” she wrote. “It is always important, especially with smaller dogs, to adhere to the feeding guidelines by dog size printed on the back of each bag.” A five pound Yorkie could easily get an unreasonable amount of protein in its diet unless the jerky was cut into tiny pieces. Most dogs get plenty of protein in their diet already, without supplementing with jerky. All the US made jerky treats I have seen have been irradiated to sterilize the treats. While I understand why it is done, the radiation -- in doses high enough to kill bacteria -- will also cause chemical changes to the treat that may not be good for the dogs. [i vaguely remember Orijen ceasing to export to Australia because their food was required to be irradiated on import and there were cases of pet deaths that were blamed on the change in nutritional value of the food.] It's also worth pointing out that one anecdotal case does not establish correlation let alone causation. Acquired Fanconi syndrome can be caused by heavy metal poisoning, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Cats died in Australia from eating irradiated Orijen dog food, because the irradiation destroyed the vit A in the dog food. This shouldn't be an issue for a treat, but I still don't like feeding my dog anything that has been irradiated. I do make homemade jerky treats for my dogs. There is no amount of protein that I would consider too much for my small dog, if I'm feeding her regular foods and not overfeeding calorie wise. And bacteria doesn't grow on jerky normally because the moisture content is too low to support it, but in a high humidity environment, with a pack of treats left sitting open for a long time, all bets are off. I package up my homemade jerky treats in small amounts and put any I'm not using in the freezer. I take out as I need it and use up a bag the same day I open it. I love snack sized ziplocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted April 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 I can't comment on the majority of jerky treats, but I just looked at the bag that the owner of the dog I used to board left for him. These aren't dehydrated meat strips, but a fake strip made from ground chicken. They're made in the US (I refused to feed him the ones she used to get that were made in China) and don't have any terribly alarming ingredients. Several vitamin supplements that I assume are synthetic and probably from China as most are, and mixed tocopherols as a preservative, along with rosemary extract that preserves fats. You'd think that the preservative should keep it from developing molds and other pathogens, but I don't think I'm going to trust feeding them to my dogs. (The boarder border died recently and she left them for my dogs.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Gideon's girl, which dehydrator do you use? Might be something I want to look into. Ruth and SuperGibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simba Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 I have always avoided giving my dogs jerky treats; in fact I am pretty restrictive on treats in general. I've started giving treats recently-to improve the older dog's recall, and for a fearful little dog who responds like magic to treats and baby-talk. So Miss Hardass 'stop that' you'll-eat-kibble-and-broccoli-stems-and-like-it dogowner now has to sweet-talk while stuffing Special Doggy Chocolate into the pup's gaping maw. Gideon's girl- good point on storage, never would have thought of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Mine is an American Harvest Snackmaster from WalMart. I use no salt or any other preservatives, just meat, any meat. I dehydrate liver, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 You can often find dehydrators on Craigslist, Freecycle and similar websites. I got a free one on Freecycle. It's not fancy but it does the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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