# Maize in dog food - your thoughts?



## David WhichDogFood (Mar 17, 2012)

My website is only three weeks old but already I'm getting a lot of emails about maize. Many say that I'm too harsh on it but an equal number say I'm not critical enough!:confused1:

From personal experience, I have dealt with a lot of dogs with apparent maize problems, but some that do very well on maize based diets!

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any definitive studies on canine maize digestion, allergies or intolerance.

So, what are your thoughts on maize in dog food? Do you have any positive or negative experiences with your dogs? Clearly, different dogs will respond in different ways, but would you rate maize as a potentially problematic ingredient or not???


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

Lets have a quick look...

Maize in human nutrition - Chemical composition and nutritional value of maize

Looking at basic maize... Protein 5.2-13% of plant based protein...
Carbohydrates 66-76% which a dog doesn't need, even according to the pet food nutritional profiles.

High in phosphorus low in calcium. The canine diet requires slightly more calcium than phosphorous (somewhere between 1-1 and 2-1). High maize can therefore unbalance this and it's especially important in growing puppies for bone growth.

If you look at the fact dogs are carnivores and process meat based proteins most efficiently does it really look at though it's a quality ingredient?

Personally though I haven't had an issue with it. Then again I now feed raw so am biased.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Personally I avoid it because it's a known irritant and I have a Westie cross. That said, I dont think she has issues with it.

However, Vitalin use only the maize germ which they state is the good part of the maize. Funnily enough, they dont inc it in their Adult Maintenance, yet their Sensitive contains the germ.................


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## Helbo (Sep 15, 2010)

Although I haven't had any reason to avoid it, I have done. I chose a food with rice as the 'filler' as I believe it to be the lesser of the filler evils


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## dandogman (Dec 19, 2011)

I don't mind cereals (maize included) in dog food. 
Pippa is on Hills puppy and its first ingredient is maize, at first this put me off, but Pippa loves it! I have the attitude of 'if its isn't broken, don't fix it', so I am not in a hurry to change it as I first was.


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## David WhichDogFood (Mar 17, 2012)

Thanks for your replies everyone! Very interesting - one for, three against but so far no dogs with any problems on it.


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## Goblin (Jun 21, 2011)

Not just a simple case of allergies though. Emma suffers from an environmental allergy, grass. Changing to a different diet away from wet one meal, dry the other meant the allergy is no longer a problem. Is it her immune system is better or is it a case of body no longer being overtaxed processing food she was not designed to digest? It's a can of worms and I'm sure you'll get biased views, even contradictory scientific "evidence" depending on who's doing the funding. For a single person you just do what you feel is right. For a web site like yours it's again your personal feeling but you could link in a couple of reports for and against and let users of the site make their own choice.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

I do not feed it.

It is tryptophan deficient (essential amino acid) and it is also a goitrogen (thyroid inhibitor).

Although there are other foods which are either and/or both, most are not consumed in the quantities contained in commercial dog food diets, and thus not really a problem.

Maize, IMV, could be.

Something I am going to ask Dr Jean Dodds about in her seminar in June.


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## Leanne77 (Oct 18, 2011)

I do not feed it at all and actively avoid maize (along with other cereals) but I raw feed so it isnt much of an issue.

I have a dog who has skin issues, suspected atopic, and this is a big reason why I do not feed him cereals as I believe they can exacerbate allergies. Since raw feeding him his skin and coat is much better, with far less itching.

Something did happen lately which made me suspect cereals are an issue for him. I usually train with cheese, hot dog sausages or a cereal free kibble. I went through a phase of buying a new dog treat because it was cheap and they were a handy size, the ingredients were full of cereals and animal derivatives. Anyway my dog had increased itching and dry skin, causing him to scratch himself sore. I stopped feeding the treats and the issue has quietened down to normal again.


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## David WhichDogFood (Mar 17, 2012)

Many thanks for all of the replies!

It's a tricky subject alright! I'm struggling to find any firm evidence that it is worse than other grains, so I'm tempted to remove its 'red' ingredient status, but at the same time, so many people for whatever reason want to avoid it, so keeping it highlighted might make the site more user-friendly:confused1:


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

David WhichDogFood said:


> Many thanks for all of the replies!
> 
> It's a tricky subject alright! I'm struggling to find any firm evidence that it is worse than other grains, so I'm tempted to remove its 'red' ingredient status, but at the same time, so many people for whatever reason want to avoid it, so keeping it highlighted might make the site more user-friendly:confused1:


Perhaps you could pop a little comment somewhere regarding the lack of firm evidence.


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## Netpon (Feb 21, 2012)

There's an American website that rates dog food and that too is very anti-maize, haven't really looked into why but I would assume there is a valid reason!


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## Meena (Apr 5, 2012)

It depends on the dog. I avoid it for mine personally.


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