The Chew on Chews-ing Your Pet's Food!
/Trying to write this blog has been quite the challenge to say the least. There is an exorbitant amount of information out there on the “do’s and don’ts” of choosing a pet food. And to be honest, if it is hard to decipher and mull through the information as veterinary industry professionals, then we know it is even more difficult and confusing for our clients and other pet owners. We do know that we all have one goal in mind, and that is to make sure our beloved furry friends are eating a healthy and well rounded diet. While the goal of this article is to clear the ambiguous fog and untangle the unending web surrounding pet foods, there is just not enough blog space to cover each and every piece of the puzzle. Consequently, there will be multiple parts to this blog that will be released consecutively. Knowing what qualities make a nutritious food by identifying reputable brands, all the while muddling through and deciphering a pet food label, are the main topics that will be touched on here in Part 1.
So many types!
Standing in the middle of the pet food aisle in any pet or grocery store can be almost anxiety-inducing. With the dizzying number of brands, multitude of proteins, diets for different life stages, kibble or wet, toppers or paté, fresh or frozen, dehydrated raw or grain free, the average pet owner can immediately be overwhelmed with all of the choices. However, trying to determine the best food for all pets is like trying to figure out the best diet for all humans. It is near impossible since each individual has their own dietary and supplemental needs. Each animal has a different metabolism, life stage, taste, activity level, and even for a few, allergies. Choosing a food dependent on the latter list is very important. To start, look at foods that coincide with your pet’s life stage (puppy/kitten, adult, or senior). This ensures the animal is getting the proper nutrition appropriate for their age. Once that is accomplished, you will need to determine the type of food you would like to feed. By far the most popular form of food would be dry kibble since it is easy to find, usually less expensive, and can be bought in larger quantities. Wet or canned food follows kibble in popularity. It can be more expensive, however, and contains a large percentage of moisture, making its shelf life shorter if opened. Another type of food is semi moist. This type usually comes in pouches and can contain more additives such as sugar, sodium, and artificial colors. Semi moist food can also dry out quickly and have a shorter shelf life. Raw food is becoming a popular choice amongst pet owners. It can come in different forms such as fresh, dehydrated, or freeze-dried. While many pet owners choose raw food because they think it is less processed than regular foods, there is no scientific evidence that determines raw foods as superior. As a result, many veterinary professionals steer away from raw diets due to the higher risk of contamination and contracting disease-causing bacterial infections. Lastly, pet owners will find toppers, mix-ins, supplements, and treats as well in the food aisle. These should only be used as “extras” that can be added to your animal’s food since most are not nutritionally complete. Any extras, including supplemental treats, should only account for about 10% or less of your animal’s diet since these can be very high in calories (it’s like adding a giant Snickers bar to every meal!). Once these pieces of the pet food puzzle are decided, the hard work starts with finding a reputable brand that meets your pet’s needs and deciphering those perplexing pet food labels.
It’s all about the marketing.
Determining whether or not a brand is reputable can be tricky. You can easily go into a pet food store and see brands that tout their food as “small batch”, “gourmet”, “artisanal”, and even, “made with love”. Unfortunately, these descriptions are predominantly marketing ploys. Like in any industry, great marketing and good advertising is done to appeal to the buyers. Companies want the food to sound delicious and healthy. Thankfully there is a regulating body that can help consumers measure the credibility of a pet food company. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has developed and set international guidelines for pet nutrition. The easiest way to help decide whether a company is reputable is by contacting the manufacturer’s customer service and asking about the WSAVA guidelines (which can be found here: Guidelines on Selecting Pet Foods | WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee). They have established that there are four main questions to ascertain from the company; whether or not there are veterinary nutritionists on staff, who formulates the diet and do they have an advanced degree in pet nutrition (MS, PhD or Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist), what kind of quality control process they have (i.e. certification of manufacturer’s procedures and testing ingredients for nutrient contents), and finally, whether they conduct nutritional research that has been published in peer reviewed journals. While some of this information seems daunting to obtain, reputable companies will willingly divulge these details through email, their websites, or a short customer service phone call. Unfortunately, pet food labels do not require a telephone number, email address, or website address, however be wary of companies that do not print at least one of these methods of contact on their packaging. This is done so that it is harder for the consumer doing their own research to obtain the information needed to make an educated decision.
Additionally, there are a few other things to consider when researching a pet food company. Mainly, manufacturers should own the plant where their food is manufactured, test their diets via AAFCO feeding trials (more on this later), be willing to provide exact nutritional information on each nutrient of interest, and be able to provide the number of calories for any food in any weight or volume. Taking all this into consideration, we now have to look at the mysterious world of pet food labels.
Deciphering that pesky label.
The two most common mistakes made by pet owners is to only look at the ingredients that are listed first on the food label, and to determine a pet’s food based on food rating sites (that are many times paid for and biased towards specific manufacturers). As much as we all want to compare, pet food labels are a far cry from human nutritional labels. Most information on pet food labels contain very little useful information and many times the information that is listed is murky. For instance, the “Guaranteed analysis” section of the food label identifies the percentages of protein, fat, fiber, and moisture content in the food. Unfortunately, however, manufacturers are only required to show the minimum and maximum percentages of these macronutrients, so determining the exact amount of nutrients can only be discovered by a phone call to the manufacturer. While this convoluted information can be frustrating, there is still a major piece of information on the food label to look for.
The most important feature on pet food packaging is the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) statement or nutritional adequacy statement. Finding this statement on the label can at times be a daunting task. More often than not, it is in very small font on either the back, or the folded side of the packaging or can. The AAFCO statement provides the following information; whether the diet contains all the essential nutrients that a pet needs and how that is determined, and at which age or life stage is the diet appropriate. AAFCO is comprised of state, local, and federal officials that offer guidance, best practices, and definitions related to the regulation of pet foods. While they do not “approve”, “certify”, “regulate”, or “test” pet foods, AAFCO does provide a Model Bill and Regulations that local, state, and federal authorities USE to regulate the pet foods that cross state lines. Consequently, if any manufacturer claims that their food is “AAFCO approved” or “AAFCO certified”, this is simply not true.
The AAFCO statement should resemble one of the following:
(Product name) is formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for (species) and (life stage).
Life stages here include “maintenance,” or “growth and reproduction,” which is frequently called “all life stages”.
Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (Product name) provides complete and balanced nutrition for (species) and (life stage).
These life stages include “maintenance,” “growth,” “gestation and lactation”, or “all life stages.”
This product is intended for intermittent and supplemental feeding only.*
(*sourced from the board certified veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University)
If your pet’s food has printed one of the first two statements, then your food is balanced and nutritionally complete. If the third statement is printed, then your pet’s food is not nutritionally complete and this food should only be used for supplemental purposes. There is one exception to this rule and that is if the food is prescribed by a veterinarian for a specific medical condition. If one of the statements above are completely absent from your pet’s main food source, then please reconsider feeding this food altogether.
Finally, here are a few other things to consider when looking at a pet food label. Jargon such as “premium”, “organic”, “heritage”, “wild”, and “gourmet” are buzzwords that do not equal higher quality ingredients. However, AAFCO does define and regulate foods deemed as “natural”, as they can contain no additives such as artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. Additionally, many consumers try to steer clear of “big box” and large brand foods such as Purina, Royal Canin, Hills, and Iams. The misconception here is that these big brands cut corners by packing their foods with fillers and byproducts (an ingredient that is commonly seen as bad or rubbish). Byproducts and bone and meat meals add substantial nutrients, energy, and flavor to pet foods. So while these terms seem unappetizing to us, they are safe and healthy for our pets to eat. Furthermore, the big brands also are the companies that perform substantial feeding trials and employ credentialed veterinary nutritionists. These manufacturers have the research backing and expertise to develop a well balanced, quality food.
PHEW!
If you have read this far, then you are now an expert on chews-ing your pet’s food! Tell all your friends! :) We know this information is a little overwhelming and even intimidating. However, we all want what is best for our furry companions. All of us here at South Bay want to help educate and inform our clients on common misconceptions and the basics of determining the best food for our patients. If anyone has any questions on this information, please feel free to reach out to us any time.
What to look forward to!
It was quickly realized that there was absolutely no possible way to get all the information about the ins and outs of pet food in one blog. So, as stated earlier, there will be a few consecutive blogs to follow. Here are a couple topics that will be covered; how much to feed your pet, the 411 on controversial diets such as grain free, boutique and exotic proteins, and vegan and vegetarian diets. If anyone is interested in another food topic, please let us know! We are always open to client suggestions.
Thank you for reading and HAPPY FALL!!!!!
*Sources from this article have been obtained from AVMA pet food articles, WSAVA, AAFCO, and the Petfoodology blog from the board certified veterinary nutritionists at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.