Keeping Your Pet Healthy Naturally (Defending Man's Best Friends)

Feeding Fido

Thankfully for our furry friends, last year’s pet recall caused a major shift in the market toward homemade, natural and organic pet diets. However, Hofve noted this places a greater responsibility on retailers to ensure truth in labeling for the pet foods they’re offering. “It’s getting harder to distinguish between products that are truly natural and use better ingredients; mass-market brands simply print ‘natural’ and ‘nature’ on the package, but use the same poor-quality ingredients as all their other products,” she said.

Edward Moser, MS, VMD, DACVN, Wellness’ consulting veterinary nutritionist, echoed Hofve’s statements, adding that high-quality ingredients should appear at the top of the ingredient list on a pet food label, and that owners should be on the lookout for ingredients on the “No” List: no meat by-products, corn, wheat, soy, dairy, artificial preservatives, colors and flavors, sweeteners, or excess salt.

For products positioned as “organic,” retailers should check to ensure the manufacturers are meeting federal requirements, according to Shelley Gunton, CEO, Castor & Pollux Pet Works, which supplies the Organix® certified organic line of dog and cat foods. “Products that are in compliance with organic labeling regulations will have the name of the organic certifying agency plus their contact information printed as well,” said Gunton. If the product is made with 95 percent organic ingredients, the name of the product can include the word “organic” with USDA’s logo. If the content is 70- to 94-percent organic, the label may state that the food is “Made with Organic Ingredients.”

Sit, Shake, Speak, Supplement!

However, pet nutrition isn’t limited to food. According to Barnett, there is often a “nutritional gap” in pet foods, which can lead to health problems, including digestive disorders, urinary tract disease, dental problems, diabetes and kidney disease. In order to bridge this gap, many pet companies have developed supplements in order to provide pets with a full nutritional profile.