Are you kidding me? After years of pressure, people finally get pet stores to agree to stop carrying treats from China only to have a new crop of cases of illness emerge in pets who ate jerky with a “Made in the USA” label.
Is it sourcing? Is it weird contamination from aliens? Who cares! Just don’t buy it. It’s not worth the risk. Feed your pet an apple, or some of their regular food, or follow the link to where I show you how to make it yourself.
Or watch the video:
Any questions?
My dog likes apple slices and carrots, but the carrots have to be organic! Well, “one for me, one for dog” describes snack time!
That’s the perfect snack! Brody’s obsessed with popcorn, but he likes apples too.
Rolo loves popcorn too! Never tried apples with him before though!
I had a bag of Loving Pets chicken jerky treats labeled “Made in the USA” that went straight into the trash last night. I think my dogs had 2 or 3 a piece since I opened the bag. This is chilling, particularly the fact that no one knows what the cause is. Thank you for the suberb infographic – I love your blog!
This is why I find it so important to buy locally made products. You know exactly where they’re coming from that way. And a food dehydrator is an excellent way to make your own jerky, sweet potato treats, apple chips and more!
Scary! Especially when you think you are doing the right thing. Glad my crew is not picky so I have a lot of options to make treats for them.
Hubby and I have been dehydrating boneless, skinless chicken as dog treats for several years. Our red heeler has diabetes and we wanted to make double sure she didn’t get junk additives, let alone the issues with imports you mentioned. As you noted, it is crucial to make sure there’s no moisture left after processing. (Sadly, we lost a whole bag to mold before we realized there was an issue!) We find little bits of fat are the most common way this happens. If properly done, the treats will keep for months in a ziplock bag, perfect for when we’re traveling and need a quick treat to make sure NIkki’s blood sugar stays consistent.
It seems like I see a new “made in USA” jerky product popping up in my local grocery store every other week. They’re literally squeezing out everything else and I just don’t understand why everyone’s still on that bandwagon. I don’t buy jerky and I would never steer anyone else to. I hope this latest outbreak is quelled swiftly. 🙁
Thanks for helping to educate the public; very nice graphic.
Thanks for writing and sharing this information. It’s very important, and you can bet we’ll be sharing it with our readers. I strongly recommend making your own treats at home if you have the means. It’s the only way to know for sure what your pets are eating.
I have made jerky treats for my dogs in a dehydrator and they love them. I will not buy jerky in the stores ever. London broil works great in my dehydrator then I put the jerky in the freezer until needed.
I just give my dogs whole organic carrots.
Has anyone, vet or otherwise, looked into the fact that some of these dogs may just be getting too much muscle meat in their diet, and not enough moisture, organ meat, and nutrients from other sources?
I feel like some of these issues could be attributed to overfeeding by a well-meaning pet owner whose pet “won’t eat anything but their favorite jerky treats”. Working in the pet supply retail industry, I’ve had to stress the importance of cutting back on treats that are not nutritionally balanced and “waiting the dog out” when it comes to not wanting to eat their food.
Due to the prevalence of issues with chicken jerky from every source, I am really starting to believe that some (not all) problems are nutrient imbalances and overfeeding.
I personally feed my dogs commercially prepared raw food diets, so I have no problems with high protein diets. I do, however, shy away from high-protein, low-moisture diets.
My understanding is that an overabundance of protein should not cause the specific type of proximal tubular nephropathy seen in these cases. I agree in general that overfeeding is a big problem (no pun intended!) but I believe there’s something else to this one.