Best food to feed your pet

What is the best food to feed my pet? 

Feeding your pet is a daily task that significantly impacts their health. It can either benefit or harm them. Ensuring they receive a nutritious diet and avoiding harmful additions is crucial.  There are a lot of opinions when it comes to what is best to feed your pet.   We aren’t here to debate what is best.  We are here to give information to everyone that wants it.  So here are a few important things to know when it comes to pet nutrition:

Why a balanced diet is important:

Dogs need 38 essential nutrients, while cats need 39 due to their additional requirement for taurine.  Essential nutrients are compounds that the body cannot synthesize in adequate amounts (or at all) and must be obtained from the diet to maintain health, growth, and survival. They are crucial for various physiological functions, including energy production, cell maintenance, and repair, as well as overall homeostasis.

Importance of the proper Calcium and Phosphorus ratios:

For dogs, the ideal calcium to phosphorus ratio is generally considered to be between 1.2:1 and 1.4:1.  For cats, the ratio should be around 1:1 to 1.5:1.  Maintaining this balance in pet food is essential for ensuring long-term health and preventing nutritional deficiencies or excesses that can lead to serious health issues such as  growth development problems, bone abnormalities, and bladder stones, just to name a few.

The importance of AAFCO:

AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials (The Association of American Feed Control Officials – AAFCO). It is a voluntary membership association of local, state, and federal agencies in the United States responsible for regulating the sale and distribution of animal feeds and animal drug remedies.  We all like to support Canadian products, however it is important to know that if a pet food is made in Canada and sold in Canada only, then there is no requirement to meet these basic standards.  Here is why it is important to make sure your pet food has the AAFCO statement on it:

1. Regulatory Role: AAFCO establishes model regulations, guidelines, and standards for animal feed, which includes pet food. These guidelines help ensure that animal feeds are safe, effective, and properly labeled.
2. Nutritional Standards: AAFCO develops nutritional profiles for pet foods, specifying the essential nutrients and their appropriate levels that must be present to meet the nutritional needs of pets at different life stages (e.g., growth, maintenance).
3. Labeling Guidelines: AAFCO provides model pet food regulations that include labeling requirements to ensure that consumers receive accurate information about the ingredients and nutritional content of the products.
4. Ingredient Definitions: AAFCO defines ingredients used in animal feeds and pet foods to ensure consistency and clarity in the industry. This helps prevent misleading or deceptive ingredient naming.
5. Annual Meetings: AAFCO holds annual meetings where members and stakeholders, including industry representatives, discuss and update feed regulations and standards.

While AAFCO itself does not have regulatory authority, its guidelines and model regulations are widely adopted by regulatory agencies across the United States, making its standards influential in the industry. There are typically two types of AAFCO statements found on pet food packaging.  Note that a food that has the Feeding Trial Statement is better than just the Nutritional Adequacy Statement.

1. Nutritional Adequacy Statement: This statement indicates that the pet food is complete and balanced for a specific life stage or all life stages. It means the food has been formulated to provide proper nutrition based on AAFCO’s nutrient profiles or has passed feeding trials to ensure it meets the dietary needs of pets.  This means the food has NOT been fed to animals under controlled conditions.
2. Feeding Trial Statement: This indicates that the pet food has been tested through AAFCO feeding trials. This means the food has been fed to animals under controlled conditions and has been shown to support health over time.

Heart disease associated with Diet

Nutritional Dilated Cardiomyopathy has been a problem in some pets being fed non-traditional foods (boutique brands, exotic meat formulas, grain free and RAW).  The exact mechanism for the development of this nutritional cause is not completely understood but it is important to look at the list of ingredients.  If the diet contains peas, pea protein, lentils, chickpeas, and dry beans (and to a lesser extent, potatoes or sweet potatoes) in the top ten ingredients, it might put some dogs at risk for this devastating heart disease.  If your pet develops this condition and it is diagnosed early enough, it can be treated with a change in diet and with supplements.  That being said, many pets have died from this condition before treatment could be initiated.  

Tricks in the Pet Food Industry Marketing Strategy:

Pet food companies often use various marketing strategies and tricks on labels to make their products appear more appealing to consumers. Here are some common techniques:

Ingredient Splitting/Breaking Down Ingredients: By splitting ingredients into multiple parts (e.g., “corn,” “corn meal,” and “corn gluten meal”), the company can push less desirable ingredients further down the ingredient list, making higher-quality ingredients appear more prominent.

Novel Proteins: Highlighting less common protein sources (e.g., “venison” or “bison”) can make the food seem more exotic and nutritious, even if the actual content is minimal.  All protein is broken up by the body to the same amino acids, so one isn’t necessarily better than another.  One benefit can be a true limited ingredient diet for pets with food allergies, but with over the counter food, it is unlikely that there is enough quality control to ensure that there is no cross contamination (ie. people with nut allergies need to eat foods from nut free facilities).

Highlighting Certain Ingredients.  Showcasing Beneficial Ingredients/featuring ingredients like “blueberries” or “spinach” on the label even if they are present in tiny, insignificant amounts, to give the impression of a healthful product.

Ambiguous Claims and Nutritional Claims: Phrases like “balanced,” “complete,” “holistic,” or “scientifically formulated” can be used without rigorous standards, making the food sound more beneficial than it might be.

Misleading Ingredient Names and Descriptive Terms:  Using terms like “real,” “premium,” “natural,” or “gourmet” without standardized definitions can give the impression of higher quality without guaranteeing it.

Unregulated Terms: Using terms that sound healthy but aren’t regulated, such as “human-grade” or “made with love.”

Visual Tricks like using Appealing Imagery or Bright Colours:  Using pictures of fresh meat, vegetables, or happy pets can create an emotional appeal, suggesting the food is made from high-quality ingredients, even if the actual content is less impressive.  Bright, colorful packaging and labels can attract consumers and imply healthfulness or freshness.

Emphasizing Nutritional Additions like Vitamins and Supplements: Highlighting the addition of specific vitamins or supplements (like Omega-3s, antioxidants) to imply superior nutrition, even if they are standard in many pet foods.  Also they are not required to be at therapeutic levels.

Guaranteed Analysis: Listing protein, fat, fiber, and moisture percentages can be misleading if the quality or digestibility of these nutrients is not high. The source and bioavailability of the nutrients matter, but they are not always disclosed.

Using Natural and Organic Claims:  Claiming “natural” ingredients can be misleading because “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean healthier or more nutritious.  There is no legal definition for natural.  Highlighting organic ingredients can give a perception of superior quality, though the overall nutrition might not differ significantly from non-organic ingredients.

Hiding Additives: Using scientific names or less familiar terms for additives and preservatives can make the ingredient list seem healthier and more natural.

Protein Source Listing such as listing Fresh Meat vs. Meal:  Listing “fresh chicken” or “deboned chicken” as the first ingredient, which is mostly water weight, making it appear as though the food has more meat content compared to dry “chicken meal,” which is more nutrient-dense but might appear further down the list.

Consumers should be aware of these tricks and focus on understanding the complete nutritional profile and ingredient quality when choosing pet food.  Choosing a food that you feel is best for your pet is hard work!  Keep all of this information in mind when making the best decisions for your pets.