Pets Food, I was told this last night and I would like your opinion
 

Muffin, my little terrorist has been causing me some concern this year and it is to do with her appetite! Her appetite and quest for food has doubled, if not trebled this year. No sooner has she had her dinner, which she bolts down without a breath she is looking for more, and when I put her small handful of Bakers dried food down she eats that too. She never used to do this, her bowl of dried food would sit for a day or two before she would bother with it and she seemed more than satisfied after having her evening meal which consisted of a handful of wholemeal "meal" biscuit and a150 gr tray of dog food. This has concerned me so much that I even wormed her last week just in case that was the cause, it wasn't!

A quilting colleague told me that ALL supermarkets own brands of dog food are liberally dosed with an appetite stimulant so that the dog finishes them off in trice making YOU think she loves it, but really she is just feeling hungry! I have Google this subject and evidently most supermarket foods, including human foods, especially children's, are laced with appetite stimulants to sell more. I AM HORRIFIED.

I have just been to our local Pet store and bought a well known brand for Muffin and will see if her appetite returns to normal, I will keep you posted on the results but any comments from you would be so appreciated not only by me but I am sure by all of the Fur-baby lovers on the board.

BTW if she does not improve I will make my own food for her and here is a link for some really good recipes: http://www.collienet.com/Home-made-d...d-recipes.html The reason I am not doing it at present is my health has not been 100% lately but if needs be needs must.

Off my soap box now :)

We feed our minpin and rat terrier Canadae for the last 4 or 5 years. Check it out on the internet. I leave the dogfood out all the time and one eats in the morning and the other at night. They do not over eat.

If she continues to do this, you might have your vet check her out. Maybe she has a hormone issue - like thyroid or other type of problem. I can believe the stimulant in the food - but doesn't hurt to at least have her checked out if it continues.

What's the name of this additive? :shock:

I don't know I wish I could find more info.

I don't know if this is true, but it wouldn't surprise me. A couple of months ago PBS World ran a show about how the taste and smell of certain fruits and nuts were being cloned in labs, modified and added to other food products. The reporter asked the scientist if this could make some food more appealing and even addictive. Her response was "yes" then she quickly clarified it with "I'd say definitely more appealing."

A book I read by David Kessler called "End of Overeating" claimed that certain combinations of fat, sugar, and salt can cause brain circuitry to be hijacked. Must be true, cause I couldn't stop munching on my honey mustard pretzel niblets while reading it. ~:shock:

The first thing I would do is take her to a good Vet. My dogs have always ate dry pet food and only had a large size dog become overweight, due to lack of excerise. Our fault not his.

sounds like a big vat of hogwash.
just another chicken-little-meets-the-food-police-and-they-all-passed-several-joints.

i agree with those who recommend a trip to the vet.

Yes Muffin's overweight is definitely my fault, I live in a flat and her walks are not as active as they should be.

I would say that Muffin eats and is fine on the little dry food she has but I have only noticed this "looking for more food, please Mummy" is by coincidence since I changed her wet food! I will see how she goes but if need be I will put her more on the Baxter's Senior dried food and cook her food myself, it's just harder to judge how much to give her that way as she loves home made food, what doggy wouldn't :)

I would like to recommend that you use a high quality of food (one that lists a protein as the first ingredient), and then consider looking for healthy weight - and not senior. The senior foods also leave out key ingredients that dogs need. Also, be sure to read the packaging for amount to feed. The higher priced dog foods don't require so much being fed at each meal as they aren't full of unneeded ingredients. I agree about the vet trip.