Beware: Sodium selenite in pet food is toxic

By Catherine Haug, Jan 30, 2018

It is generally known that heavy metals are toxic; metals such as mercury, aluminum, cadmium, lead, arsenic and free-iron. There is a common ingredient present in most dry pet foods and some canned pet foods that can be very damaging to the health of your dog or cat, even though it is present in very minute amounts: sodium selenite (NaSeO3). It may be toxic to blood, kidneys, liver, skin, central nervous system of your pet.

Selenium is an essential mineral for most animals, but only when it is present in certain forms, such as that in selenium yeast (a form of nutritional yeast that has been grown on selenium). In other forms (e.g., sodium selenite), it can be quite toxic. Also, as counter-intuitive as this sounds, it is a truth: the smaller the concentration of toxic selenium, the greater the harm because small concentrations mimic hormones, especially estrogen.

NOTE: If you take (or give such a supplement to your pet): a multi-vitamin, multi-mineral, or specific mineral supplement that contains sodium selenite, stop using it and find a safer brand.

Sodium selenite toxicity

Science Lab is a company that provides Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) about potentially toxic substances. Here’s what they have to say about sodium selenite (scroll to section 3 of the report, pertinent to human exposure, but is also applicable to other animals including our pets: (2)

Sodium selenite “may be toxic to blood, kidneys, liver, skin, central nervous system. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated exposure to a highly toxic material may produce general deterioration of health by an accumulation in one or many human organs.” (1,2)

I feed kibble to my cats, but use only those brands that do not contain grains or soy which are known to be problematic for obligatory carnivores like cats. I just checked the two brands I am currently using and was shocked to see they both contain sodium selenite. I will no longer buy those brands.

NOTE: You have to read the small print in the ingredients section, and look toward the end of the list. Here’s the list from one of the brands I’ve been using; I put the sodium selenite in red; note that it does not include the safer forms: selenium yeast:

Trout, ocean fish meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, pea protein, potato protein, canola oil, smoked salmon, natural flavor, choline chloride, DL-methionine, taurine, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

A better way to provide essential selenium in pet food is to add the organic form of selenium: selenium yeast:

The simple solution, as recent science has proven, seems to be adding non-toxic selenium yeast to animal feeds including pet foods. “Of about one dozen supplementation studies, none has shown evidence of toxicity even up to an intake level of 800 microg Se/d over a period of years. It is concluded that Se-yeast from reputable manufacturers is adequately characterised, of reproducible quality, and that there is no evidence of toxicity even at levels far above the EC tolerable upper intake level of 300 microg/d.” (1,3)

I plan to write to the manufacturers, asking them to replace sodium selenite with selenite yeast. I will note that I have stopped using their products that contain this toxic heavy metal.

The following is a list of commercial pet foods that DO NOT contain sodium selenite: (4)

Wet or dry brands:

  • BFF (Best Feline Friend) – All canned and Oh My Hydration pouches.
  • Fancy Feast
  • Feline Natural
  • First Mate
  • Friskies – Tasty Treasures line.
  • Fromm – four-star canned.
  • Fussie Cat – canned.
  • Hill’s Science Diet – most canned.
  • Nature’s Logic – canned and dry.
  • Sheba
  • Soulistic – Pate & Shreds, and Original canned.
  • Tiki Cat – all the Grill canned foods. Some Luau.
  • Weruva
  • Whiskas
  • Ziwipeak – canned

Dry only:

  • Acana
  • Evo
  • Orijen
  • Royal Canin – Aroma Selective dry.

The following brands of cat food contain a safer form (selenite yeast): (4)

  • armina dry (US formulas)
  • Nutro (Hairball Control and High Protein dry only) Edit: Nutro changed their formulas. Used to be all dry formulas contained selenium yeast. Now only two dry foods have it.
  • Ziwipeak (air-dr

References:

  1. truthaboutpetfood.com/a-close-look-at-a-tiny-pet-food-ingredient-selenium
  2. sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927277
  3. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15522125
  4. bestcatfoodforcats.com/cat-food-without-sodium-selenite/

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