The following isn’t a new year’s resolution, it’s something that is an ongoing project for me:

Nature constantly offers me free classes for becoming a better human. The easiest classes to enroll in are available from our pets & plants.

The French authors Vendômois, Roullier, Cellier and Séralini studied how the health of rats was effected when their diet contained three varieties of genetically modified corn (published in International Journal of Biological Sciences, 2009; 5(7):706-726).  They found “a clear negative impact on the function of the kidneys and livers in rats consuming GM maize varieties for just 90 days.”

All three GM (genetically modified) corn varieties contain novel pesticide residues that is present in food and feed made from this corn.

The authors summarize their results: “Our analysis clearly reveals for the 3 GMOs new side effects linked with GM maize consumption, which were sex- and often dose-dependent. Effects were mostly associated with the kidney and liver, the dietary detoxifying organs, although different between the 3 GMOs. Other effects were also noticed in the heart, adrenal glands, spleen and haematopoietic system. We conclude that these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. In addition, unintended direct or indirect metabolic consequences of the genetic modification cannot be excluded.”

‘Natural’ (i.e., non-GM) corn is a great food source for several pet species, but only certified organic corn is verifyably GM-free.  Considering the data presented in above study, it is worthwhile to look for organic corn if you want to add it to your pet’s diet. 

Sadly, most all US corn is genetically engineered.  However, if you see signs of organic certification (either a certified organic claim or the USDA organic seal) on a product, you can be assured that it wasn’t genetically engineered (in addition that it wasn’t doused in pesticides).

FDA’s Pet Health and Safety Widget was launched this week as part of “an ongoing effort to provide timely, user-friendly, public health information.” It provides up-to-date releases from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine on how to report a pet food complaint, and gives other current information such as on adverse drug reactions, recall information, disaster preparedness for pet owners, and many other pet health- and safety-related topics.

Go here to download this widget to your own website and share.

Meat, fish, or bone meals are ‘convenient,’ easy-to-process ingredients that are often included in pet foods or pet supplements. But how good is the quality of such meals?

According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), chicken meal “…is the dry rendered product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from whole carcasses of chicken thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.” [Wikipedia]

To produce commercial meals, animals are slaughtered, and desirable parts are rendered and ground into a meal that is subsequently dried. ‘Wet rendering’ is a less frequently used process employed in the manufacture of feed meals.

A passionate opponent of meals—particularly chicken meal—makes the following claim:
“Chicken meal is never suitable for human consumption as it is rendered. Rendering facilities always process chicken meal using unrefrigerated carcass up to but not limited to 7 days old and may contain maggots.”

More thought-provoking—and stomach-turning—is a Virginia Tech study Virginia Tech study that offered that “dry rendering has been identified to be the most appropriate technology for disposing of animal waste.”

An FDA compliance guidance manual provides a very comprehensive overview about the manufacturing and safety standards applied in the production of meat meals (e.g., fish and chicken meals) for animal feed. Here are some choice excerpts of this guidance manual:

“Rendered animal feed ingredients include the various poultry, meat and marine products which result from the rendering of these animal tissues. Rendering of poultry and other animal tissues has been practiced for over a hundred years as a means of salvaging valuable protein and fat content from otherwise waste material. For many years end products from rendering have been used to feed animals. The rendering industry utilizes packinghouse offal, meat processing waste, restaurant waste and animal tissues from other sources including animals that have died otherwise than by slaughter.”

“…the Center [for Veterinary Medicine] has permitted other aesthetic variables in dealing with animal feed, as for instance the use of properly treated insect or rodent contaminated food for animal feed.”

We at Onesta Organics agree that animals that are raised and killed for meat should be used in the least wasteful manner possible. Unfortunately, although both the taste and nutritional value of organ meats is appreciated in some countries, the same organs are less valued by other cultures, particularly those in the modern West. We at Onesta Organics think that it’s a great idea to use animal parts that would otherwise go to waste during the manufacture of pet foods. But we prefer to use fresh organ meats instead of any rendered, heavily processed meals the quality of which we absolutely couldn’t vouch for. Whenever possible, fresh, minimally processed ingredients—including meat—are always best!

A dear friend at www.thenaturalrat.co.uk made this wonderful movie featuring her rats and one of her own songs.  Enjoy! Anabrese’s Christmas Movie

You love your pet. And, if you’re reading this blog, you probably choose to feed your pet foods that are USDA certified organic, not only because they’re the stringently regulated choice, but also because they’re generally more nutritious, safer, healthier, and more environmentally friendly than their conventional counterparts.

So, what’s all this about swimming in fecal soup? To be honest, until recently, I hadn’t heard much about this myself. On most industrial farms and their affiliated processing facilities, the bodies of slaughtered chickens and turkeys are moved through a bath filled with chilled water. While the birds are in the bath, the water accumulates residual fecal matter from their bodies.

The concentration of fecal matter in the bath depends on how frequently the water is changed. Some farms and processors change the bath water frequently—say, after a few birds. But, others might do this only once, at the end of the day! You can imagine that water that is frequently changed yields cleaner bird meat than water that has seen a day’s worth of carcasses. USDA certified organic or not, bird meat that has been washed in regularly changed baths is the safer bet!

Onesta Organics is determined to buy only from farmers who are committed to safe and hygienic processing methods. Rest assured that the bird meat we use in our pet food products is the safest available for your companion animal!  We also take all possible precautions to reduce any bacterial contamination when when we make pet foods.

The following is a story that one of our customers, Debbie P. from AZ sent us.  Thanks so much Debbie, for sharing your experience with us!

I have had several ratties over the years, but the one I have now, Daisii, discovered Onesta Organics pet foods with me!

These treats, such as the Pet Pasta and the Veggie-Hides are so pure and wholesome, a person could eat them!

When I got Daisii, she was a little nipper, sort of a playful puppy kind of thing, but I used the Pet Pasta to train her not to bite and for being a good girl. It worked! She loves them, all of the flavors, and I can feel like I am giving her something she loves, but it’s so good for her. She loves the Veggie-Hides too.

When you love and care for your pet so much, you want to give them something that you feel would be good enough for yourself to eat!

If you buy pet food in bulk (1-10 pounds, depending on the kind and number of pets) how long do you expect it to stay fresh? And what does fresh mean?

Fresh means that the pet food didn’t spoil. But is it still nutritious? This really depends on the way you store your pet’s food and how the manufacturer cared for their ingredients and products. Foods and nutrients deteriorate faster at higher temperatures and when they are exposed to oxygen, humidity and light. Low temperatures such as those in the fridge slow down the degradation of nutrients.

A pet food manufacturer’s ‘best before date’ is a safe estimation on how long the product is still OK to eat. However, if the best before date is months or sometimes even years, and no recommendation is given and followed to store the food at lower than room temperatures and out of light and humidity, you can bet that the food will not be nutritious long before you feed the last of it to your pet.

Manufacturers try to extend shelf life and prevent spoilage of pet foods by a number of methods, including the addition of artificial or natural preservatives (the natural ones seem to be less effective), by adding allowed insecticides, or by irradiating foods. Although such pet foods may not smell or look spoilt, they actually may be, even though you can’t recognize it.

Irradiation (which is a method that is prohibited for certified organic pet foods) is a good example. Radiation is used to prevent bacterial growth in many human and pet foods, as well as their ingredients (e.g., meats, seafood, or produce). However, the used radiation doses don’t appear to effectively prevent growth of really harmful bacteria like Clostridium botulinum (which can cause botulism). Irradiation has also been shown to destroy vitamins and enzymes, so that, even though a manufacturer may add all AAFCO recommended nutrients to begin with, many of these nutrients will be destroyed and - at best- become unusable for your pet. The food may still look fresh, though! Australia has recently prohibited the irradiation of all cat foods after they suspected that cats died after consuming such foods.

Organic certification assures that (human and) pet foods aren’t irradiated and that only non-synthetic and safe preservatives are used. Since both certified organic ingredients and certified organic pet foods can’t be treated with highly toxic fungicides or pesticides which would prevent pest infestation, organic pet foods may be more susceptible to a ‘moth infestation’ if they are not stored properly. It has been shown that both birds and rats choose organic food over conventional, non-organic food. I bet moths and other insects also know instinctively what is safer and healthier to eat!

Most dry pet foods have been sitting on shelves in a warehouse for weeks or months before it comes on your pet supply store’s shelves or before you discover it in an online store. At Onesta Organics we don’t overproduce our certified organic pet food products but store them and the ingredients we use in refrigerators or freezers until we sell or use them. We have not found a single other pet food manufacturer that can claim that they put the same care into the storage of their ingredients and products.

The best way for customers to avoid pests and nutrient loss in dry pet food is to store the food in airtight containers away from light, protected from humidity, and at temperatures lower than room temperature.

A BBC crew has discovered a new species of giant rat!  The animal captured was at about cat size, a good 3.3 lbs heavy and 32 inches long.

Read more about this and watch the BBC video of this gentle giant rat, who is not (yet?) afraid of humans at all.

Earlier in 2009, a rat described as ‘nightmarish’ with its 6 pounds was caught in a residential neighborhood in Fuzhou, China .  This appears to be a species of the bamboo rat, which is indigenous to southern Asian countries.

Please visit this amazing video of an elephant painting her self portrait. You can purchase prints of this wonderful elephant art and support the people caring for these animals on the fair trade website which put up this video.