Like their cousins — mushrooms and yeasts — moulds are members of a family of organisms known as fungi.

Yet unlike mushrooms, moulds are completely invisible to the naked eye. What’s worse, they reproduce by creating even smaller seed-like particles called spores.

Now, because moulds and spores are so microscopically tiny, they can easily spread by way of the wind — or by hitching a ride on the bodies of mites and weevils.

So, it doesn’t take long for an entire storage bin of cereal grain to become quickly contaminated.

And because they’re so cheap, low-quality contaminated grains like these are frequently used to make dog food.

 

Grain Moulds and Their Deadly Venoms

 

Of course, many dogs are allergic to the moulds and spores that ultimately find their way into their daily rations.

Yet the greatest danger to any pet lies in the potential for ingesting the poisons produced by the moulds themselves.

These exceptionally dangerous poisons are known as mycotoxins.

Today, there are hundreds of known mycotoxins. Here are a few of the more common ones known to affect dogs…

• Aflatoxin

• Vomitoxin

• Zearalenone

• Ochratoxin

• Fumonisin

 

Mycotoxin Poisoning Can Produce
a Tragic and Painful Death

 

 

If a dog were to eat a commercial pet food contaminated with a disease causing level of aflatoxin, the result could be catastrophic.

Symptoms of acute aflatoxin poisoning include…

 

• Fever

• Jaundice (yellow eyes and skin)

• Dark urine

• Persistent and violent vomiting

• Bloody diarrhea

• Death

A rare disease? Not quite.

These are the very same symptoms that affected and killed so many innocent dogs in 2005 and prompted an emergency recall.

That was the year Diamond Pet Foods of Gaston, South Carolina, USA, made and distributed a large batch of aflatoxin-contaminated dog food.

An isolated event? Not hardly.

Diamond Pet Foods shipped the tainted products throughout the United States and to 29 other countries around the world.

A tragic and deadly incident, for sure.

Yet another greater danger awaits the trusting consumer.

 

No Antidote — No Cure

 

 

An unexpected hazard of aflatoxin results when a dog ingests only a small amount of the poison — an amount not large enough to cause the more obvious, acute symptoms of the disease.

You see, even in smaller trace amounts, aflatoxin can accumulate within a dog’s liver where the poison can ultimately cause cancer.

Once aflatoxin enters a dog’s liver, it remains there forever. There’s no antidote and no known cure.

That’s why so many experts agree — the maximum amount of aflatoxin that should ever be allowed in any commercial dog food should be zero.

And that’s the real danger you face any time you choose to feed your pet a commercial dog food made with cheap, low quality cereal grain ingredients.

 

More Bad News

 

 

Although cooking can kill the mites and moulds, it has no effect on the poison itself. So, the mycotoxins maintain their dangerous potency even after they get “baked” into the finished dog food.

And if that’s not enough, your own open package of pet food is capable of developing an ugly infestation, all by itself.

That’s because dog food can easily become contaminated with insects, mites and mould — right inside your own home. All it takes is for one stray insect to deposit a single mould spore into an open bag of kibble.

And suddenly, your dog’s at risk.

 

What You Can Do to Protect Your Dog

 

Here are five simple suggestions to help you protect your dog…

1. Never buy cheaply-made dog food

2. Only choose fresh, “in-date” products
 

3. Avoid any dog food containing grain by-products or mill waste

4. Tightly re-seal every bag of open dog food. Squeeze out all the excess air. And always store the product in a moisture-free area

5. Never discard the original packaging. The bag contains critical batch numbers and manufacturing data you’ll need in the event of a recall emergency

 

Spread the Word — Save a Life

 

Please remember, dog food grain ingredients might just be one of the most frequently overlooked causes for serious disease in otherwise healthy dogs.

So, go ahead. Spread the word about grains in dog food. And be sure to tell everyone you know who has a dog they care about.

Because you might just save an innocent life.