Mad Cow Disease
Mad Cow Disease:
Cutting the risk to our companions
By Shawn Messonnier, DVM

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While it is vitally important to do all we can to keep MCD off this continent, the number of people worldwide with the disease is thankfully still small. Since it is such a horrible condition with no cure, steps such as completely banning the practice of feeding slaughterhouse waste to livestock, and testing every animal before it is eaten, must be applied and followed worldwide. A move away from feedlots, while controversial and not politically popular, and towards range or grass feeding would also be helpful (and would improve the fatty acid content of the meat we eat).

MCD is even more unlikely to affect dogs and cats, although it is possible (so far, cats but not dogs appear susceptible). To date, I’ve never seen any credible reports of this disease appearing in the U.S. in our pets, although there have been reports in both domestic and wild cats in Europe. However, in my opinion, there is a greater chance of MCD affecting our pets than ourselves. Why? Because most pet foods do not contain the healthiest ingredients. The U.S. recently announced that “downer” cows (dead, dying or diseased cows) would no longer be allowed to enter the human food chain, but no such promise was made for pet food. That means manufacturers are free to use animals most at risk for having MCD. Many brands of food contain ingredients such as animal byproducts and meat and bone meal. These are the ingredients most likely to include the nervous tissue (brain and spinal cord) of cattle. And since so many pet foods contain these less-than-healthy ingredients, cattle, sheep, deer and other ruminants infected with MCD can easily and quickly infect our pet food supply. Earlier this year, in fact, one Canadian manufacturer recalled dog food that contained rendered parts from an infected cow.

What’s the solution? Simple. Whenever possible, prepare nutrit ious homemade recipes for your animals, using trusted protein sources. If that’s not practical for you, learn to read pet food labels and choose foods that do not contain potentially infected material. Natural diets containing whole meats without byproducts will minimize the risk of infected ingredients in the food. All it takes is some vigilance and self-education.

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Published in the April/May 2004 issue of Animal Wellness