[chowder]

There are some foods out there that I haven't tried because of 'exotic' ingredients and one of them is Montmorillonite Clay. From what I can find, the stuff is used everywhere from oil rigs, to cosmetics, to soil conditioning, to "curing irritable bowel syndrome"! I haven't quite figured out what it is doing in dog food or if I want it to be ingested by my dog. The dogs foods look pretty good until I come across that ingredient.

Anyone here have any thoughts on that?

 

[dobesgalore]

I've never seen that listed on any dogfood. What kind of food is it?

 

[chowder]

Natures Logic and Natures Variety are two that I can think of off hand. There are a few others. There is also a supplement sold as "Red Desert Clay" that they sell as a health food kind of thing for animals and people. They say it will heal everything and more!:


RED DESERT™ "LIVING CLAY"–


100% Natural
Safe, Effective, Natural
Powerful Detoxifier
Cleanses the Digestive Tract

whether horse, fish, dog, cat, bird or reptile

* Quickly relieves diarrhea in 90% of all cases
* Detoxifies and Cleanses the digestive tract
* Safely, naturally remove toxins out of the body
* Strengthens Bones and Joints with absorbable calcium
* Aids Digestion and Metabolism
* Strengthens Immune System
* Increases Energy and Strength
* Healthier Teeth and Gums
* Improves overall Health
* Excellent Source of Essential Macro, Micro and Trace Minerals

 

[dobesgalore]

Hmmm... sounds good, but after reading your first post I don't think I would want that in my dogs food or not either.

 

[rjordan392]

Sounds like snake oil to me.
Any product that says "Heals everything and more" is just that, ...... "Snake Oil". Stay away from it. If your dog's system needs cleansing, let your Vet prescribe it.

 

[spookychick13]

It's definitely an interesting concept...is there anywhere you can find out more about it, reviews, etc??

 

[MandyPug]

Sounds like snake oil to me.
Any product that says "Heals everything and more" is just that, ...... "Snake Oil". Stay away from it. If your dog's system needs cleansing, let your Vet prescribe it.

Yeah let them prescribe tons of drugs to treat ailments that are simply occurring because of the toxins in the dogs environment and being absorbed into the dogs body. Perfect case is environmental allergies. You could do benadryl and steroid shots every day for the rest of the dogs life, or you could detox the dog making it's body more able to deal with the allergies itself. No traditional vet knows how to detox a dog, holistic vets should.

The clay, i don't know anything about it. I've never noticed it in either of those foods and i carry both of them, but i certainly don't sell alot of them. So who knows what it does. However it can't be THAT bad since Nature's Variety is using it, and they're a very reputable company.

Nature's Variety's definition:
Montmorillonite is a clay that is primarily colloidal silicate, which contains over 50 ultra-trace mineral compounds including Antimony, Barium, Beryllium, Boron, Bromine, Cadmium, Carbon, Cerium, Cesium, Chloride, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Dysprosium, Fluoride, Gadolinium, Gallium, Germanium, Iodine, Lanthanum, Lithium, Manganese, Neodymium, Nickel, Phosphorus, Rhenium, Rubidium, Samarium, Scandium, Silicon, Silver, Strontium, Sulfur, Tellurium, Thallium, Thorium, Tin, Titanium, Vanadium, Ytterbium, Yttrium, Zinc, and Zirconium. Feed studies by the Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory at Texas A&M University have shown that Montmorillonite clays can sequester (bind) aflatoxins contained in grains and oilseeds.

 

[rjordan392]

<No traditional vet knows how to detox a dog, holistic vets should>

A bit of an overstatement , don't you think. First, the university research program is just one study that appeases the dog food company to allow them an edge over the competition. These types of research programs are dependant on financial help from the manufacturers. So they would have to be careful about the findings they present.
How many independant studies are there????
How many Vets will back up this additive?
Are we to believe that dog food companys have the dogs interests in mind, more then the Vets?
How about dogfoodanalysis.com or AKA or any other established organizations that have the dogs interests? Whats their opinion?

 

[StellaLucyDesi]

All I know is I feed NV and it's done well for all my dogs. And dogfoodanalysis.com gives NV Prairie a 5 star rating and Instinct a 6 star rating! So, they must think it's quite alright lol!

 

[wags]

I have never heard of this. But it sounds EXPLOSIVE after you would give it to them! Sounds liek they would need to be outside for sure afetr that haha!
I wonder if its like activia for people haha!:wink:

 

[BabyHusky]

pretty interesting but also a little risky imo. and yea...sounds umm really...explosive as Wags stated.

if you're already giving your dog good food whether it be kibble or raw, i don't see the need to use this, but hey...i suppose theres always special cases.

 

[PUNKem733]

I think it's the same clay that is sold in powder form for people's health. I saw it on discovery or some such channel. You mix it with water and drink it.

 

[Gia]

Can animals eat clay?


Animals can and do eat clay all the time. it's a natural part of their ability to self-medicate. read the book, Wild Health, by Cindy Engel. In that book, she documents hundreds of clay-eating habits of monkeys, elephants, birds of all kinds, and many other animals. Elephants dig clay "licks" in Africa that are the size of small airports, just to ingest the minerals. Birds obviously have gizzards that not only allow them to eat dirt and clay, but they must do it. The famous Parrots of the Amazon are tourist attractions at the places where they eat clay. There's even a word for it: geophagy.

Research has determined that eating clay is natural because it is healthful, and animals know this somehow. They can remove toxins and intestinal parasites with small amounts of certian clays, and the clay often adds needed minerals to their diets.

Bentonite and Montmorillonite clays are commmonly added to animals feeds across the world.

 

[cavalcadegsmd]

I have used Bentonite and Montmorillonite clays in myself and my animals. They are an excellent source of trace minerals and have very low risk of environmental contaminants as opposed to kelp which is getting riskier in my opinion. I know several raw feeders who swear by it. I have a friend with Crohn's disease that has gotten tremendous relief using it. They are nothing new.

 

[PDXdogmom]

I have used Bentonite and Montmorillonite clays in myself and my animals. They are an excellent source of trace minerals and have very low risk of environmental contaminants as opposed to kelp which is getting riskier in my opinion. I know several raw feeders who swear by it. I have a friend with Crohn's disease that has gotten tremendous relief using it. They are nothing new.

That is very interesting to me. Is it difficult to find montmorillonite clay to purchase? I'm usually successful finding unusual ingredients in my city if I have some kind of lead.

 

[truthdog]

Clay is used as a stool hardener in dog foods. Any therapeutic value is unproven.

 

[Scarlett_O']

Clay is used as a stool hardener in dog foods. Any therapeutic value is unproven.

Your value to any of these threads is unproven.

 

[Liz]

We have used bentonite clay in a few instances and I will always keep it on hand as it's value is proven to me.

 

[cavalcadegsmd]

@PDXdogmom- I buy both forms at The Good Earth a health food store in Indianapolis- it is a wonderful store that has been there since the early 70s. I believe the brand I have bought there is Now.

 

[stajbs]

Just saw this in the NV biscuits I bought for Silva. SO far no adverse reactions, and I have seen it listed in foods, and I know it is fed by some mushers too. I myself was not sure what to make of it, but plan to research it more in order to decide whether to keep feeding the biscuits. I have to check the NV canned food ingredient list because our guys get their meats, plus some other manufacturers.