Helping you make informed decisions when selecting a diet for your canine companions and feline friends.
The most common question I've been getting lately seems to be about choosing the best diet for your cat or dog. Before becoming a vet, I don't remember thinking about much more than flavor when I picked out a pet food. Over the last few years, however, it seems that there are more options than ever before - brands boasting they're the best, most wholesome diet for your pet, but some of them aren't even a complete diet. It can be overwhelming and I'd like to ad so it's easier the next time you head to the pet store.
Where to Start:
As a general rule, I recommend 5 main pet food brands for owners to choose from. These include the 3 veterinary brands, Hill's, Purina, and Royal Canin, in addition to Iams and Eukanuba. I recommend these brands because they are backed by research with extensive feeding trials performed over the years. Additionally, these are large companies. While there are many benefits to a small company (#ShopSmall!), I personally like knowing that if an announcement is going to be made, or a recall issued, I will always hear about it from these big corporations.
Next, it is essential that you realize what life stage your pet is in, because they have different nutritional requirements. Kittens and puppies require a diet meant for growth. Pregnant and lactating pets have higher nutrition requirements than those at a maintenance stage. Working dogs often have higher nutrition requirements than house pets. A diet labeled "all life stages" is appropriate for just that - all life stages - however it may require adjustments to the amount fed depending on what stage your pet is in. Some dog foods will also come with an option to choose between large breed or small breed as well as large bite kibble size and small bite kibble size. Most of the information you need can be found by reading the label (for those of you who love a deep read, more about reading a label can be found here).
This handout by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association is a wonderful first look into choosing your pet's diet. With over 200 pet food brands out there, this guideline helps owners ask the right questions to find the best options for their pet.
Your Dog is Not a Wolf, Your Cat is Not a Lion
Now that you have your guidelines in hand, you're standing at the pet store and bombarded with posters, signs, and the employee who is oh-so-helpful, but may not have all of the training to make the best recommendations?
Branding and marketing is honestly quite fascinating. It's important to understand that while many pet food companies are creating great products, they are, at the end of the day, a business selling a product. We see commercials and billboards suggesting that pets should eat what their ancestors did thousands of years ago, but that's just not true. Cats and dogs need diets that are formulated to meet their dietary needs today. Some commercials are seriously entertaining, but some can feel misleading and I want to remind owners that flashy branding and high price do not necessarily mean the product is the best.
By Products, Processed Meals, and Preservatives, Oh My!
I see you read the label, just like I asked you to. It's okay Dorothy, unlike the Scarecrow, we have a brain and that means we can look at the facts. For instance, processed doesn't mean bad, it just mean's it didn't come straight off the vine. For example, Corn Meal is just a name for ground up corn. Most pets aren't going to enjoy whole corn kernels in their food, but corn offers some great nutrients to a diet. By Products are those left over from another food processing operation, but that doesn't mean they're low quality. Let's look at Chicken Byproduct - we've taken the parts Americans like to eat, such as thigh meat and breast meat, and now we're left with the rest - liver, heart, etc. Some people eats these parts, but most Americans do not consider chicken heart for dinner. These products are entirely nutritious and of excellent quality, they're just less desirable in their primary market, so they become a by product of the American human food market and enter the pet food market. Plus, not to be gruesome, but when we watch National Geographic the first thing most wildlife eats from freshly caught prey are the insides, not thigh meat.
So you're telling me I'm not supposed to worry about preservatives? Basically, yes. I'd be worried if your pet food didn't contain preservatives, especially considering it's usually opened and fed across the course of a few weeks. Without preservatives, that food would go bad and quickly become toxic from molds and other spoilt food products (still, keep your pet food in the bag and stored in an air-tight container to keep it fresh longest!).
Home Cooked Meals and Raw Food Diets
I scared you with the label, didn't I? Jokes aside, there are some veterinarians who feel strongly that a commercially available diet is not the best option for pets. I'm not one of those veterinarians - until there is concrete and repeatable evidence that I need to make my dog his meals every day, my professional opinion is that a balanced, uniform diet that has been researched and confirmed to meet nutrition requirements of my pets will always be my best option. I'm not unreasonable, however. If you have the ability and desire to prepare your pet's diet every day, being sure to keep it from spoiling, I really only request that it is balanced and complete. Cats and dogs cannot have the same meals as us and meet their nutritional requirements (most of us don't even eat a balanced diet, but I'm not a human doctor, so I suggest you consult with yours if you're concerned). If you want to cook your diets at home, I recommend using balanceit.com where you can input ingredients and they help you fill in all the gaps.
Please note that I said cook your pet's diets at home. Raw diets have gained popularity and I understand a wolf eats a raw diet (please see above about your dog not being a wolf) however some uncooked foods can certainly make your pet sick. Depending on where ingredients are sourced from, parasites can be a concern and we always worry about bacteria, especially in uncooked meats. But I'm not just worried about your pets getting sick, I'm worried about you and your family! We already established I'm not a human doctor, but I have a human doctor and they agree, raw meats, eggs, and some grains can carry illness-inducing bacteria such as salmonella. This means the raw foods can contaminate every surface they come into contact with - counters, bowls, the floor near the food bowls, etc. But we wash our hands and all surfaces after meals! That's a great practice to have, but that bacteria is still in your pet's mouth and on their fur, which means they can move it around the house, rub it against your face, and potentially expose your kids (let's be real, kids put everything in their mouths!). It's not a risk I recommend that owners take.
Cats Need Meat
It is not uncommon for pet owners to want their animals to have a similar lifestyle to their own. Active people tend to choose high-energy breeds. Cat yoga is a thing. Some practices cannot be shared, however. With an increasing interest in vegetarian and vegan diets for people, I want to clarify that cats are obligate carnivores. This means that over 70% of their diet must be meat. Cats cannot survive on a vegetarian or vegan diet. While these options are available commercially, I do not recommend them.
Grain Free and Canine Cardiac Concerns
Grain free diets rose to popularity over the last 5-10 years. I suspect this is due to a misconception about grain allergies in pets or another misconception that grains aren't healthy for pets. A final consensus statement has not been made by the FDA, but they did release this statement in 2019 acknowledging a rise in reported cases of dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart, in dogs and their intention to further investigate the correlation between this and diet. Thus far, there has been evidence that a high percentage of certain types of legumes (peas, lentils, etc) and potentially potatoes reduces the availability of the amino acid taurine, which is vital to cardiac health. These ingredients have been used for years in pet food without issue, in fact they provide nutritional benefits, however as a large portion of the diet, they may be contributing to disease. So what does that have to do with a grain-free diet? When you take out grains (wheat, rice, barley, etc) the percentage of other ingredients must increase to make up for this loss. It's not so much that removing grains appears to be detrimental at this time, rather that increasing these other ingredients may be contributing to the issue.
While we wait for the final FDA statement, I recommend owners avoid grain-free diets under most conditions. We can discuss it at your appointment if you feel there is a specific reason it is necessary. It is important to note that this applies to canine diets at this time and feline diets require more research, so stay tuned.
But What About Allergies?
Oh yeah, I didn't forget about your itchy pets. We'll have a whole other post on my approach to the itchy pet in the near future, but when we've concluded we're looking at food allergies, it is quite rare that I'm going to blame the grains. This is because the most common food allergies in pets will come from the protein source and a majority of these allergens are chicken and beef. Wait, so you're saying the most common protein in most pet foods is also the most common allergen? Yes, yes I am. This can be a challenge for pet owners because many over the counter diets with unique proteins (lamb, salmon, kangaroo, rabbit) still contain small amounts of chicken or beef. Those whose ingredient list does not include chicken or beef are often still made in the same location as other diets containing those proteins, meaning that contamination is possible and your pet can be exposed.
For my patients with a mild food allergy, I usually reach for Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. It is an over the counter option that is balanced to meet nutritional requirements for maintenance in adult cats or dogs. It is still made in the same facility as other diets and some flavors do still contain small amount of processed chicken. To be honest, the majority of pets with a food allergy require a prescription diet. These diets are hypoallergenic, so they're cooked in a way that makes them more digestible and less reactive, even if they contain the protein a pet may be allergic to. Currently I carry Hill's prescription diets, but also recommend those by Purina and Royal Canin.
That's a Great Segway Into ...
... Prescription diets!
Sometimes we need to recommend a prescription diet for different health conditions. This can include allergies (see above), urinary disorders, renal failure, weight management/diabetic control, thyroid control, gastrointestinal disease, and more. These diets require a prescription from your veterinarian. At Roman Acres Veterinary Hospital, we carry some diets in the hospital, but carry all prescription diets on our online store which can be accessed here or through our website.
Still have questions? Call us to schedule a consult at 607-656-4285
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