Over the last year we’ve seen articles and ads from different dog food companies announcing plans to use insects in dog food. But should dogs eat bugs?
It’s one thing if your dog chases, hunts, catches, and eats the occasional beetle or moth in the yard. For the most part, your dog should be fine.
On the other hand, stinging and toxic insects have the same effect on dogs as they do on people. If they’re stung, depending on whether the dog is allergic, they may have pain and swelling for a while, but should be okay. If the dog is allergic, they may need to see the veterinarian for treatment.
Years ago we had a Boston Terrier named Daemon who would eat a bee every Spring. He never, in his 16 years, kept the memory from year to year that it wasn’t a good idea. Fortunately, he wasn’t too sensitive to the stings. So every year we remembered to buy a fresh package of Benadryl and were ready for his inevitable poor judgement. He only did it once a year, so his short-term memory was better. We suppose we could have tried to train him better, but it always seemed to catch us by surprise.
Dull is better
It’s generally true that the more colorful the insect, the more toxic. Things like stink bugs taste bad and may make your dog drool or even vomit if they get hold of one, but won’t do any real damage. Unless your dog’s feeling get hurt when you won’t let them kiss you!
Protein source
We don’t know why the dog food companies are searching for even more exotic protein sources. While some dogs have food sensitivities, there are lots of traditional proteins, enough to find one that works for most dogs.
Readily-available dog food base proteins include: beef, chicken, lamb, salmon, whitefish, turkey, pork, rabbit, and venison.
Looking for solutions
It occurred to us that a good alternative protein source for dog food might be some invasive species. Here in the Chicago area, we hear a lot about the Asian Carp that is overtaking the native species of the Mississippi River. These fish are abundant, and unwanted. And while they are edible for humans, we heard that they’re too boney to make good eating. Fish meal sounds like a good solution.
In Lake Michigan, the Zebra Mussel has been making inroads. This invasive species changes the environment of the lake and has had an effect on native species of fish and lake vegetation.
We think it’s a great opportunity for an ambitious entrepreneur to do good and make good products.
Ick factor
We took a very small, very unscientific poll and the overwhelming response was that dog people wouldn’t feed insect-based food to their dogs. Most people just don’t think dogs should eat bugs. The dog food companies’ motivation is unclear. It can’t be easy or cheap to raise and process the billions of bugs that a commercial dog food venture would need. And we’re not sure who their target market would be. We don’t know anyone who’d buy the stuff.
