28 | T HE B A R OSSA M AG // P E TS
What should I feed
my pet?
I hesitate to put words to a page to
answer this question. It’s controversial
and everyone has their opinion, but it is
worth discussing.
The pet food industry in Australia has
evolved considerably in the last 10
years with significantly more products
available and more access through
corporate pet stores and online
platforms.
Opinions on pet food often mimic
quite closely the choices of their human
owners with a trend towards gluten or
grain free diets, vegetarian diets or raw
diets and a general move away from
processed products.
These preferences for humans are
valid and often necessary but can be
dangerous in our furry friends.
Let me provide a few examples:
• Recent research has shown that the
domestic dog (aka our pets) is highly
adapted to process grains as part of
the diet due to their long association
with humans and the research shows
they have upregulation of a gene that
allows them to do this compared to
their wolf counterparts. In dogs with
food sensitivities, only a small portion
of these are related to grains. Most
commonly allergies arise to chicken and
red meat proteins.
• Vegetarian diets can be sustainable for
dogs if they are carefully formulated and
have enough protein. However, they are
extremely dangerous for cats. Cats are
obligate carnivores and due to various
nuances in their metabolism, must have
animal protein in the form of meat as
part of their diet on a constant basis. If
not provided, the cat will start to break
WORDS BY CATHERINE HARPER
BAROSSA VETERINARY CLINIC
down its own muscles and essentially
start to eat itself, leading to significant
health issues.
• Raw diets, are advertised as being better
for the pet and more close to their natural
diet can be quite dangerous. It is difficult
to formulate a diet that is balanced in
all macro and micro nutrients and raw
food can be deficient in some of these
things, making a complete diet difficult
to attain. Furthermore, raw meat carries
with it risks associated with disease,
including some disease that are zoonotic
and can be passed to humans. There is
regular research conducted that shows
links to raw feeding of pets and disease
outbreaks in humans.
So what is the answer? Everyone is
entitled to make their own decision, but
what I would recommend is that there
needs to be a balance.
Commercially produced dry pet foods
are not the devil.
The premium products like Royal
Canin and Hills have a huge amount
of scientific research behind them to
support the benefits to pets receiving
them.
They include a complete range of
nutrients and are balanced to ensure
your pet gets exactly what they need for
their specific life stage: puppy, kitten,
adolescent, ageing animal with specific
medical condition.
In my opinion, a registered product
from a reputable company should be fed
as the main component (70-80%) of any
pet’s diet to ensure complete nutrition.
This can then be supplemented with
raw foods, mince, veggies to keep it
interesting and help support your
preferences.
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