Going Gluten Free With Your Pets

[farmer jennings]

Just a note to the community to remember that your pets are a source of gluten in your enviroment. If you have a cat litter box there are gluten-free litters out there. I use "Worlds Best" corn based cat litter in the red and black bag that I get from our Pets Mart. All the pets are on a wheat/ grain free foods. All shampoos are gluten-free. Unfortunately the natural chick starter I use is not gluten-free and the older hens are on game bird which has whole wheat in it.

I use gloves tpo handel these.

[Gemini]

Just a note to the community to remember that your pets are a source of gluten in your enviroment. If you have a cat litter box there are gluten-free litters out there. I use "Worlds Best" corn based cat litter in the red and black bag that I get from our Pets Mart. All the pets are on a wheat/ grain free foods. All shampoos are gluten-free. Unfortunately the natural chick starter I use is not gluten-free and the older hens are on game bird which has whole wheat in it.

I use gloves tpo handel these.

Honestly, I don't think kitty litter is an issue for Celiacs and even if they did contain any wheat, barley or rye, ingesting any

would be the worst thing you could do and the concern would not be gluten!

[psawyer]

Most cat litter is gluten-free, but there is cat litter made from wheat (Swheat Scoop is one brand). Our cat climbs on the table, so her tracking wheat around would be a problem for me.

[jerseyangel]

Our cat climbs on the table, so her tracking wheat around would be a problem for me.

Ours too. We use Scoop Away but as Peter said most are fine.

[GFreeMO]

You don't have to spend a ton of money on pet store food. Several mainstream pet foods are gluten free. Come and Get It dog food and Friskies cat food are both free of gluten. Tidy cats is gluten free as well.

[Jestgar]

I use pine pellets for my kitties, and they eat Kirkland cat food. Pretty tough to get away from the wheat for the chickies, but I wash my hands every time I feed or touch them.

[FernW]

I have a puppy and she loves to lick, lick and oh yea lick. I thought this out before I even got her that she has to be gluten free including her shampoo's and treats. Though right now she seems to like to chew the pillow I got for her to sleep on, oh well was only 5 bucks and it makes her happy. I have to be careful at Petco & Petsmart, they like to give treats but they usually ask.

[Teriw]

May not have to worry about Gluten in the food for the most part but I would worry about your dog food ingredients. Most contain fillers that have almost no nutritional value and the general grocery store brands, ie Iams, Kibbles, Purina, pedigree are the worst for it and contain BHA which is a cancer causing agent that has been banned from human foods. If your dog has bad gas, diahrea or other stomach issues you may want to check your labels for wheat and corn fillers. What you really want is something with more meat and nutrients. Most use corn fillers which just make your dog feel full but they end up eating more in the long run.

[melikamaui]

We use Core dog food. It's a little expensive, but worth it as the puppies LOVE to lick my little one's face.

[Roda]

I did go grain free with the dog and cat food. Maily because they both like to lick, the dog slobbers a lot and the kids feed them(they both are doing much better on the grain free food too). The quail food has wheat middlings in it, but I wash my hands really well and don't breath in any dust. So far I've been fine.

[Takala]

My cat was cross contaminating our wheat- allergic dog by drinking out of his water dish, before we changed her over to other brands of wheat and gluten- free cat food. He is very sensitive and will lick himself a nasty raw hot spot in a matter of hours if he gets anything with wheat, barley, or oats in it - if he isn't puking all over the house.

This cat also had to be switched over to eating moist food (canned, to which I add extra water for "soup") because she was starting to have kitty-UTI problems in middle age, and was starting to Not Use The Litter Pan. I ended up putting a second litter pan out with Unscented cat litter in the back bedroom. The label on this brand of litter swore that problem cats would use this low dust brand above all others, and much to my shock, the cat quickly reverted back to being pan- broke. I tried switching to another brand of unscented in the original location, and the cat still seems to prefer the expensive kind. Whatever. At least we have reached a compromise, as I use up the last box and put on a top layer of the preferred litter.

But the cat also sleeps on the bed, besides she jumps up on my spouse's work desk all the time, where she has a dish of kibbles and water, and my rule is that anything sleeping with me isn't supposed to be gluten bearing.

Anybody who has seen the dog drooling (he can't help it ) would be running out the door at warp speed with wallet in hand heading for the nearest supply of gluten free food, even if he didn't have the allergy. He's not a counter surfer, but he's big enough that his head hangs over my desk if he would want to, just by standing next to it.

[Mateto]

I'm kind of sort of the opinion that it's not good to give a dog too many grains anyways...I read something about how dogs when in the wild they survived by hunting -- eating meat, so I like the kibble that is grain free. Of course, my dog loves her treats, so I won't deny her whole-grain bone biscuits!

[squirmingitch]

My dog eats grain free food --- ZiwiPeak air dried raw --- except her "cookies" which are rice chex. She was eating grain free long before I found out I have celiac.

[kareng]

My dog has been eating the Blue Buffalo Salmon grain free. He had such dry skin. Now it's mostly gone, except right now cause he's shedding for summer. His fur is super shiney..

A relative, was a zoologist, specializing in coyotes. The things those dogs eat! Pretty much anything that's around. He studied stomach contents. Apples, mice, frogs, berries, whatever. I think corn and grains or grasses were in the list. It depended on the time of year. I'll see if I can find his book, we have it somewhere. ( yes, there is a published book about the stomach contents of coyotes )

[squirmingitch]

My dog has been eating the Blue Buffalo Salmon grain free. He had such dry skin. Now it's mostly gone, except right now cause he's shedding for summer. His fur is super shiney..

A relative, was a zoologist, specializing in coyotes. The things those dogs eat! Pretty much anything that's around. He studied stomach contents. Apples, mice, frogs, berries, whatever. I think corn and grains or grasses were in the list. It depended on the time of year. I'll see if I can find his book, we have it somewhere. ( yes, there is a published book about the stomach contents of coyotes )

I get you Karen. I think I read the same book or excerpts from it. If I'm not mistaken though, they were saying those grasses & grains came from the partially digested stomach, intestine, contents of the animals they ate b/c the first thing they go for when they've made a kill is the stomach & intestines. And the mice, rabbits, etc.... eat grasses & grains thus those substances are in their guts.

[kareng]

I get you Karen. I think I read the same book or excerpts from it. If I'm not mistaken though, they were saying those grasses & grains came from the partially digested stomach, intestine, contents of the animals they ate b/c the first thing they go for when they've made a kill is the stomach & intestines. And the mice, rabbits, etc.... eat grasses & grains thus those substances are in their guts.

Why on earth would you have had to read his book? You poor thing. Were you one of his students? He made them buy the book.

[squirmingitch]

Why on earth would you have had to read his book? You poor thing. Were you one of his students? He mae them buy the book.

Oh, I didn't HAVE to read it. I'm just a freaky little thing who loves to learn ..... about anything..... you name it..... also love to read the written word....can't resist reading anything that is within my sight. I will sit & read the stupid cereal box --- every single word on it if it's sitting on the table while I'm eating. Have always been like that.

But most likely in this case, I read it when I was researching dog foods & what wolves & coyotes & foxes eat in the wild, what dogs would be eating if they were out there hunting for themselves; what nature intended.

[VydorScope]

Sooo what is everyone's favorite easy to find and not overpriced gluten-free dog food?

[squirmingitch]

Sooo what is everyone's favorite easy to find and not overpriced gluten-free dog food?

I'll tell you what's the cheapest. Feed them raw that YOU provide. Meat, veggies & you can throw in rice. There is lots of info. on the net about feeding your dogs raw. I will say that as for veggies & fruits ---- freeze or cook them before feeding them (thaw them of course) to your dog. That breaks down the cellulose in the fruits & veggies which allows the dogs system to absorb the nutrients from those items otherwise they don't really get the nutrients. Ever give your dog some raw carrot? Comes out the other end chewed up but still raw. Thus the freezing or cooking to break down the cellulose.

[kareng]

Sooo what is everyone's favorite easy to find and not overpriced gluten-free dog food?

I said the kind I like, BB salmon. The cheaper ones have cheap fillers like corn & wheat. A " gluten free" dog food is not the same as a gluten-free human food. The gluten they are referring to in dog food is the cheap fillers made of corn, wheat and sometimes plastic. So, a gluten-free dog food could have, and often does, have barley in it. Grain free dog foods should not have any of the gluten grains we think of - wheat, rye, barley, oats ( sometimes).

[VydorScope]

I said the kind I like, BB salmon. The cheaper ones have cheap fillers like corn & wheat. A " gluten free" dog food is not the same as a gluten-free human food. The gluten they are referring to in dog food is the cheap fillers made of corn, wheat and sometimes plastic. So, a gluten-free dog food could have, and often does, have barley in it. Grain free dog foods should not have any of the gluten grains we think of - wheat, rye, barley, oats ( sometimes).

Sorry to sound stupid.. but what does "BB" stand for?

[psawyer]

Sorry to sound stupid.. but what does "BB" stand for?

Blue Buffalo. It is a brand of pet food.

[kareng]

Sorry to sound stupid.. but what does "BB" stand for?

Think I had just said Blue Buffalo ia couple of posts above yours. It's not cheap, but very good quality.

We got suckered talked into it about 3 1/2 years ago. We had lost two dogs in a row to cancer. My youngest son, M, was especially close to the first one- his second Mommy. He had some noticable depression when she died. When the dog after that died of cancer, I didn't wait, but got another rescue, quickly. He (12 yrs old) and I took the dog to get a new collar, food, etc. The rep from BB was at the pet store. She told us about the owner losing a dog to cancer and wanting to make a food to help prevent that, if possible. My son looked at me with his big brown eyes and said, " our dogs dies from cancer.". What could I do, but buy the food. I did look at the ingredients. It wasn't the grain free one at that time but it would have been a healthy diet for most humans, too! In fact, I have threatened to feed it to everyone.

[VydorScope]

Think I had just said Blue Buffalo ia couple of posts above yours. It's not cheap, but very good quality.

We got suckered talked into it about 3 1/2 years ago. We had lost two dogs in a row to cancer. My youngest son, M, was especially close to the first one- his second Mommy. He had some noticable depression when she died. When the dog after that died of cancer, I didn't wait, but got another rescue, quickly. He (12 yrs old) and I took the dog to get a new collar, food, etc. The rep from BB was at the pet store. She told us about the owner losing a dog to cancer and wanting to make a food to help prevent that, if possible. My son looked at me with his big brown eyes and said, " our dogs dies from cancer.". What could I do, but buy the food. I did look at the ingredients. It wasn't the grain free one at that time but it would have been a healthy diet for most humans, too! In fact, I have threatened to feed it to everyone.

Sorry, I was distracted by the topic of Coyote guts in that post and missed it. Frankly that was more interesting at the moment. Thanks for humoring my stupidity. I will check the only PetSmart we have here for it and see how bad it is. The vet wants him on Science Diet, but he does not like it nor does he like Eukabunka or how ever it is spell which was the vets second choice. Poor guy is between 13-15 years old (was a rescue, so not sure how old, have had him 10 years though) so lots of things seem to bother his stomach.

[kareng]

Sorry, I was distracted by the topic of Coyote guts in that post and missed it. Frankly that was more interesting at the moment. Thanks for humoring my stupidity. I will check the only PetSmart we have here for it and see how bad it is. The vet wants him on Science Diet, but he does not like it nor does he like Eukabunka or how ever it is spell which was the vets second choice. Poor guy is between 13-15 years old (was a rescue, so not sure how old, have had him 10 years though) so lots of things seem to bother his stomach.

Might need to go to one that's rabbit or deer ( venison). Pet smart should have it. Or cook for him.