Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts

Rating:
Summary: investigative reporting at its best
Review: Ann N. Martin does her usual excellent job of careful, patient, thorough investigation and reportage in her second book. I learned even more about the evils of commercial pet foods, as well as her take on vaccinations, raw food diets, various medical conditions and commonly given drugs, and increased cancer in pets, along with recipes to treat various conditions.

However, I do have a bone to pick. Ms. Martin paints all commercial pet foods with the same brush, stating unequivocally that they should be avoided at all costs. Curiously, she quotes Wendell Belfield, DVM, an alternative veterinarian, throughout the book, who I believe is also a nutrition consultant for one of the most wholesome kibble brands on the market today: Natura. While I agree with her that well-balanced home-cooked food is the better choice for dogs and cats, the reader should be made aware that there are a number of so-called "designer" brands of kibble and canned food available now at most pet and animal supply stores that contain "human" grade meat and vegetal ingredients and no poisons and chemicals. They cannot be purchased in a supermarket or a veterinary clinic and they are costlier, but my personal view is that they are a great alternative for guardians who simply don't have the time to offer their animals two or three home-cooked meals every day.

I also think the jury is still out on whether or not raw food diets and raw bones are dangerous, although Ms. Martin is convinced they are.

Having gotten that off my chest, I should say I think this book should be on the shelf of every responsible animal guardian.

Rating:
Summary: The Raw Truth
Review: I enjoyed Ann Martin's first book wherein she revealed the true nature of the pet food industry. More Shocking Facts rehashes some of what she wrote in her first book --- and then goes completely off track. Ms. Martin gives references to veterinarians whom she spoke to regarding the dangers of feeding a raw food diet, but doesn't let the reader know who these veterinarians are. The cat diets Ms. Martin gives in her book are way off base. I do not recommend feeding these diets to your cat. Ms. Martin should have stopped with her first book.

Rating:
Summary: Protect your Pet
Review: I found the book to be informative, however, I ask those of you who "poo poo" the idea of raw feeding, and still buy into the designer pet foods and "natural human grade" pet foods available...research, research, research. "Human grade" to start...but what about the quality to finish. Then ask yourself this simple question...what would a dog eat in the wild? What did dogs eat before commercial dog food became availible? I have NEVER fed my dogs "dog food". Dogs before commercial brainwashing were fed scraps. My grandmothers dogs always lived well into their late teens or more on that type of diet. My dogs, I am happy to say, have never had to go to the vet for illness...EVER! My oldest living was 23 long, active, healthy years...yep 23! If your dog is suffering from allergies, arthritus, etc....try raw...or quick stir fry for your dog...and watch the change. You can pre-cook or pre pack individual meals and freeze. It is very easy to do...and your pet will thank you for it. As for bones...they are NOT brittle...unless cooked. Look at wolves, foxes, dingo's, coyotes, hyeanas...wild, yes, but no different...they are all canines. The book is informative, but read on..and try real human grade...something you would put into your own, or your childs mouth without hesitation.

Rating:
Summary: Raw diet info way off.
Review: I have to admit, I do like the Food Pets Die For book, but this...this has such a high level of misinformation and paranoia surrounding raw diet that I'd give it zero stars if possible.

Raw diet, when fed correctly is NOT dangerous and it's certainly not a 'fad'.
Perhaps for fickle owners it is, but not for owners who actually research and work at it.
Kibbles have only been around and popular for MAYBE 70-100 years tops, and in some parts of the world are still not very popular.
Raw food, and diets based on whole prey, meat scraps, vegetable scraps, and bones have been around for several thousand to million years. If anything is a 'fad', it's kibble.

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/ does an excellent job of dispelling the myths and overhyped fears surrounding raw diet which pretty much means it debunks a good portion of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for every pet owner!
Review: In Food Pets Die For, Ann Martin gave pet owners the shocking facts about the quality (rather, the lack of quality) of the ingredients in commercial pet food. One thing is clear from her new book: the situation has not improved. Pet food manufacturers continue to use highly questionable raw materials in their products that include drugs, hormones, diseased livestock, and the carcasses of euthanized pets collected from shelters and animal clinics. That's right. Euthanized dogs and cats are part of the mix in the meat meal used in kibble. Her investigatory revelations of pet food and regulatory deficiencies give us a clear picture as to why chronic disease among our companion animals is so widespread. If you think you are getting sirloin steak in those bags or cans of dog and cat food, think again. What you are getting is something unfit for human consumption that has been doctored by food magicians so your pet will eat it. Read Ann Martin. You'll never believe another pet food commercial again. And you'll learn how to feed your pet healthy.

Rating:
Summary: Things the pet food industry doesn't want people to know
Review: Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts by pet care consultant Ann N. Martin is a sobering compendium of things the pet food industry doesn't want people to know. From the tenuous state of pet food regulations to the latest on mad cow disease and pet food, Protect Your Pet offers a severe criticism of what goes into your beloved animal companion's bowl, and what you can do about it. Other chapters address hazards such as over-vaccination, cancer in animals, human cruelty against animals, and other concerns in this first-rate, highly recommended information resource for true pet lovers.