Conscientious pet owners read the ingredients on the back of the pet food bag. When the words read like they are English, it’s reassuring.
Powdered cellulose. That sounds logical. “Powdered” – derived from powder, finely ground. “Cellulose” – anyone who remembers high school biology class, knows cellulose is the part of the plant cell wall that keeps the shape – and it’s indigestible. Easy: cellulose is the indigestible part of plant.
What plants?
If it’s freshly harvested grass from the pasture, that’s a clean source. Cows use it, so do horses and goats; those species grow and develop from eating and digesting cellulose. Of course, dogs and cats don’t have a rumen or a cecum like cows or horses, respectively.
One could even postulate that powdered cellulose is in pet food to add fiber, to prevent constipation or diarrhea, and so the feces are nicely formed logs. But we have to go back to the question of “where does it come from?”
In important thing to remember: pet food is a documented outlet for recycled ingredients. Recycled, as in not acceptable to feed the humans so let’s repurpose it for dog or cat food. Kind of like 4D meats are not acceptable for humans to eat but are diverted into pet food, but that’s another post. (4D – dead, disease, decayed, dying. Ew.)
Powdered cellulose is used to keep shredded cheese (dairy products for human consumption) from clumping. It would be great if the powdered cellulose in our dogs’ and cats’ foods were the same quality as that which is on shredded cheese product.
In actuality, powdered cellulose is very likely sawdust. Because it’s pet food, the sawdust is not the same quality as that which goes into human food. Since powdered cellulose is “fiber,“ it works to make the poop look good, but what does it do for the insides of dogs and cats? Because it is an inferior quality ingredients, it may contribute to shedding – a sign of inflammation.
(Inflammation. Fancy word for saying something doesn’t feel right. Like a headache is inflammation of the tissue around the brain.)
Powdered cellulose? Not an ingredient worth recommending in pet food.
Now what? There are pet food companies who use high-quality ingredients, including those which are acceptable for humans to eat. These foods may cost a little bit more; but think how much money you save by not causing inflammation in your pet. (Potential signs of inflammation: shedding, yeast infections, ear infections, itchy skin etc.) Reduced inflammation = improved health. How much money do you save by not going to the veterinarian? It’s worth spending it on the food and avoiding trip to the vet’s office.
This is very interesting as well as informative. Powdered cellulose sounds like a good thing. After reading Dr Cathy’s explanation I have a different point of view, one that will make me question dubious ingredients.
Powdered cellulose is in supposedly high-quality urinary care Prescription Diet canned food products from both Hill’s Science Diet and Royal Canin. I consider it to be CHEAP FILLER that provides NO benefit to my dog! Pearled barley or brown rice would be a far more suitable fiber source, especially considering the ridiculous price charged for these products!
Our dog has recently undergone urgent bladder stone removal and on advice from our vet transitioned to Hills prescription u/d.
Why oh why I did not listen to my inner voice? My own common sense.
This food within four days totally knocked our dogs recovery from surgery. He went from perfectly healthy stools (directly after surgery)to horrendous yellow watery gas firing out of him along with an extremely toxic odour.
We made the decision after another evening of no sleep in the early hours, that was it, NO MORE vile Hills, put him on plain cooked chicken, some scrambled eggs until he felt better and we found a far superior more natural food for him, which we have done. Within sixteen hours of this more natural food for his condition we are back to solid stools thankfully.
I would advise no one to every use these types of food. I am kicking myself that I allowed it to happen,especially as I know the rubbish thats out there but trusted my vet, then researched! Something I normally do first.
Life lesson learnt, listen to myself & be more assertive and informed with the vets who are not fully trained in animal nutrition.
I just realized that this is in the top four of my dog food ingredients list, for the Hills Oral Science Diet, and after reading this article it explains so much.
Pros: I noticed my Rottweiler had really solid and firm stools when eating this food and thought it was great for him. Plus the kibbles are huge which he preferred. Cons: his blood work came back recently with inflammatory proteins and he does have underlying itchy skin/shedding. Even though I use a ear flush every two or three weeks, he is prone to yeast infections in his ears.
Now we have switched him to Hills Sensitive Skin and Stomach and hope it lowers the inflammatory issues. This article has really helped!
I can’t prove it but I’m pretty sure vets get kickbacks from certain companies.