Mad Cow Disease and Your Dog's Food

Mad Cow Disease, or BSE, attacks and makes holes in the cow's brain and spinal cord. Enough holes and this material becomes spongy. Eventually, the animal cannot think or function.

The brain and spinal cord are considered nervous tissue and this is the only part of the body this disease attacks.

Because of this, scientists think they can localized the disease to just nervous tissue. But since it is such a dangerous disease, no part of an infected cow can be used for human consumption.

The supply of domestic beef byproducts that often form the staples of pet foods has generally been used to meet the industry's needs.

First, experts feel that it would be highly unlikely that nervous tissue would end up even in pet food. It's one of those products that is as vigorously inspected and quality-controlled as canned tuna.

Second, dog food must be processed in such a way that it is deemed safe for the pets. This generally means that the pet food must be heat-treated or the animal-derived parts must be rendered to destroy any pathogens.

Nervous tissue from infected cattle can spread the disease from one cow to another. Because of this, naturally, tissue from slaughtered cows is barred in the manufacture of cattle feed. However, this tissue is used for making food for poultry and house pets. Manufacturers feel confident about this because there have been no documented case of the mad cow 'virus' causing the disease in other animals.

In fact, there isn't proof that is mad cow makes humans sick, but there appears to be a connection.

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So far the consensus is that dogs cannot get Mad Cow Disease or any variation of it. But it doesn't hurt to check periodically and stay informed.

FDA and information about Mad Cow Disease
CDC and information on BSE