Myth? Nutritional Balance Over Time
July 26th, 2011
The theory goes like this. It doesn’t matter if each individual meal we feed ourselves or our pets is balanced … because overtime, with enough variety, it’ll all balance out. I know I’ve said this to myself, especially if ice cream is on the menu for dinner.
I’ve heard the idea used to explain / justify things like:
- Supplementing a commercial pet food with “people food” (which I do)
- Rotating through a variety of commercial pet foods (which our pet food shopping habits survey shows 45% of our readers do)
- Making a variety of homemade pet foods (and not worrying too much about day-to-day nutritional balance)
Ongoing micronutrient imbalance can erode a pet's health over time.
Thanks to a press pass at the recent American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, I got to attend some pet nutrition seminars given by board-certified veterinary nutritionists. I wrote a bit about one session on homemade pet diets earlier (on my own blog), but I wanted to give more time and space to one concept in particular:
This idea of nutritional balance over time.
Jennifer Larsen, DVM, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist at University of California-Davis, poked a few wholes in the idea during her seminar. After reading through my notes from the event, I sent her some follow-up questions via email to find out more.
When Larsen chooses or creates a pet diet for a veterinary teaching hospital client, she explains, “First, my perspective is that the primary goal of the nutritional management of any case is to provide adequate amounts of energy as well as all the required nutrients. Secondly, specific nutritional modifications are considered if needed (like fat restriction, limitations in potassium or phosphorus, etc). Then, I consider ingredients that work within these parameters (as well as withing criteria from the patient and client) and go from there. This is the same process whether I ultimately meet my goals using a commercial diet (over the counter or prescription), a parenteral formulation [via IV], a liquid elemental enteral product [via feeding tube], or a home-cooked diet.”
Other considerations include:
- The pet’s nutrient requirements compared to a “normal” pet population
- How a pet’s energy intake affects micronutrient requirements
- The bioavailability of those micronutrients in specific diets or ingredients
- What digestibility values determine nutrient content of the diet
Calling nutrition both a quantitative and a qualitative science, Larsen sums up her concerns about “nutritional balance over time,” like this: “I have heard the ‘balance over time’ concept as a means to promote dietary variety and achieve nutrient balance, and specifics on how this is achieved are never provided.”
Questions to Ask, Answers You Need: Nutritional Balance Over Time
Which version of nutrient requirements will you use? There are several … National Research Council, Association of American Feed Control Officials … etc.
How exactly will you balance out the various deficiencies? For example, if the diet is deficient for your pet’s needs (in something like zinc) and you feed the diet for two weeks, then do you on day 14 give a supplement that has 14 x the daily requirement? Or, do you give various levels of supplements over many days with the idea that the total amount will average out to the daily requirement?
Nutritional Balance Over Time: Concerns [emphasis mine]
“My fear,” says Larsen, “is that it is a convenient way to justify the approach of feeding casually and not worrying about such things as micronutrient requirements. It seems to me that this practice could set us up for multiple chronic marginal deficiency syndromes, such that over clinical signs of such would show up after a long period of time, if ever (given the short life spans of our pets). Also, this brings up the concern of suboptimal performance that may only be manifested in certain parameters of health and well-being that we don’t typically measure. I do see overt deficiency and toxicity cases. But, what about the many potential others that have more vague signs? The deficiency signs for multiple nutrients include lethargy and inappetence.”
Ingredient variables include things like cooking method (which can alter nutrient levels). Then, there is the common mistake of substituting volume measurements for weight ones. And, even a seemingly well-balanced homemade pet food that looks good for protein, carbs, and fats … can still be deficient in micronutrients (there are 40 of them). So, even if you use a decent recipe and merely swap out protein or carb sources once in a while, a fundamentally deficient recipe is still fundamentally deficient.
Plus, there is a tendency for “recipe drift,” where:
- Measurements get less precise over time
- Ingredients get substituted
- Feeding amounts shift (up or down)
Nutritional Balance Over Time: The Human Comparison
Larsen calls the human analogy (that we don’t feed ourselves particularly well and we’re mostly OK) a poor one … because there are many forms of rampant malnutrition in industrialized countries, including:
- Obesity
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Iron deficiency
- Calcium deficiency
In other words, we don’t do a terrific job on this for ourselves. Even if we work hard at a dietary variety, most people return to the same foods again and again.
Do you believe it’ll all work out? Or are you regularly calculating and re-calculating your pet’s nutritional intake, especially when it comes to micronutrients? If so, I’d love to know more about your methods and strategies.
Tags: American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, American College of Veterinary Nutrition, cat food, cat nutrition, dog food, dog nutrition, homemade cat food, homemade dog food, pet food rotation, veterinary nutritionist
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Health, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
Who Owns Your Favorite Pet Food Company?
July 12th, 2011
So many consumers (including me) get so focused on pet food brands and pet food ingredients that we often don’t stop to think about who really owns and/or runs the companies that make the pet food we buy. Trust me on this … the packaging, the marketing, the philanthropy … aims right at our hearts and our passions.
But, just in case you want to go on a scavenger hunt, here are my best tips for unraveling your pet food company’s ownership.
Pet Food Companies: The big players
- Mars
- Nestle
- Proctor & Gamble (P&G)
- Hill’s
- Del Monte
To find out if these big consumer product companies own your fav pet food brands, look on their MAIN websites for a link to “brands.” For example, I didn’t realize until I went looking that Mars owns Royal Canin, Pedigree, and Whiskas.
Pet Food Companies: The smaller players
You can also work your way backward from the BRAND you like … to the company who owns it by starting at the brand’s own website. Often you will find links to company ownership WAY down at the bottom of the page in TINY print in the “footer.” Look for links such as:
- Investor relations (because there you can find out under what name the company trades on the stock exchange)
- Names of other companies (for example, you can go from Purina to Nestle Purina to Nestle)
- Trademark references (which often say that various brand trademarks are the property of XXX company)
- Site maps (sometimes you have to look at the site map, which is often a page only search engines really notice)
- News links (often you’ll find announcements that a company has been bought out, or if you look at the very bottom of any good press release … there is usually a little biographical paragraph about the company, including any owners or subsidiaries)
Pet Food Companies: Trail Goes Cold
If you dig around and find only references to the one BRAND or one COMPANY, then the chances are good that it’s a solo entity. To double-check that assumption, you can always call or email the company and ask about ownership.
In some cases, brands that were once under one umbrella get broken apart in some acquisition deal. For example, the dog food I now feed … got “left behind” in such a deal. That’s fine by me, actually. The company still operates as its own entity, and I still buy the food from a small, locally-owned feed store in my rural community.
Do you know who owns your favorite pet food company? Do you think it matters? If so, why?
Tags: cat food, dog food, multinational corporations, pet food, pet food company, pet food manufacturers
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 1 Comment »
July 5th, 2011
While hiking recently with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, we got to talking about pet food choices and how our decisions about them might change over time. This “evolution” of my own thinking about dog food made me wonder if I could reconstruct my past dog food choices — like you perhaps would for cars you’ve owned or people you’ve dated. Here, in its full glory, is “my list,” as best as I can remember.
What does yours look like?
Puppy Chow and Dog Chow, because the brand has been around for a long time and I could afford it for my first very-own dogs (as an adult) ~ circa 1990
Eukanuba, because I’d started writing about veterinary medicine and began hearing people speak of “grocery store brands” with derision (At the time, I believe, it was available ONLY in pet stores.) ~ circa 1995
Pedigree, because I could get large bags of it at Costco ~ circa 1997
Science Diet k/d, because my late dalmatian developed kidney disease (and yes, some not-so-sensitive people blamed her illness on what I had fed her throughout her life) ~ circa 2001
Exclusive Chicken and Rice, because the guys at our local feed store (I live in a rural area) recommended it and we could get 1 free bag every 6 bags ~ circa 2004
Infinia Salmon and Sweet Potato, because the Exclusive got an F from K9Cuisine’s Free Dog Food Rating Tool (My dogs were doing great on the Exclusive, but the F bummed me out. The new food gets an A. Both are mayde by the same company, so I still get a free bag once in a while.) ~ circa 2010
Infinia Turkey and Sweet Potato, because my eldest dog became a water monger (drinking and peeing like crazy) on the salmon kind. (We feared he had become diabetic, but he returned to normal when we changed back to a poultry-based food.) ~ circa 2010
So, I’m curious. If you traced back your past pet food choices, what did you feed and why? What made you change?
Tags: best dog food, dog food, dog food choice, dog food evolution, dog food history
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
May 24th, 2011
These are the kinds of questions that pop into my head at 3 am, when I’m flipping and flopping my way through another bad night’s sleep. Strange. I know. But, I wondered about the big kibble, the small kibble, the shearing kibble, the specially shaped kibble, and decided I’d at least ask if it mattered or was simply hype. You be the judge.
Dog Dental Health Matters
The statistics are staggering, with 80% of dogs (who are not getting good dental care) suffering from some kind of dental disease by the time they reach their third birthday. Since I’m fairly certain MOST people DO NOT brush their dog’s teeth every day or at all, it isn’t a surprise that companies are trying to help with products aimed at canine dental health.
The first time I heard about kibble shape mattering in a dog’s dental health was when Hill’s Pet Nutrition came out with their “dental diet.” The kibble, which was much larger than usual, shears off in slices as the dog chews. This biting, shearing action is supposed to help keep teeth clean.
Normal Kibble vs. The X-Factor
So, I was surprised that most dog food kibble continued to be the usual round or disk shape for many, may years to come. Now, Pedigree has introduced a patented (not kidding) x-shaped kibble designed to clean a dog’s teeth while he eats.
I’m told the Pedigree folks studied “oral biometrics,” including how much force with which a dog can bite down as well as how wide he can open his mouth, etc. The looked at the geometry and physics of all this and designed an x-shaped food meant to fit better into a dog’s mouth and help out with some scraping while the dog eats.
What Do You Think?
Is this hype? Pseudo-science? Or a helpful way to keep dogs’ teeth healthier?
I tend to give the dog food makers credit on this one because they really do a LOT of research before making a big change. That’s expensive.
Tags: dog food, dog food shape, dog kibble, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Pedigree
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Health, K9 Health, K9 Nutrition | 6 Comments »
Pet Food Ethics Survey Results
May 4th, 2011
In April 2011, I posed a three-question survey about the “ethics” of feeding human-grade food to dogs and cats in a world where people go hungry or suffer malnutrition, etc. The question came up after this now world-famous case of Patrick, the pit bull found on the brink of starvation. The very nature of our K9Cuisine.com community skews answers (mostly) in favor of dogs and cats. Here are the results.
Do you believe in feeding human-grade foods to dogs and cats?
- 89% – Yes
- 9.8% – No
- 1% – No response
Have you ever heard and/or considered the argument that feeding pets human-grade foods may contribute to global food issues (shortages, access, higher, pricing)?
- 28.5% – Yes
- 70.3% – No
- 1% – No response
How do you feel when others argue that supporting animal welfare causes instead of human welfare causes is misguided, unethical, etc.? (Choose all that apply.)
- 77.7% – Just because I support animal welfare doesn’t mean I don’t support human welfare.
- 66.6% – People should follow their hearts and support causes that matter to them.
- 24.4% – At least I’m doing something to make the world better.
- 21.1% – I concede there are bigger issues in the world, but I still believe in my causes.
- 21.1% – I don’t care what other people think.
- 2.2% – I agree. Pets are pets. People are people. People come first.
Tags: animal welfare, cat food, dog food, famine, global hunger, human welfare, human-grade pet food, malnutrition, pet food, pet food ethics, pet food ethics survey, starvation, world hunger
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Pet Food Market Growth and Predictions
April 26th, 2011
Compared to other falling consumer product industries, the pet food market continues to grow amid the recession and recovery. According to the 9th edition of Pet Food in the U.S. from Packaged Facts, retail sales of pet food reached $18.4 billion in 2010. This represents a one-year increase of 2.8%. However, it’s also the first time this CENTURY that the pet food market didn’t grow 3% or more in one year.
Pet Food News
Pet Food in the U.S. points to these 2010 acquisitions as top news for the year:
- Procter & Gamble/Iams buying Natura
- Nestle Purina buying treats maker Waggin’ Train
- Investors snapping up Del Monte
Health-related product development adds even more oomph to interest, investment, and growth in the pet food market. K9Cuisine.com Dog Food Dish reported earlier, for example, on the growth in pet nutritional supplements. Also fueling pet food market growth:
- Weight-loss foods and programs from major market forces like Hill’s and Purina
- A flood of special-diet and condition-specific foods
Pet Food Market Predictions
“Given that Procter & Gamble now has Natura and Mars Nutro, Packaged Facts suspects that Nestle Purina may be shopping for a ‘true’ natural pet food brand (i.e., one born in the pet specialty channel) to acquire, and it will be interesting to see which of these three top-ranked companies is first to make the pet-specialty-to-mass leap with such a brand,” says David Lummis, senior pet market analyst for Packaged Facts. “Such an event is only a matter of time.”
[emphasis mine]
Lummis also predicts that pet product powerhouses Petsmart and Petco may grab a natural pet food maker as an exclusive in-house brand. He thinks these companies are ripe for the picking (K9Cuisine carries and sells those with links below):
- WellPet LLC
- Natural Balance
- Halo Purley for Pets
- Nature’s Variety
- Castor & Pollux
Pet Food Market Thoughts
Because I already feed a kibble owned (at least partially) by one of the bigger pet food makers, these changes in the pet food market don’t worry me too much in terms of impact at our house, but I do know that others are fiercely loyal to their pet foods, especially if they learned of them organically through the specialty pet market, where recommendations and product “testing” is done person to person, pet to pet.
- Do you feed any of pet foods already snapped up or on the acquisition buffet?
- What (if anything) makes you worry about a big company taking over your favorite pet food brand?
- If you could decide which high-end, natural pet food gets a big boost through either Petsmart or Petco, which pet food would you pick and why?
Tags: cat food, David Lummis, Del Monte, dog food, Halo Purely for Pets, Mars Nutro, Natura, Natural Balance, Nature's Variety, Nestle Purina, Packaged Facts, pet food, pet food market, Procter & Gamble
Posted in Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | 3 Comments »
April 19th, 2011
After the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear problems in Japan, I began to question how prepared I am to feed my dogs in the event of a long-term disaster. What if, I asked myself recently, my family needed to evacuate or shelter in place for many weeks or months? And, what if the disaster disrupted manufacturing and distribution channels for everything, including pet food?
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Eating What You Eat
Clearly, in an emergency, feeding dogs pretty much whatever you’re eating is an option (if you can get food for yourself). After all, many people feed pets a homemade diet all the time.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Canned Stew + Rice Option
When I posed my dilemma, one of my loyal readers over at Champion of My Heart suggested stocking up on low-salt canned stews. We typically keep a pretty good sized stash of rice in the house, so that along with canned stew could indeed work for a while.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Dehydrated Pet Food
Then, our friends from GoPetFriendly.com (who also write pet travel posts for K9Cuisine.com’s Ruffin’ In: Pet Travel Tales), reminded me of their pet food of choice, which is also popular with Dog Food Dish Readers as we learned in our K9Cuisine 2010 Pet Food Survey, The Honest Kitchen.
You see, The Honest Kitchen is a dehydrated pet food product that takes up less space and only requires the addition of water before serving. Amy from Go Pet Friendly tells me that a 10-pound box of The Honest Kitchen makes 43 pounds of pet food.
Granted, this assumes you would have access to clean water during a disaster and aftermath, but I’ve decided it is indeed a viable option for an emergency pet food supply at our house, in a relatively rural area of the Rocky Mountains.
Emergency Pet Food Supply: Human-Grade Pet Food
And, in a real emergency, you can also eat The Honest Kitchen pet foods because they are made from human-grade ingredients.
Speaking of which, if you haven’t taken our Pet Food Ethics Survey, please do. It asked a few questions about the global food impact of feeding human-grade food to pets.
Tags: cat food, dehydrated pet food, dog food, emergency food, emergency pet food supply, Honest Kitchen, man-made emergency, natural disaster, pet food, the honest kitchen
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | Comments Off
Pet Food Ethics: Global Food Issues
April 12th, 2011
As the story of Patrick, the young pit bull in New Jersey found at the bottom of a high-rise building trash chute on the brink of death from lack of food and water, spread from pet lover to pet lover via social media around the world. So, did the criticisms of those of us who have chosen to support animal welfare causes.
I watched it happen a little on Facebook. I saw some pretty nasty notes posted in response to YouTube videos of Patrick’s recovery. I heard sobering data on rampant malnutrition around the world and even hunger in the United States from the veterinary nutritionist I interviewed.
The crux of the argument goes like this. People are suffering more, every day, around the globe. So, when pet lovers rally around causes like Patrick’s or other animals who are abused and neglected in every community, those who staunchly consider human needs first, look at pet lovers a little sideways.
I can see their point, and … at the same time … here I am firmly rooted in the animal welfare camp that says our pets didn’t choose to be here, but if we’re going to have them in our lives, we should do our best (whatever we consider that to be) to make their lives healthy and full and happy.
I suspect I’m not alone, but I decided to ask a few questions to find out.
Please take this three-question survey about the ethics of pet food. I’ll keep it open through midnight, Friday, April 29, 2011. And, I’ll report back in May on the results … though, I believe, I checked the option where you can view the results yourself after taking the survey.
Pet Food Ethics Survey
Tags: animal welfare, cat food, dog food, famine, global hunger, human welfare, human-grade pet food, malnutrition, pet food, starvation, world hunger
Posted in Dog Food Debates, K9 Health, K9 News, K9 Nutrition | 21 Comments »
February 22nd, 2011
It’s safe to say that I’m PRO on probiotics (aka the “good bacteria” we and our pets need in the digestive tract). Because so many of us are pro on probiotics, they’re now showing up in all kinds of foods, including pet foods. The trick is to understand potential benefits and to ferret out what’s real and what isn’t from the marketing and buzz.
That’s how Activita (the yogurt product) ended up making some changes in its advertising.
When I wrote about probiotics on Champion of My Heart, my real-time memoir blog, an agility friend commented that she’d rather just give her dogs “refrigerated acidophilus … or to feed a little yogurt or kefir each day.” I suspect many of you do the same.
But, is that enough of the “good bacteria” to make a difference?
Maybe not.
You might have to feed 3 cups of a really, good-quality, active-culture yogurt to approach the 5 billion CFUs (colony-forming units) veterinary nutritionists believe are needed to make a real difference. That’s a LOT of yogurt.
Probiotics in Pet Food
It’s easy to assume that probiotics in pet food serves your pet’s total “good bacteria” needs, but currently … the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) doesn’t require pet food makers to identify bacterial strains used or how much is included.
And, there is a good chance that the pet food production process kills a good bit of the probiotics added. It isn’t only the heat at issue. Even probiotic company insiders admit the strains are “sensitive” both to:
- Short shelf life
- Acids in the stomach
That means while probiotics in pet food is a start. (One reason it boosts your pet food grade in this free Pet Food Rating Tool.) It may be only a start. Probiotic supplements may be needed from time to time.
Possible Uses of Probiotics in Pets
Your veterinarian might recommend probiotics in these situations:
- Diarrhea related to stress (travel, kennel, illness)
- Weaning (both puppies and kittens)
- After or in conjunction with certain medications
- Tummy troubles due to diet change
- Tummy troubles due to eating something the pet shouldn’t have
- Chronic tummy trouble like irritable bowel and the like
Investigation into probiotic uses in other pet illnesses is ongoing. As new info comes available, we’ll report back.
Tags: AAFCO, Activia, cat good, dog food, dog food rating tool, pet food, pet food rating tool, premium pet food, probiotic supplement, probiotics
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, Dog Health, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
Pet Food Choices and Your Pet’s Age
February 1st, 2011
A couple weeks ago, data from this national survey about pet food choices made news in particular because it found that “… only one in ten (11%) consider the age of their pet to be most important when deciding which food/formula to feed their pet — 17% rank age of their pet as the second most important. In comparison, two in ten (20%) rank it as the least important factor, and an additional 26% as the second least important.”
Lifestage in Dogs and Cats
This is a concept in the pet food industry known as “lifestage.” In other words, at different ages, pets have different nutritional needs … roughly divided into these categories:
- Puppy or kitten
- Adult
- Senior (typically age 7-8 and above)
With so many pets living MUCH longer lives, some might even throw in a fourth lifestage: geriatric. But, I don’t think I’ve seen any foods marketed toward very, very old pets … yet.
I’m fully on board with the idea that very young pets have unique nutritional needs. See these earlier posts:
The Nutritional Needs of Senior Pets
But, what about dogs’ or cats’ changing food needs as they age? According to this report on the pet food choice survey, Iams (a big pet food maker) commissioned the study. The post goes on to say that in particular that senior pets need a pet food “formula with L-carnitine [which] helps burn fat and keep muscles lean.”
I would agree with that, but here is the thing … MANY good-quality adult pet foods already contain L-carnitine. The one I feed my dogs (who will be 7 and 11 this year) does. So, I’m not sure that’s a good enough reason to switch formulas just because our pets get older … especially if they are doing well and showing no signs of a pet food intolerance or other pet-food-related problems.
And, frankly, if your pet suffers from allergies to pet food, changing foods based on age-alone is probably not the best idea.
Yes, (Some) Senior Pets Have Different Pet Food Needs
Indeed, some senior pets need food that features:
- Easier to digest proteins
- More fiber
- Different levels of fat or protein content
- Anti-inflammatory ingredients
But after 15+ years of writing about veterinary medicine, I’d say that’s a decision between you and your veterinarian.
What Do You Think?
Do you automatically switch pet foods after a certain age? Do you think it’s all/mostly pet food marketing hype?
Tags: aging pets, cat food, dog food, L-carnitine, pet food, pet food allergies, pet food choices, pet food survey, senior cat food, senior dog food, senior pets
Posted in Dog Food Basics, Dog Food Debates, Dog Food News, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
