by Shawn Messonnier, D.V.M.
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 JUST WHAT CONSTITUTES THE BEST OR MOST
APPROPRIATE DIET FOR A PET IS QUITE A CONTROVERSIAL
TOPIC AND THERE ARE AS MANY
opinions as there are doctors. Often the
opinions are based more on emotion than
on objective medical facts. When it comes to
having facts to back one view or the other,
sometimes they are hard to find.
While many holistic pet owners prefer to
cook for their pets, many others must choose
a processed diet for a variety of reasons. If
you are one of those who must feed
processed food, it is important to learn as
much as possible about processed pet foods
so you can make the most intelligent choice.
The following information will be helpful
when you make your choice.
No matter which type of diet—homemade or processed—is chosen, it must meet at least five requirements:
- The diet must contain the proper amount and balance of essential nutrients required by the pet.
- The ingredients must be of high nutritional quality so that the animal can effectively digest, absorb and utilize the dietary nutrients.
- The diet should be palatable so that the pet will eat it.
- The diet should contain minimal to no fillers such as animal or plant by-products (or if by-products are present, as in the case of some prescription-type diets for sick pets, the diet should contain the least amount of by-products).
- The diet should contain no artificial colors, flavors, chemical preservatives or additives, when possible.
No matter which type of diet you choose to feed your pet, it should meet the above requirements. |
Processed foods have been around for
about 40 to 50 years. Prior to the introduction
of processed foods, our pets ate what
people ate (or leftovers of what people ate).
Many holistic pet owners feel that pets fared
much better as a result of these fresher
homemade diets and that many diseases
(such as immune disorders and arthritis) are
diseases of processed food.
Processed foods were introduced (like
vitamin-mineral supplements) for two main
reasons:
- Convenience
- Prevention/treatment of nutritional diseases.
There is no question that it takes time to
prepare properly homemade pet diets and
that using processed foods saves pet owners
a large amount of time. It is convenient to
simply open a can or scoop a cup of food
from a bag and feed the pet. Processed foods
not only save people time when it comes to
food preparation but they make feeding the
pet quick and easy.
Processed foods were also introduced to
prevent (and treat) nutritional diseases. It
takes a lot more than simply tossing him
some scraps to give your pet a complete, balanced
and nutritional diet. Prior to our
understanding of nutrition, people and pets
alike suffered from diseases resulting from
dietary imbalances.
For example, people who didn’t receive
citrus fruits were diagnosed with scurvy as a
result of vitamin C deficiency. Pets fed mainly
meat developed nutritional osteodystrophy
(nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism)
as a result of calcium deficiency.
Cats fed only fish developed thiamin defi-
ciency and steatitis. By learning about the
nutritional needs of pets and formulating
balanced diets, you can avoid these nutritional
problems. While many of the nutritional
diseases seen prior to the introduction
of processed diets have been all but eliminated,
many holistic veterinarians believe
without question that processed foods,
specifically those of little nutritional quality
and loaded with by-products and chemicals,
may actually contribute to a whole new set
of problems such as immune diseases, cancers,
allergies and arthritis.
Many years ago we had but few choices of processed pet foods. As manufacturers have
seen the profit in the pet food industry, we
now see more players and many more choices.
As well-known manufacturers of pet
foods have reaped huge profits, large corporations
have purchased the ownership of the
foods. As a result, even many conventional
veterinarians who promoted certain brands
of food in the past have seen a decline in
food quality and pet health as the dietary
formulations have changed.
For example, let’s take a look at Hill’s
Science Diet, formally manufactured by the
Morris Company. Science Diets were originally
designed as a line of medical, therapeutic
diets for pets with medical conditions
(the first diets for pets with kidney failure).
The company, under the leadership of
Dr. Mark Morris, was the first pet food company
to look at the potential beneficial role
of diet in helping pets with medical disorders
—many of which can be managed only
by dietary therapy as no drug therapy is
available to correct the problem.
Science Diet is now owned by Colgate-
Palmolive. In 1986 Hill’s prescription diet
formulation and production was still under
the direct supervision of Mark Morris
Associates. Since that time there have been
some major changes. Mark Morris
Associates was reformed as an independent
group and Colgate-Palmolive made some
major marketing changes. About this time,
meals started showing up on the ingredient
list. Formulations underwent major
changes, supposedly for “nutritional” reasons,
though most changes seemed to use
cheaper ingredients. They violated the basic
principle that premium diets are more
expensive because they adhere to consistent formulation, regardless of commodity cost.
Thus they were “better” than popular diets
because the animal wouldn’t be subjected to
unexpected variations in the diet, reducing the
risk of diarrhea in sensitive animals.
Formulations were changed significantly without
warning. Many doctors who still promote
the Science Diet line believe that current formulations
are not of the higher quality they
were 15 years ago.
Note: This discussion is not meant to pick
on Science Diet, as many of the better-known
processed foods are also questioned as to their
use for long-term feeding by many holistic
veterinarians. These include: Proctor &
Gamble (Iams), Colgate-Palmolive (Hills),
Nestle (Friskies, Alpo) and Heinz (9 Lives,
Nature’s Recipe, Kibbles n Bits). However,
since Science Diet is among the better-known
foods, it is used here as our example.
While Hill’s (and Iams and a few other
well-known brands) used to be the “gold standard”
in commercial pet foods, most holistic
veterinarians do not recommend their longterm
use for most pets.
These companies, as a rule, maintain beautiful,
spotless, accredited production facilities.
Those facilities aren’t where the problem lies;
instead, the raw materials coming in the back
door are suspect (not to mention the facilities
from whence these raw materials come:
slaughterhouses and rendering plants).
Individual pets have specific needs and
some do better on one diet than on another.
For example, Science Diet is a line of a number
of scientifically formulated diets tested on
several breeds of dogs during formulation.
Some pets can handle their diets, whereas others
develop diarrhea, vomiting or itching.
However, the manmade diets are made
with human-grade fresh ingredients without
the addition of chemical additives, whereas
many commercial foods are not made using
the best ingredients and have hormones, pesticides
and a number of additives. Ultimately,
since your pet is an individual, you will need
to work with your veterinarian to see just
which diet is best for your pet.
Processed foods purport to be complete
and balanced. Consumers feed them because
they are convenient. Yet processing removes
many nutrients (such as enzymes and probiotic
bacteria, as well as many of the yet undiscovered
phytonutrients) that are not added
back to the diet after processing. While most
pets can live seemingly normal lives on many
processed foods, we have to admit that we
really don’t know every nutrient (and every
level of nutrient) that every dog or cat needs. Many foods contain ingredients dogs and cats
were not designed to eat—for example cereals
such as wheat, barley and oatmeal; meat and
bone meal; soybean meal; ground corn; soy
flour and soy grits. Additionally, many
processed foods designed for feeding cats contain
large amounts of grain, especially corn.
This occurs since grains are less expensive
sources of protein than meat. However, cats
are true carnivores, not omnivores; even dogs,
being more omnivorous than cats, benefit
from diets composed of meat. A strict dietary
carbohydrate requirement for cats has not
even been identified. Many holistic diets point
to processed, high-grain cat foods as a cause of
diseases such as diabetes, which are much less
common in cats that are fed meat-based (true
carnivore) diets.
Feeding the better wholesome processed
foods (or better yet, homemade diets) supplemented
with natural vitamins and minerals,
omega-3 fatty acids, enzymes, probiotics,
green foods and health blend formulas allow
us to match as closely as possible diets consumed
by wild relatives of our domestic pets.
There are at least three classifications of
processed diets: the least expensive generic
diets, the more expensive premium diets and
the most expensive natural diets.
Generic diets are the least expensive but
also the least healthful for your pet.
Manufacturers use the cheapest ingredients
possible. These are the foods that contain
ingredients such as animal and plant by-products.
Generic diets also are more likely to contain
numerous preservatives and additives.
Once again, read the label. Most generic foods
are not fed to pets in feeding trials but rather
meet arbitrary nutritional standards. Owners
should not consider this type of food because
health problems, due to nutritional deficiencies,
may result.
Premium foods are available at many pet
stores and veterinary hospitals. They usually
have higher quality ingredients than do generic
diets. However, you must read the label on
these foods. While these diets are far better
than generic diets, many contain animal and
plant products raised with chemicals and hormones.
While some of these premium foods
can be acceptable choices when properly augmented
with natural supplements, they are
not usually the first choice of holistic veterinarians
and pet owners if the more natural
diets are available. For many of these diets,
however, the only thing premium about them
is the price. Reading the label will help give
you some guidelines about which foods to
avoid and which ones are appropriate to feed
your pet.
The natural diets are the most premium of
foods. These diets usually contain nothing
artificial—no artificial colors or flavors. They
use more expensive ingredients; depending
upon the brand, these ingredients are raised
organically without chemicals or hormones.
However, some of these diets may also rely too
much on grains, especially in their diets for
cats, making homemade diets the best choice
when this option is possible. Because of this
insistence on quality and health, natural diets
are the best processed foods (and many would
argue the only prepared foods) you should
feed your pet if you choose not to prepare a
homemade diet. (Once again, read the label.
Many new companies see the potential profit
in making “natural diets,” often leaving it up
to the owner or doctor to read the label and
pick which foods are truly better for the pets.)
Since these natural diets are the most popular
with owners seeking a holistic approach to
raising pets and the most healthful for the
pets, let’s take a closer look at what makes
these diets so good for your pet.
The natural diets differ from most other
prepared diets in four ways:
- They use only human grade, high-quality ingredients. (Other prepared diets may use byproducts of foods processed for but declared “unfit” for use by humans.)
- They use foods, especially grains, in their whole state rather than parts of the foods.
- They use no artificial colors, additives, chemicals or preservatives.
- They formulate diets for optimum nutrition.
In order to appreciate the difference
between these three classes of prepared diets,
it’s important to learn to read the label and
understand the differences behind the ingredients
listed in the diets.
Shawn Messonnier, D.V.M. is the author of the popular Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats. He is the
owner of Paws and Claws Animal Hospital in Plano, Texas.
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