Park Hill Vet: Fads And Facts
Choices Abound In The Quest For The Best Pet Food
By Margot Vahrenwald, DVM, CVJ
For the GPHN
Food – it’s essential to all of us, our furry friends included. But how do you make the best decision for your pet or pets when faced with the huge number of pet food choices, the seemingly endless recalls and all the marketing pitched your way?
When I started taking prerequisites to apply to vet school back in the Dark Ages, research for an assignment for my animal nutrition course found that there were fewer than 2,000 recipes for dog and cat food combined nationwide. A recipe is each new flavor or mix within a brand line. Now there are nearly 7,000 recipes for dogs alone in an ever-increasing push for your pet food dollars in a greater than $100 billion per year industry.
What is most important for your pet in terms of health is the right balance of calories, protein, carbohydrates and fats. Your pet should be fed a food that they like, and one that is appropriate to their life stage.
Budget is the first step. Each of us for a variety of reasons selects pet food on price and for every price point, there are many options. If searching, please consult your veterinarian for their recommendations of favored brands rather than relying on advertising and the internet.
On every pet food label, there will be an AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) statement that tells how the food was tested and the life stage or stages that the food is appropriate for.
The best food testing is via controlled animal feeding tests, but this can be cost prohibitive. If the AAFCO statement says something along the lines of “formulated to meet the nutritional needs established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles,” then the food has undergone bench chemistry testing to show that it meets the standards set for particular ingredients and percentages of protein, fiber and fat.
Additionally, the AAFCO statement will say what life stage the food is appropriate for. Maintenance is for adult pets. All-life stages means that the food must meet the nutritional requirements of the most demanding nutritional needs – lactation/pregnancy and growth. All-life stage foods tend to be high in calories and pets will need to be fed less to avoid unwanted weight gain.
Food safety is a tangled subject of its own. Recalls may make pet foods seem rampantly unsafe. But in many cases, a recall occurs due to a precaution from a manufacturer being proactive after a random test result of concern, or FDA random testing indicates a problem with a batch of food. The number of recalls seems higher because a number of brands/recipes are made by one manufacturer.
Food fads in pet food mirror those in the human marketplace. Grain-free foods are riding on the trend of gluten-free foods. “Whole foods” — including raw — are touted as miracles by Dr. Google, but carry inherent risks to pets and people.
Good nutrition comes in many pet foods. A review of the label and discussing with your veterinarian are your best tools in selecting the right pet food.
Dr. Margot Vahrenwald is the owner of Park Hill Veterinary Medical Center at 2255 Oneida St. For more information, visit www.parkhillvet.com.