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Old March 3rd, 2012, 12:15 PM
TokyoParrot TokyoParrot is offline
Elderly chihuahuas R us
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 58
I would be most worried about the high content of salmon in the food you mentioned.

I assume it's farmed salmon and farmed salmon is becoming increasingly regarded by many as not fit, or only barely fit, for repeated human consumption ("no more than half a meal per month"), and I personally won't give anything not fit for human consumption *from the viewpoint of toxicity* to my dogs.

(I have no problem with giving my animals *lower grade* meat cuttings, for example, or the discarded portions of fish. But when something is deemed unfit for reasons of *toxicity* (mercury content, PCB content, etc.), then I won't feed that to my animals.)

You can find all sorts of articles on the dangers of farmed salmon on the web, but here's one for starters:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA324437

Obviously other people will have different opinions on that, but I'm just mentioning it as something to think about. I personally avoid all tuna products, farmed salmon, and shark meat (which I raised my kids on at least twice a week back in the day-- delicious!).

I do make exceptions for my end-of-life animals. Any of my animals 17 years of age or older (OR younger but clearly end-of-life) can eat anything they want, as they'll be deceased before the PCBs, mercury, Fukushima contamination, etc. have a chance to build up in their systems.

We're possibly more sensitive to PCBs, heavy metal concentrations, etc. over here because we eat such a huge amount of fish, and concerns over toxins/contamination in fish have of course been heightened by the Fukushima accident.

If I were traveling I would probably pack the car with 30 cans of sardines, 30 cans of Bumble Bee mackerel, several packages of raw eggs, and some Urban Wolf or Amazing Grass Wheat Grass or Green Superfood powder (available on Amazon).

Crack the eggs, dump the whites down the drain, use the (raw) yolks only; mix with Wheat Grass powder (which all 12 of my dogs love, so it seems to be tolerated/enjoyed by dogs). Stir in can(s) of sardines and/or mackerel and voila.

Mackerel tests extremely low for toxins, by the way (both in the US and in Japan). Sardines are OK as long as they aren't from Japanese waters, which the ones in your stores shouldn't be.

With your dog's allergies, this might need some advance testing, but I think it will be worth it to avoid toxins in fish, OR to identify in advance that the fish is definitely not toxic.

The benefit to this too is MUCH less poop while you're on the road, compared to feeding kibble! I switched to a high-grade kibble for about 10 days sprinkled throughout January when I was super busy at work, and BOY could I tell the difference in wading through swamps of Chihuahua poop the day after. Low poop would be high on my list of priorities while traveling!

Last edited by TokyoParrot; March 5th, 2012 at 09:48 PM.
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