Column #142

Most pet foods are nutritionally deficient. Sure there are some really good ones out there, but most are not. Why most? Because people want cheap and convenient and are easily swayed with politically correct keywords. The alternative, getting the nutrition right, requires study and gumption to move beyond conventional wisdom.

Because of the kind of food they’re fed, nearly all dogs and cats are overweight these days. Pet owners don’t even view their obese pets as having a problem. In fact, they associate “meat on the ribs” as good health and only the grossly obese pets are considered overweight. A similar issue exists with children where fully one third are overweight. More on that below.

Pet owners don’t understand pet nutrition, don’t know the ingredients in their pet food, nor do they comprehend the nutritional characteristics of those ingredients. When it comes to nutrition, most veterinarians are in the same boat. Many actually give damaging nutritional advise and prescribe (sell) premium-priced pet foods with ingredients that cause chronic diseases. This is similar to the food hospitals serve to patients.

According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), in 2017 about 60% of cats and 56% of dogs were overweight or obese. In past surveys of US veterinarians regarding pet obesity, the APOP determined that 90% of owners of overweight cats and 95% of owners of overweight dogs believed the weight of their pets was normal.

The APOP believes that veterinarians are confused or ill-informed about what is a proper weight partly because there is no consensus for the definition of obesity. The APOP defines clinical pet obesity as 30% above the ideal weight, but the definition of ideal weight varies among veterinarians, “industry stakeholders” (pet food companies?), and, obviously, pet owners. When veterinarians can’t send a consistent message it’s impossible for the average pet owner to gain the proper awareness and understanding of pet obesity.

In the cattle industry, there is one universally used standard for measuring body condition scores (BCS) which is a judgement of fleshiness. But when it comes to pets, everyone is confused since there are three major BCSs for pets.

A reader asked me to compare Hill’s I/D canned dog food with raw grass-fed beef. She was concerned that maybe too much fat was upsetting her dog’s stomach. So I evaluated Hill’s I/D based on its website data.

Hill’s I/D is 14.8% fat which is definitely not excessive especially if the Omega-6 to Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) are balanced 1:1. Unfortunately, like nearly all pet foods, Hill’s I/D does not provide the critically important EFA ratio. Therefore one has to evaluate the ingredients to come up with an EFA estimate and the possible nutrient loadings.

Here are the ingredients in Hill's® Prescription Diet® i/d® Canine: Water, Turkey, Pork Liver, Rice, Modified Rice Starch, Whole Grain Corn, Egg Product, Chicken, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Powdered Cellulose, Potassium Chloride, Caramel color, Dicalcium Phosphate, Flaxseed, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, Psyllium Seed Husk, L-Threonine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), L-Tryptophan, Taurine, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate), Beta-Carotene.

Most pet food companies buy their ingredients from food processors that have essentially four markets for their output: human grade food, pet grade food, rendering plants, waste. For instance beef may be mostly windpipes, chicken could be feet and gizzards, and the vegetables mostly culls. These ingredients are usually very inexpensive and can be had by the truckload. So, if the ingredients are from processing the discards of grain-fed turkey, grain-fed chicken, and grain-fed pork liver they cost pennies per pound. Modified rice starch, rice, whole grain corn, egg product, chicken liver flavor, and dried beet pulp are also inexpensive.

Pet foods made with the ingredient list above will contain all the nutrients required by an animal. But the density and balance of the nutrients are not likely correct. In the “Prescription Diet” the meat, corn, rice, and egg will probably have a combined EFA balance of around 20:1. The starch is a high glycemic energy booster. The added vitamin and mineral supplement pack is added to insure against any nutritional deficiencies in the primary ingredients. The added flaxseed for Omega-3 is so far down the list of ingredients, it may not even come close to providing enough Omega-3 to offset the Omega-6 overload which is probably why they don’t advertise the ratio.

Without a proper 1:1 EFA balance, this food contributes to the Omega-3 deficiency. When that happens, pets are prone to get the same body failings (chronic diseases) that people do. There are other issues that make matters worse. The supplement pack may overdose some nutrients. The high glycemic starch and rice is like feeding sugar. The excess Omega-6 in relation to the Omega-3 introduces an inflammatory state.

This “Prescription Diet” pet food ration can’t hold a candle to plain zero glycemic Whole Cow Grass-fed Raw Meat pet food. When the meat, fat, and organs of a grass-fed cow make up 100% of a pet’s food, it contains all required nutrients in a proper balance. When meats are cooked, just like vegetables, they will lose some nutrients. So it’s fed raw. If the pet food is only grass-fed meat, Omega-3 meat, or wild-caught seafood it will provide the necessary 1:1 EFA balance greatly reducing the chances of chronic disease and obesity. Adding a supplement pack to these foods would be a bad thing.

Of course any animal that is overfed can become too fat. So it still remains the owner’s responsibly to feed proper quantities of food for the metabolism of their particular pet. But obesity and an EFA imbalance do track together.

When it comes to discussing pets, what’s shocking is that most people are more concerned about their pet’s food than the food they feed their children or allow their children to eat. For both, pets and children, the health consequences of the diet have similar consequences.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

The Importance of the Ratio of Omega 6 Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids by Artemis Simopoulos M.D.

Hands-On Guide to Checking if Your Dog Is at a Good Weight by DogHealth.com

Association for Pet Obesity Prevention

Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS) by Jennifer Reed

Overweight in Children from the American Heart Association, Inc.

Starch from NutrientsReview.com

Body Fat Percentage from Wikipedia

Hill's® Prescription Diet® i/d® Canine