Question:

A friend recently told me that she had found some research that indicated that ground beets in dog food–which I gather are added because they expand in the stomach and produce a feeling of fullness–may be a major cause of bloat. According to her, this ingredient is found in most dog foods, including most of the high-end ones, not just supermarket brands. Anyone else heard about this? Janet //Dear Artemesia! Poetry’s a snare: //Bedlam has many Mansions: have a care: //Your Muse diverts you, makes the Reader sad: //You think your self inspir’d; He thinks you mad.

Response:

actually the most common ingredient in dog food that is associated as a possible bloat trigger is soy, the beet pulp firms up the stool and actually is a fiber product instead of being a gas producer like soy Nancy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> A friend recently told me that she had found some research that indicated that > ground beets in dog food–which I gather are added because they expand in the > stomach and produce a feeling of fullness–may be a major cause of bloat. > According to her, this ingredient is found in most dog foods, including most of > the high-end ones, not just supermarket brands. > Anyone else heard about this? > Janet > //Dear Artemesia! Poetry’s a snare: > //Bedlam has many Mansions: have a care: > //Your Muse diverts you, makes the Reader sad: > //You think your self inspir’d; He thinks you mad.

Response:

There are a lot of issues that can contribute to bloat, but yes, most cases of bloat are dogs who have eaten dry kibble which then expands in their stomachs. Beet pulp is added to many dog foods as a filler and it also helps to make the dog’s stool’s firmer- which is desireable to pet owners! By high end foods do you mean IAMS and Eukanuba? Unless you’ve fed a dog food with human grade ingredients, then you might consider those to be high end- in reality they are garbage. If you want to feed a high quality food with excellent ingredients, try Innova. It caontains chicken , turkey, cottage cheese, apples, carrots- etc and the like. No garbage in there! Also cnosider Flint River Ranch, California Natural or Wysong. Kristen Bell-Sprouse, Cert. Aromatherapist, Rochester, NY Canine Aromatherapy: http://www.divinedog.com For info file/products (via autoresponder) My Goldens: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9713/

Response:

: A friend recently told me she had found some research that indicated that : ground beets in dog food–which I gather are added because they expand in the : stomach and produce a feeling of fullness–may be a major cause of bloat. : According to her this ingredient is found in most dog foods including most of : the high-end ones, not just supermarket brands. You’ll find everything you ever wanted to know about canine bloat at a site at Purdue Univ. Vet School.  They sponsor the Bloat Research Institute and publish a newsletter on current findings.   Ground beets are a fine nutritional source and are included in feeds for that reason, as well as because they are readily available to manufacturers, as a byproduct of the sugar beet industry. Lynn K. —

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