We are hearing a lot lately about good and bad diets for
pets. We are all very concerned about what to feed our furry friends. Of course
we want to make sure we are giving them the best possible nutrition, but what
is that exactly?
In order to determine what makes the best pet foods, we need
to first talk about some of the myths of pet food advertisers. The pet food
market is a multibillion dollar industry and everyone wants a piece of the pie,
so a lot of these companies are trying to find a new angle to get in. The
veterinary nutritionists feel that these companies are marketing by using
guilt. One of the biggest myths that we are hearing right now is that corn is
bad for dogs or that it is a common allergy for dogs. Corn is a natural and
wholesome ingredient loaded with a lot of really great benefits for your pet. In
a recent article that our staff read, it was stated by 4 board certified
veterinary nutritionists that corn, wheat, and soy are usually innocent when
accused of causing food allergies. The top allergens for our pets are usually
the protein source they are ingesting if in fact they do have food allergies.
We’ve been hearing that a lot of people believe that you can
tell everything about your pet’s food by reading the ingredient list. The
ingredient lists of pet foods, however, are often misleading. For example, a
dog food could claim that corn is not the number one ingredient in their pet food,
and certainly have the protein source as the number one listed ingredient, but
corn could in fact be the majority of the kibble. The way to achieve this is by
weighing the protein source prior to dehydrating it and weighing everything
else after it has been dehydrated. Water weighs a lot! The other thing that
these tricky companies do is to split the ingredient into multiple categories.
Corn, for example, might be split into corn meal, whole corn, corn starch, etc.
They do the same thing with rice, soy, barley, etc. The better part of the bag to read is the AAFCO
statement. You want to make sure that the food underwent studies and is not
just “formulated” to meet your pet’s needs. It should also be listed for a
specific life stage whether it is puppy or kitten, adult maintenance, or
senior. A food listed for all life stages is one that has been either tested or
formulated to fit the needs of a puppy or kitten. Puppy & Kitten food is
generally higher in calories and not the best food for adult or senior dogs to
be on.
Did you know that there are also a large number of companies
that do not make their own pet food? These foods tend to have less quality
control than companies that make their own food. "Diets from pet
food marketing-distribution companies that don't make their own foods may
potentially fluctuate more from batch to batch than a company where it's all
done in-house". "Royal Canin,
Hill's Pet Nutrition, Nestle Purina and Iams PetCare will control all aspects
of development, manufacturing and sales, so there is more company oversight of
the pet food process." "These are also the companies that are
investing in research that promotes veterinary medicine and veterinary
nutrition." stated Dr. Weeth, a
diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. (Veterinary Practice
News, Volume 24/Number 9).
