photo: B.D.'s world
Update: Thank you, Tina, for letting me know. These aren’t the beets that are used in Life’s Abundance food; this is just a pretty image I chose for the blog. I stopped feeding our dogs Life’s Abundance the summer of 2012, because two of our dogs are allergic to chicken and that’s their primary ingredient.
I was recently involved in a discussion in a dog forum and I was sharing our experience with Life’s Abundance. As you know, we huge fans of the food. Dogs, dog training, dog nutrition, and dog care are very hot topics and there are some who feel passionately about whatever stance they’ve taken. Have you ever witnessed an online battle between Cesar Milan fans and Victoria Stillwell fans? I did and it was brutal.
A person responded that he would never recommend Life’s Abundance, because it contains beet pulp. I asked him for links to the studies that showed that beet pulp was unsafe and he could only find vague articles about the ingredient. Finally a veterinarian and nutritionist spoke up; sharing that beet pulp is fine. But that wasn’t enough for me and I asked around…
What I found was that beet pulp has been targeted when manufacturers use an ingredient in a disproportionate quantity. In other words, they use too much and instead of it being a benefit, it becomes a useless filler in dog food. Too much of anything is bad. I developed an allergy to cherries after a summer of eating them nonstop.
Beet pulp is used as a lower tract cleanser as well as a stool firmer. This was our attraction, because Rodrigo had loose stool on many dog foods and I became concerned about what was happening in his tummy. Was he uncomfortable after eating? Beet pulp has no color, no sugar, or flavor when used as a fiber. As gross as it sounds, I know many of you agree that we pay attention to the poo – if the poo is solid and a good color, we feel more comfortable. This is what we’re experiencing (one of many things) with Life’s Abundance.
Thank you to the following professional(s) who took the time to answer my questions.
Carol Stevens, Director of PR for Scott Pollak who founded Viand (www.viandpet.com) with the goal of transforming our pets into a happier, healthier family member!
March 18, 2013 at 3:29 pm
You have a wrong picture for this post because beet pulp comes from sugarbeets not red beets. It’s a ‘dirty’ byproduct of sugar industry, just like molasses. There’s absolutely nothing healthy about it. If you need more fiber in your dogs food give them fresh grated carrots.
March 18, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Thanks, Tina
I’ll make a note in the post. I no longer feed our dogs Life’s Abundance food, because 2 are allergic to chicken. But the more I’m learning about pet food ingredients, the happier I am that I moved on to something else.
Thanks again. I had no idea.
Twitter: thefurmom