Could Cheap Pet Foods Make Pets Dumb and Dumber?

dumb dog

I coulda sworn my head was small enuf to get to the noms!

After reading a study that posed a similar question for children fed a diet of junk food, I couldn’t help immediately extrapolating that evidence to include animals.

Scientists found that a diet, high in fats, sugars and processed foods in early childhood (kittenhood or puppyhood) may lower IQ, while a diet packed full of vitamins and nutrients may do the opposite, suggests research published by academics in the University of Bristol’s School of Social and Community Medicine.

I confess, I’ve recently been diagnosed with a disease common to Crazy Cat Ladies, better known in psychiatric circles as a classic case of Compulsive Anthropomorphization Syndrome. The main symptoms of CAS are:

1. Reading every headline and inserting Fluffy’s name instead of a humans.

2. Extrapolating medical study results to their possible application to Fluffy.

3. Human social studies are merely an explanation of  the possibilities of Fluffy’s  inner life.

4. Human children’s clothing and toys are seen as Fluffy’s new outfit or toy.

I could go on, but you get the picture.

Here’s how I read the study:

Toddlers puppies and kittens fed a diet of junk food can suffer lasting damage to their brainpower, researchers warn.

Children who eat more chips, crisps, biscuits and pizza shitty pet food before the age of three have a lower IQ five years later, a study showed.

The difference could be as much as five IQ points compared with children puppies and kittens given healthier diets with fruit, vegetables and home-cooked food.

But even if their diet improves, it could be too late as the ill-effects can persist for a lifetime.

This is the first study to suggest a direct link between the diet of young children puppies and kittens and their brainpower in later life.

They said good nutrition was crucial in the first three years of life when the brain grows at its fastest rate.

Young children puppies and kittens eating a diet packed with fats, sugar and processed crappy pet foods consume too few vitamins and nutrients, which means their brains never grow to optimal levels.

The findings are the latest to be published from a major investigation of childhood animal development called the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents Pet Parents and Children Puppies and kittens.

This tracks the long-term health and well-being of around 14,000 children puppies and kittens born in the early 1990s.

“Our research suggests that any cognitive/behavioral effects relating to eating habits in early childhood kittenhood or puppyhood may well persist into later childhood kittenhood or puppyhood, despite any subsequent changes (including improvements) to dietary intake,” said Dr. Kate Northstone, Research Fellow in the School of Social and Community Medicine.

dog-fail

But the lady at the store said I looked HOT in this color!

That explains perfectly why this poor pup mistook Mommy’s lip gloss for a tasty treat, or maybe she just wanted to play dress-up like all kids do!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1354683/Junk-food-diet-hits-childs-IQ-reveals-major-UK-study.html#ixzz1Dg4OIWjv

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Mollie Morrissette

Mollie Morrissette, the author of Poisoned Pets, is an animal food safety expert and consumer advisor. Help support her work by making a donation today.

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