Protecting Your Pet Dog Against Mycotoxins

By Juma Harrison

Many benefits come with owning a pet. The number of Kenyans owning pets has been increasing with each passing day. According to health experts, owning a pet such as a dog increases opportunities to exercise, get outside, and socialize.

Regular walking or playing with pets has been known to reduce cases of blood pressure, cholesterol levels as well as help in managing loneliness and depression through companionship. Some, however, choose to keep pets for fun and as a status symbol.

The most common pets in Kenya are dogs, cats, and fish. Of the three, dogs are the most preferred by the majority of pet owners in Kenya. Owning a pet such as a dog is not just having it within the house and move on with life the way some people might think.

As we all know, dogs are living things. They feed and feel just like any other living thing. A few months ago, there was fear and an outcry among dog owners in Kenya following mass deaths and massive infection among pets after consuming certain brands of food.

What your dog feeds on matters. Not every dog food is good for the dog. Most pet foods on the market have been known to contain mycotoxins. These are toxic chemical products produced by fungi that grow on cereal crops. These fungi are molds and some species can produce a wide variety of mycotoxins, although individual mycotoxins can be produced by different molds.

The molds are common on foodstuffs such as cereals including and not limited to maize, soya, and their by-products. The molds grow on the surfaces of these cereals and some of them produce the toxic chemical; mycotoxin. Such cereals and their byproducts find their way into dog foods as ingredients hence contaminating what your dog eats. It is vital that our dogs consume safe foods. The most critical mycotoxin for dogs is Aflatoxin.

But how can one tell that the food intended for their favorite dog has Aflatoxin? Sometimes it is not easy to tell just by looking at the bag or the food itself. Molds can be on the food before they become visible, and by the time they become visible, the levels of Aflatoxin may already be high. Any bag contains dog food with visible molds must be destroyed.

It is important to pay close attention to any form of change in the daily routine of your dog. For instance, if your dog starts to throw up and diarrhea in what is known as gastro-intestinal upset, you should not let it slide. Although other factors can manifest with similar symptoms, it is advisable to consult your vet if the symptoms persist or occur frequently. Extreme signs that should have you worried include severe cases or the presence of blood in the stool. Other signs to pay attention to include drowsiness, weakness, labored breathing, circling, and seizures that can also be caused by mycotoxins.

It is important to note that not every mycotoxin infection in dogs are fatal. There are over 600 known types of mycotoxins and only a few are monitored as they are particularly troublesome. Aflatoxin can cause acute toxicity and death. On the other hand, Zeoralenone can reduce fertility and cause kidney damage. Ochratoxin can cause gastrointestinal upset and fever, and lead to dehydration. Fumonisin B1 and B2 can damage the nervous system, cause apathy and drowsiness, an inability to swallow, blindness, circling, seizures and death while Deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) causes severe vomiting and can lead to death in pets.

To protect your dog, it is critical that the food you feed them on is safe and healthy. It should be free of mycotoxins and microbial contamination as well as adhering to the highest standards of production and certification.

So, what are some of the characteristics that your dog food should have? First, the food should be from a known and reliable brand, a brand that can give you safety guarantees, one you can always go back to in case of a problem. Look out for claims made against the product e.g. inclusion of beneficial or exclusion of detrimental ingredients (made without wheat, contains Poultry meal, etc); try and avoid products containing artificial flavors in place of actual ingredients e.g. contains beef flavor!  Look out for nutritional declarations on the pack in comparison to minimum requirements by your dogs.

Talking of reputable brands for your dog food, check out the K9® Dog Food from Unga Farm Care (EA) Limited.

If you would like to know more about the brand please visit the Instagram page here or the Facebook page. You can also follow their conversations through @K9DogFoodEA Twitter handle.

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