Next up: pet food?

[dusty88]

I expect most people in this forum already carry an excess stock of pet food, if you have pets.

If you don't normally do that, I'll just throw this out there.

The pet food companies that I'm familiar with have their meat products shipped in after being processed elsewhere. They do a good job of utilizing things like organ meat, that are highly nutritious but US humans don't want. So if meat processing is down, meat for dog food will be down.

I know for the last several months there has also been some difficulties getting some of the vitamins and minerals from Asia.

 

[Ingomike]

Makes sense. There are going to be lots of shortages of things few thought of...

 

[ditcherman]

I was told by an area hog farmer that in Minnesota hogs would be dropped off at the processor, immediately euthanized, and sent to the rendering plant. The first thing I thought was ‘well at least there won’t be a dog food shortage’. That being said I’m not really sure where it’s sourced from.

 

[dusty88]

I was told by an area hog farmer that in Minnesota hogs would be dropped off at the processor, immediately euthanized, and sent to the rendering plant. The first thing I thought was ‘well at least there won’t be a dog food shortage’. That being said I’m not really sure where it’s sourced from.

It's possible some of those hogs might make it to the right place to end up in dog food. "euthanized" usually implies drugs and those are not allowed in pet food. But I suspect in the case of a lot of hogs they are not using drugs as that would just be complicated and wasteful.

I've been to some manufacturing facilities and the way meat enters really varies. Some meat products (like a pile or organ meat) are made into a byproduct meal before they even get to the dog food company and would of course need to be processed like anything else. There are also giant frozen chunks of meat that go into dog food. The processing differences are more about regulation than practicality. My friends who work in meat inspection have told me that in some cases they start out in the same place and become classified differently only after slaughter. But there may be exceptions.

 

[ditcherman]

It's possible some of those hogs might make it to the right place to end up in dog food. "euthanized" usually implies drugs and those are not allowed in pet food. But I suspect in the case of a lot of hogs they are not using drugs as that would just be complicated and wasteful.

I've been to some manufacturing facilities and the way meat enters really varies. Some meat products (like a pile or organ meat) are made into a byproduct meal before they even get to the dog food company and would of course need to be processed like anything else. There are also giant frozen chunks of meat that go into dog food. The processing differences are more about regulation than practicality. My friends who work in meat inspection have told me that in some cases they start out in the same place and become classified differently only after slaughter. But there may be exceptions.

My use of ‘euthanized’ in this instance only refers to the more civilized way of saying ‘made dead’ in this kind society. Last I knew they were killed with what was called a bolt, just a sharp blow to the head quick and hard enough to be instant.
I’ve heard that cattle are killed using CO2, not sure.
So definitely no drugs involved. I would hope that the drugs would not be allowed in our food either...
We make sure to buy dog food that has a minimal amount of corn, after thinking about it I’m not even sure dog food would have pork, don’t remember seeing it ever.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

My use of ‘euthanized’ in this instance only refers to the more civilized way of saying ‘made dead’ in this kind society. Last I knew they were killed with what was called a bolt, just a sharp blow to the head quick and hard enough to be instant.
I’ve heard that cattle are killed using CO2, not sure.
So definitely no drugs involved. I would hope that the drugs would not be allowed in our food either...
We make sure to buy dog food that has a minimal amount of corn, after thinking about it I’m not even sure dog food would have pork, don’t remember seeing it ever.

It might be "hidden" under the "animal by-products" umbrella.

 

[ghuns]

My son has had a hard time finding puppy food in Kansas City since this whole started. He loaded up when he was home for a visit last week.

I was at Costco several weeks ago and they were cleaned out of most dog food, but on a recent visit they were fully stocked.

 

[dusty88]

It might be "hidden" under the "animal by-products" umbrella.

There may be byproducts if it says by-product meal but most reputable companies like Purina sort out what kind of by-product they are using. Chicken is overwhelmingly the most common protein in dog food because it's most efficient in terms of protein quality and cost. If the nutrition is tap to try to substitute pork suddenly it will be very challenging. It's not so easy as just replacing the meat but every nutrient and digestibility changes

 

[eldirector]

We tend to keep about 3 months of pet food on hand. Even with the new-ish puppy. Easier to just buy a couple of bags when we DO buy it, and make fewer trips.

Luckily, dogs (at least ours) will eat just about anything, edible or not. Push comes to shove, we can supplement with table scraps, excess eggs, and/or meat and veggies we wouldn't otherwise eat.

IMHO, though, there is not yet any sort of "shortage". Yeah, the cheap stuff is selling out, but the last two pet stores I've been to (one over the weekend) was very well stocked.

 

[dusty88]

I should add cat food will be much more difficult than dog food. In spite of the protestations and ads of "feed them like a wolf" ... dogs are omnivores.

Cats on the other hand need a significant meat protein portion. Although the nutritionists have become pretty good at utilizing carb sources along with the meat, they still depend on meat byproduct to get the quality protein in. That meat byproduct is literally a "byproduct" of the human meat production facilities.

 

[JettaKnight]

I expect most people in this forum already carry an excess stock of pet food, if you have pets.

If you don't normally do that, I'll just throw this out there.

The pet food companies that I'm familiar with have their meat products shipped in after being processed elsewhere. They do a good job of utilizing things like organ meat, that are highly nutritious but US humans don't want. So if meat processing is down, meat for dog food will be down.

I know for the last several months there has also been some difficulties getting some of the vitamins and minerals from Asia.

Excluding THIS human!

I need to find a good source of the nasty bits for a haggis.

 

[dusty88]

Excluding THIS human!

I need to find a good source of the nasty bits for a haggis.

I agree. Our aversion to organ meat is cultural, not logical. I like hearts myself.
The good thing is it gives us a cheap source of quality pet food... usually.

 

[Car Ramrod]

I had already bought extra to get through so we wouldn't need to mess with going to the store but am ordering more today. Went nerd and weighed what we feed the dog and cats to determine how long a bag will actually last. Ordering enough to be good for a year with the exception of wet, canned cat food. If we run out, we run out. They will survive without it. I've seen plenty of fat cats who eat just dry, bagged food.

 

[dusty88]

I had already bought extra to get through so we wouldn't need to mess with going to the store but am ordering more today. Went nerd and weighed what we feed the dog and cats to determine how long a bag will actually last. Ordering enough to be good for a year with the exception of wet, canned cat food. If we run out, we run out. They will survive without it. I've seen plenty of fat cats who eat just dry, bagged food.

If you go that far ahead, check the dates and bags carefully. Pet food from a good company does last for months but if it gets too old or (especially) if the bag gets a tear in it then it's going to spoil. The bags sometimes get torn at warehouses. Retailers are good about refunds if you find a bag like that as long as you report it right away.

I generally just stay 3 mo ahead on dry food and rotate it. But some bags are dated much longer than that. I keep some canned food for backup since that should theoretically last beyond its date.