Have you visited a
PetSmart or Petco recently to shop for pet food or supplies? It’s
almost like visiting your neighborhood Kroger but without the
Starbucks, pharmacy or bakery. Aisle after aisle of competing
brands, ingredients, and that ever annoying factory representative hoping to
grab a few minutes of your valuable time to “educate” you why
their particular brand is better than all the rest . It’s maddening
at times, especially if you are in a hurry or aren’t quite
certain which product to buy.
According to the
National Pet Food Institute, annual U.S. sales of pet food, including
treats, reached $19 Billion (that’s billion with a “B”) in
2012. Exports to other countries add billions more. Needless to say,
we humanoids love to feed and pamper our pets.
But are all these
brands, ingredients and options really necessary? Haven’t we taken
something that should be a rather straightforward task (i.e. feeding
our family pets) and made it far more complex and expensive than it
should be? It’s been said that U.S. household pets probably eat
better than half the world human population. We tend to agree and
often wonder why it’s become so confusing to select the right diet
to care for our furry companions.
Feeding into this
dilemma (pun intended) is a certain degree of angst or uncertainty
about food ingredients, preservatives and possible allergies - in
dogs especially. Almost daily we read or hear of yet another
manufacturer trying to warn us of the dangers of grain based diets
and all preservatives, in general. To listen to a certain few, it’s
almost as if cereal grains, especially corn, have suddenly
become another toxicity to be avoided. (Never mind that our
ancestors thrived on corn diets for thousands of years and most vegan
diets are essentially grain-based.)
Let’s consider a
few thoughts from the experts about commercial diets first, and then
we’ll review some information later about raw diets (bones, frozen
diets etc).
Pet owners may
choose to feed unconventional diets for multiple reasons, including
having negative feelings about commercial diets and positive feelings
about alternative diets. Negative feelings include concerns or
misconceptions about certain ingredients (eg, fillers, by-products,
carbohydrates) and other potential toxicities. Other clients may
prefer to feed so called “natural” diets ( ie, what a wild canine
or feline might eat), raw uncooked foods, or to prepare home diets
for their pet to avoid triggering a real or suspected food
intolerance or allergy.
Pets foods often
contain by-products from human food processing. These include offal
(ie, organ meats) and parts that are nutritious but may be
unappealing to humans dependent on cultural or religious beliefs. For
example, stomach or intestines may be included in pet food, and
although these may be considered undesirable in some cultures, they
are regularly consumed by humans in others. These products are often
nutritious and result in good use of the carcass. Commercial diets
may also contain antioxidant preservatives to prevent nutrient
degradation or fat rancidification. Some contain coloring agents to
make food more visually appealing to clients. These agents are the
same as those added to processed human foods and are generally
considered safe by most (including the FDA).
There is also great
misconception that fillers, such as sawdust, or other indigestibles,
are included in commercial pet foods. This is untrue for most, if not
all of the top-shelf brands we are most familiar with. Pet foods do,
however, contain fiber (ie, indigestible ingredients) which serves
many functions such as probiotics for bacteria to promote colon
health. Otherwise, most if not all ingredients in commercial pet
diets typically provide nutritional value.
Feeding dogs a diet
similar to that of wild dogs or wolves (ie, low grains or
carbohydrates) has a popular following. Some pet owners opt to feed
bones or raw foods, thought to be similar to a wolf devouring a
carcass or cat catching prey. Pet owners should be reminded that dogs
have been domesticated over the past 10,000 years , during which time
their diet involved greater consumption of grains. Their genetic
makeup evolved to accommodate this increase in dietary carbs, and
today domestic dogs are actually dissimilar to wolves in several key
genes involving starch digestion and glucose uptake. Many other
metabolic traits were unaffected by domestication and, although dogs
and cats will often chose lower carbohydrate diets by choice, both
can digest carbohydrates effectively. Cats remain obligate
carnivores, requiring higher levels of protein (meat, fish or
poultry) than do dogs.
Next time, we’ll
take a closer look at raw (and frozen) diets including bones and how
that may impact pet nutrition.
Love your pets and
take good care of them.
Dr. David Zoltner is a Denton Veterinarian at Dove Creek Animal Hospital in Denton, Texas.
