From the book Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic by Alfred J.
Plechner DVM.

Excerpts from the Book:

p. 4:
Over the last thirty or forty years there has been a proliferation of
improperly designed commercial pet food. It is typically filled with
poor-quality ingredients and chemical additives and bears little resemblance
to food created by Mother Nature. Minimum daily nutritional requirements may
be met by some products but they are just that -- minimums. Many products
don't even meet minimum standards. Manufacturers often put more effort into
cosmetic effects fo ryou, the buyer, than into nutritional quality for the
animal. They want the food that looks good to eat. Whether it is good enough
for the animal to live on is another matter. Among pets there is widespread
intolerance of commercial foods. This rejectivity shows up as violent
sickness or chronic health problems. It often triggers a hypersensitivity
and overreaction to fleas and insect bites, pollens, soaps, sprays and
environmental contaminants.

Similarly, over the last fifty years or more, intensive breeding for
particular physical features has created seriously defective animals with
impaired ability to tolerate their environments. These purebred cats and
dogs may have fashionable features valued by fanciers and judges, but the
cost is high: animals with inferior equipment for survival, for health. Such
animals enter life less able to cope and begin to have problems early on.
And not only are biological flaws passed on to purebred offspring but to
mixed breed descendents as well.

These two elements -- poor food and genetic defects -- have created an
allergy disease epidemic ravaging our population.

p. 6:
There are only so many ways that allergens can enter the body and cause a
reaction -- through bites, fleas, contact directly through the feet and
skin, through inhaling, and through eating. In time I realized that many
cases -- with surprising widespread clinical signs -- related directly to
food. I wasn't just seeng the usual scratching or skin rashes or
gastro-intestinal reactions you would expect from allergy, but things like
epilepsy, liver and kidney ailments and other serious disease processes.

p. 12:
Recently a top specialty diet was found responsible for the deaths of
highly-trained working dogs. The investigation revealed that the company had
been using peanut shells for fiber in the products. Unfortunately, one lot
of shells were contaminated with fungus that produced a lethal toxin. peanut
shells? Uh huh. They're cheap and add volume to the product.

p. 12:
Condemned parts and animals rejected for human consumption are routinely
re-routed for commercial pet foods... Food procesing refuse of all sorts
winds up in your animals' dinner bowls. Moldy grains. Rancid foods. Meat
meal. The latter is ground-up slaughterhouse discards often containing
disease-ridden tissue and high levels of hormones and pesticides -- the very
thing that may have contributed to the death of the steer or hog... Dr. P.F.
McGargle is quoted as saying that feeding such slaughterhouse wastes to pets
"increases their chances of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases."

p. 13:
You commonly see the word byproducts on pet food ingredient lists. Do you
know what it means? Euphemistically speaking, byproducts imply discards,
rejected matter, fecal matter and parts guaranteed not to make your mouth
water.

Who would buy a product if such contents were disclosed? Byproducts is
clearly an alias designed to cover up the truth... Your animals utilize such
ingredients poorly, if at all.

The diseased tissue, pus, hair, assorted slaughterhouse rejects, and
carcasses in varying states of decomposition are sterilized with chemical,
heat and pressure procedures. Then crafty processing techniques are applied
to fashion a "food" that tastes and looks good. Finally, product labels are
written by shrewd merchandisers who hide more than they tell.

According to the International Journal for the Study of Animal problems,
such vagueness in labeling could cause serious health problems among
sensitive pets. Furthermor, said the journal, the labeling of animal
byproducts that are actually o flittle or no nutritional value as "protein"
not only misleads the public but can also be detrimental to animal health.

Can your animals really use the food -- digest it and process it into the
necessities of life? For much of it, no way. Animal "protein" such as
feathers, hair, beaks and claws are virtually indigestible yet such
ingredients contribute to the total protein percentage in the "Guaranteed
Analysis" that appears on the package.

The fact is that the "Guaranteed Analysis" on the label is no guarantee at
all that the contents are nourishing.

p. 14:
San Jose veterinarian Wendell Belfield, in his book How To Have A Healthier
Dog, reports the case of a terrier who was fed a cheap high-protein diet and
died of complete kidney shutoff and uremic poisoning. "In a healthy animal,
you should see kidneys the size of nice walnuts," said Belfield. "When I
opened the dog for autopsy, I found two shriveled-up kidneys, half that
size, and hard with scar tissue. I kept them in formaldehyde for many years
to show clients just exactly what can happen to animals fed an inferior
diet."

Dr. Alfred J. Plechner is a 1966 graduate of the University of
California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and practices in West Los
Angeles. His research and clinical observations on food-related disorders
and endocrine-immune imbalances have been published in numerous veterinary
journals.