My dog scratches constantly. Can giving him human food be causing that?

Question

I have a feeling fried foods is causing the most damage

Answer 1

10 Secrets Pet Food Companies Don't Want You to Know
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1. Pet food is NEVER mostly meat.

     Many ads suggest that it is...      In order to list a meat source
     first on the bag label pet food companies resort to a variety of
     gimmicks.  Here are a few to get you thinking.  1st Listing a "wet"
     ingredient in what ends up being an essentially dry finished product.  
     Wet meat gets a lot lighter when the moisture is cooked out.   This
     labelling loophole is blatantly deceptive to the general public.  All
     ingredients should be weighed and listed in dry weight equivalents
     for you to know truly how much of each makes up the ration.  If the
     label lists, "chicken" it means chicken weighed when wet.  Drop 75%
     of the value.  If, on the other hand, it says, "chicken meal" they
     play fairly.  If it says, "meat (any type) by-product meal" or "meat
     (any type) by-products" it was never meat to begin with.  Find another
     food.    Another gimmick is to "split carbohydrates" (grains) into
     multiple parts to get the "meat" to list first.  Label ingredients are
     listed in descending order by weight.  So, If  you have 10 lbs. of
     chicken meal and 25 lbs. of rice, which should appear first on the
     label?   Chicken of course! (if you want people to buy the stuff).  
     Here's how it's done...
     1st- CHICKEN MEAL, 2nd- GROUND RICE, 3rd- RICE BRAN, 4th- RICE GLUTEN. 
     Pretty sneaky and obviously deceptive unless you know the trick.  Rice
     Flour, Brewer's Rice and Rice ala Ronny could also have been listed if
     they really wanted to be fancy.   A related tactic is to use a variety
     of grains with different names to get meat listed first.  This is
     slightly more valid since they have different amino acid profiles and
     are truly different ingredients.   Grains cost a lot less than meat. 
     Meat "by-products" cost a lot less than meat.  Both also have considerably
     less food value.  The last gimmick for now is the campaign to convince
     the public that meat by-products and meat are just about the same thing. 
     Hmm... "Honey, I'm having a ribeye steak tonight and you're having a nice
     pile of by-products, ok?"   "Would you like the chicken breast or the
     intestine-cartilage-beak medley with your rice, Bob?"  "Well gee Dear,
     doesn't really make any difference to me, they all sound equally delicious,
     nutritious and healthy!"  By definition, by-products may contain anything
     from the specified animal except, (in the case of chicken), feathers and
     feces and, (in the case of beef), hoof, hide and feces.  Meat and fat are
     separated out first because they are costlier and are therefore not
     present in any appreciable quantity.  What's left is the bones, tendons,
     cartilage, beaks, feet and innards. Proudly displayed and masqueraded
     as meat.  A pet food bag is not a place for dumping stuff of unknown 
     nutritional value.  Some foods even use the term  , "SELECT by-products".  
     All these contortions serve one purpose;  To make you think that you're
     getting more meat than you really are in your bag of pet food.  After all,
     who'd pay $35 for a bushel of corn?!  Well, keep reading!


     


2. The cooking process used in pet foods KILLS off a vital component: enzymes.

     In order to eliminate bacteria and make cutesy shapes that pets care
     nothing about, processing temperatures in excess of 160 degrees F are used
     to extrude or bake your pet's food.  So what?  Well, glad you asked.  This
     places the entire burden for digestion on your pet's pancreas to supply the
     enzymes necessary for breaking down nutrients for absorption.  In nature,
     this is far from the case.  Animals naturally follow the path of "least
     digestive resistance" in the wild.  Consider the fox who catches a rabbit. 
     First item on the menu is the contents of the gut.  Let the rabbit do the
     digesting and enjoy!  The rabbit spent hours nibbling grasses and grains
     readying them for the fox's easy absorption of carbohydrates.  Quick and
     cheap fuel.  Next the fox buries or hides the rest to stew a spell.  What
     we call, "turning rancid" the fox calls, "just getting better".  In a couple
     days, the live enzymes in the rabbit meat have broken it down into easily
     digested protein.  Notice how no fire was used in this process?  For dessert,
     a little bone gnawing for the marrow, the calcium, and the teeth cleaning,
     and it's naptime.  Left for the lower animals in the hierarchy are most of
     the by-products and the hide.  Let's get back to your pet.
     In puppies and kittens, the pancreas is usually robust and up to the task
     of supplying sufficient digestive enzymes to make dead food somewhat useable
     and fulfill it's other vital functions.  With age, however, pancreatic
     function is weakened and often can't keep up with this undue burden.  If the
     pet food fed day in and day out is of low nutritional value to begin with,
     the taxing effect on the system will be all the greater and the pancreas
     will most likely give up that much sooner.  The consequences to your pet's
     health are too broad in scope to cover here.


3. Giving "real food" aka "table scraps" is the RIGHT thing to do!

     Stepping on a lot of toes here to smash the myth that you should only
     feed the stuff from the bag and nothing else ever, PERIOD.  What is it
     they are afraid of anyway?  That your pet will learn to beg?  Unlearn
     that.  That your pet won't eat the chaff they call "food" after tasting
     the real deal?  Probably.  Or that it will throw the delicate balance of
     their finely tuned "nutrition" out of whack somehow?  He He Hoo, hardly. 
     Here's the scoop...  Providing real food (not potato chips or other junk
     food) in its raw form counteracts some of the deficit that can be caused
     by only feeding commercially prepared pet food.  It can provide the living
     enzymes to make digestion an easy rather than burdensome process.  But,
     don't just go wild and throw everything in the feeding trough.  Good bets
     for pets are raw carrots, broccoli, yoghurt, cheese, garlic and meats. 
     Cooked oatmeal, rice, corn, squash and the like are fine too.  Don't feed
     raw grains, legumes, potatoes, onions, celery or chocolate which are either
     unusable or unhealthy.  If you aren't comfortable with  raw meat and fish,
     don't do it.  Keep in mind, they aren't people and have an entirely
     different gastro-intestinal system than we do.  Introduce new foods a
     little at a time about three times a week to start and give your pet's
     pancreas a much needed break.


4. Most "vet recommended" foods pay mightily for the "honour".

     Does it matter that the majority of vets know very little about pet
     nutrition?  The public is told to, "Ask your vet".  The vet is told by
     the pet food companies, "we'll send you to Hawaii for a week of golf
     if you sell and endorse XYZ brand pet food".  In school, vets-to-be could
     ELECT to take an overview course in animal nutrition.  Or not.  There have
     been changes of late to make this required study.  AS IT WELL SHOULD BE! 
     You are miles ahead if you understand the pet food label yourself and take
     the time to learn some basic nutritional concepts.  It's not that
     complicated!  Find out for yourself, trust your own judgement and ignore
     what people say who are getting paid to say it.


5. The #1 vet recommended brand is probably the #1 worst pet food value.

     Without mentioning any names, if it lists corn as the first ingredient on
     the label and gets blasted by the competition for it, you know the company. 
     Read the label!  Compare it to the cheapest stuff you can find.  There
     isn't a dimes worth of difference in most cases.  How much does it cost
     them to make a 40 lb. bag of this stuff you may wonder?  Right?  Sit down. 
     How about less than $3 including the cost of the bag?  How much does the
     duped public shell out for the bushel of corn and peanut shells most
     recommended by vets?  About $35.  "Have a nice flight to Maui, Dr. Cutter
     and thanks again for your support".


6. Feeding "Soft-Moist" diets will cut your pet's life expectancy in half.

     Thankfully, these foods are on the steep decline but aren't gone yet. 
     Perhaps killing your customers isn't a good way to develop long term brand
     loyalty.  These toxic morsels are so loaded with chemicals to stay soft
     and prevent molding and so laden with sugar to cover the harsh chemical
     taste, they rip a pet's insides out.  The sweetness is addictive and
     you'll hear owners say, "Fifi just won't eat anything else".  Well, then
     better buy the small bag because who knows how long Fifi will be eating at
     all?  Anybody feeding this garbage should stop at once and the manufacturers
     of it should be faced with a class action.


7. Many companies have "slithered" away from using ETHOXYQUIN.

     The once popular, and staunchly defended as safe, preservative (antioxidant)
     called "Ethoxyquin" has been mostly abandoned  because of "hushed" litigation
     and settlements with professional breeders.  It formerly was championed by
     pet food manufacturers (and others) as an advanced and healthy inclusion in
     pet food in an attempt to hide the fact that it was never intended to be
     eaten,  much less on a daily basis. It was originally formulated as a rubber
     stabilizer and a color retention agent.  Tires stayed pliable and spices
     stayed red.  Despite efforts to get it approved as a food stabilizing agent
     in people food,  it is only allowed for extremely limited application with
     colored spices.  The people who know the devastating truth about this
     ingredient when eaten daily by pets have been paid off and forced to never
     tell their stories.  There are innumerable instances of stillbirth, sudden
     liver failure, kidney dysfunction, permanent pigment changes, tumors and
     death thought to be caused by the addition of this wonder substance to pet
     food starting in about 1987. Much of the talk about ethoxyquin has quieted
     since the major pet food companies jumped off the bandwagon and switched to
     safer (and less legally troublesome) preservatives like forms of vitamins
     E and C.  If they want the trust of the public, they should own up to their
     mistakes and come clean.  Fat chance.  All you'll get is denial.


8. Nature didn't intend for pets to eat dry food devoid of enzymes.

     Convenience is paid for in reduced pet health.  Where is it written
     that your pet's bowl has to be filled with chalk dry nuggets of
     quasi-nutritious ground up brown stuff?  We've been sold on a bad idea.
     We bought it because it made life easier.  Until the real bill comes,
     that is.  But doesn't kibbled food make their teeth shiny and their
     breath fresh?  Won't their teeth fall out if they eat soft stuff?
     Yeah, right.  Ever watch your dog eat?  Does it look like some kind
     of teeth cleaning exercise?  How about the cat?  Really getting the old
     gum line clean huh?  The truth about teeth cleaning is this...
     sticks, rocks, yarn, bones, toys and saliva primarily accomplish this
     task,  not food.  Commercial pet food has to be flavor enhanced with
     digest and sprayed-on fat to be even remotely attractive to your
     pet.  Without these palatability modifications, the old dry kibble
     would just sit there and get dusty.  People get paid big money to
     invent coatings to make your pet dive headfirst into the food bowl. 
     Because then you smile and feel like it must be healthy and that Fifi
     loves the food and you too so you'll buy it again.  Right?   Remember,
     the fox didn't go in search of a crunchy rabbit.  It ate the soft
     one and it has a dazzling smile and a fully charged pancreas.


9. Some companies sneak sugar into pet food to hook your pet.
 
     Watch out for these guys!  They call it other things of course...
     (cane molasses, corn syrup) but it absolutely does not belong in
     your pet's food bowl.  Processed sugars are foreign to dogs and
     cats and over the long term can result in obesity, tooth decay and
     diabetes (along with other maladies).  Until 2 years ago,  propylene
     glycol was being used as a sweet tasting preservative by those who
     must have cared much more about shelf life than about pet health. 
     Thankfully, it has finally been banned.  Pet food companies will
     tell you that the industry is tightly regulated and  that your pet's
     health is being fastidiously protected.  Do you buy that one?  The
     FDA can't even keep up with human food and didn't lift a finger on
     behalf of the pet owners during the ethoxyquin debate.  The regulating
     body for pet food ingredients is AAFCO.   The American Association
     of Feed Control Officials.  The rules and definitions they adopt are
     made by those with vested interests and are enforced through
     "voluntary compliance".  The fox guards the rabbit hutch here.

10. Almost all manufacturers use stool hardening agents in pet food.

     Convenience again triumphs over pet health.  Stool modifiers make
     clean up easier and mask the effects of nutrient malabsorption.  
     Who's going to buy a pet food if you've got to SCRAPE up after
     your dog?  It's easier to just stack those little bricks into a
     pile or kick them elsewhere.  Consider however the strain on your
     pet's innards.  Would you put concrete mix in your pancake batter? 
     How about sawdust?  If you were dieting, would you mix ground peanut
     shells into your breakfast cereal?  Well, they do all that and more
     for your beloved pet.  See if any of these made it into your pet food
     bag:  sodium bentonite, powdered cellulose, beet pulp,  tomato
     (or any other) pomace, ground peanut shells?  The explanation for
     including these usually is that they are fibre sources for your pet's
     well being.  Maybe a little truth there but not the real reason they
     are added.  Whole grains provide great fibre content.   A bit of bran
     would do well too.  The real goal is to make you buy the food again
     because clean up time is so easy and enjoyable with brand XYZ's
     designer stools.  Before you do this to your pet, try it yourself
     for a few days.  One question to ask a company representative is
     this, "Aren't there times when my pet needs to evacuate it's system
     rapidly such as when a toxin is ingested or when the kitty or doggy
     flu comes around?  Is having a cork in there at all times really a
     good idea?  You'll then likely hear mumbling about "Our research..."
     and "regulating intestinal transit time for optimal  nutrient
     absorption".  Do you buy that one?  If the food is good and fed
     properly, stools will be fine without forcing your pet to work a brick
     through their digestive and excretory systems.

Answer 2

There is so many thing that can cause a dog to scratch allergy's will be your first step in to looking at and with so many it hard to put one down my dog is highly allergic to flea bites one bite and he scratches his life a way we half to keep him on the flea drops from the vet and a special medication shampoo to offset the bite to kill the flea corn is the biggest food allergy a dog can suffer and do you know most dog food have this to beat this what you want to do is read the ingredients on the dog bag if the first ingredient is corn run you want the first to be at least the meat ~special one with yogurt so far has been the best i have found price is high but when feeding your dog a high balanced food you have less waste to pick up in your yard because corn goes from the mouth to the you know what and then you get the health sorry if this is running on but i half to write as i remember what my vet told us and what i go through with my beagle if i remember anything i will remember but try to offset these two things if you have a flea problem work with that and first i would look at the ingredients in your food. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Fried foods will damage both humans and domestic animals. It hardens the arteries around the heart. Dogs too can have high cholestrol. If hes scratching all the time he could have FLEAS, not FLIES. If you do buy the good flea dipping spray ( frontline) from the vets, make sure you use it the way the bottle tells you. Do not over do it, it could cause the dog to become sick, due to its getting into the dogs blood stream. Also if the dog has fleas you may want to take it to the vets, it has worms also. This could cause the scratching and digging himself raw.
The dog could also be allergic to 1 flea bite, if so, again, if you love your dog have him checked by the vet.
A skin irratation could be anything, from mange, fleas and worms.

Answer 4

It's possible.. He could have dry skin, some kind of skin condition, allergies.. It could be a lot of things.. My dog had a rash on her belly with small sores and little patches of hair gone. I took her to the vet and turns out she had a small bacterial infection which the vet said is usually caused by an allergic reaction and he prescribed her antibiotics and a steriod for the itching.. A week later and she's no longer scratching at all and the rash and sores are gone..

Answer 5

Could be but I doubt it . Does he have fleas? Another thing it could be is the dog food you feed. Look on the ingredients list. Does it contain corn/corn products? Wheat/wheat products? The can trigger skin problems (itching). Some of the best brands to feed are: California Natural, Solid Gold, Innova and Merrick.

Do cut out the fried foods. A raw carrot, a chunk of apple, even a couple slices of orange....but not fried foods. Also no grapes or raisins which are toxic to dogs.

Answer 6

Human food would not cause scratching - only if he is allergic to something. Try putting him on a high quality pet food made for skin conditions such as Avo for a while and see if that helps. Also add some omega supplements made for dogs such as Lipiderm.

Answer 7

Fleas an allergic reaction to the food or other stuff, skin condition lots of things. But people food is not healthy for a dog anyways.

Answer 8

You should never feed human food to dogs. And yes, doing this could be causing his allergies (scratching).

Answer 9

Pets are like people they need to be kept clean and fed special diets and even if we are doing our best for them sometimes they develop dry skin...and need a medicated shampoo....also some pets have health problems and the veterinarian should do blood tests to see if there is a problem with their health...they are like us these days many things contribute to health.....I'm sure many people feed their pets "people food" but they are better off eating dry or canned pet food it's made especially for their needs....In the summer some pets with long hair need to be groomed so they are not suffering from the heat. Good luck I hope your dog gets some fast relief.

Answer 10

stop feeding fried foods to the dog. My beloved Bechon got bladder stones, and then wound up paralyzed by the surgery to remove them, from eating table food. Feed your dog only dog food to help it live longer.

The itching, however might be fleas. Check the dog's skin carefully. Fleas or another condition are hard to spot.

Answer 11

Hannah only eats dog food (fit and trim) and she is driving me nuts with her scratching. A Vet told me if you bath them more then twice a month they skin dries out. and that can scratching or change shampoo with more conditioner. She has no fleas