FEW DOGS AND CATS LIVE SOLELY ON REGULAR PET FOOD: STUDY
Source: Toronto Sun (Extract)
Posted: July 19, 2020
A new University of Guelph study says only 13% of dogs and 32% of cats are eating conventional pet foods exclusively.
The research says while most pets (79% dogs, 90% cats) were offered food like kibble or canned food, the majority were also fed homemade meals or raw or vegan diets at least some of the time.
Veterinarian Sarah Dodd, the lead author of the study, said that such mixed diet is a cause for concern.
“One of our biggest concerns regarding raw is safety,” said Dodd. “So we have concerns, particularly for potential microbial contamination (harmful bacteria) and how that can affect not only the pets in the household but also the people. And additionally, both with raw and with homemade, it’s the risk of nutrient imbalances.”
Published in British Medical Journal’s Vet Record, the 2016 study included an online survey from more than 3,600 pet owners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Canada actually was a little bit less unconventional, if you will, than some other countries,” said Dodd.
“We could see in Canada that the feeding of exclusively raw was not as prevalent. So for Canada it was 7% and Australia was 16% and New Zealand was 12%,” she added. “And for the homemade, Canada was kind of in the middle: The global overall percentage was 7% and Canada was 6.2%.
So why is this trend happening?
“One of the biggest drivers, I think, is that people are seeing pets as their family,” said Dodd.
“And really wanting to go beyond and above and do more and protect their health and I think … we’re looking at reducing our consumption of processed foods and looking at having more whole foods, plant-based, and that’s being applied to dogs and cats as well because they are our family members and we want to do right by them.”
Dodd suggested that pet owners have “open and honest” conversations with their veterinarians about the food eaten by cats and dogs.
She also said that pet owners underestimate the nutritional value of conventional food like kibble.
The online survey — conducted of 3,673 people between September 2016 and January 2017 — is accurate within 1.7%, 19 times out of 20.
