Food is a contentious subject among dog breeders and owners. There are so many types of diet out there available for our doggos and many swear by their choices due to their experiences and external evidence. Here in this blog post, I will talk about what we feed our dogs and why we choose to do so, and what we do not recommend.
AAFCO, FEDIAF and WSAVA
I recommend feeding kibbles that have been formulated with guidelines from AAFCO and/or FEDIAF and WSAVA. Brands that have fulfilled the requirements of these organisations produces pet food that are backed by years of scientific research and evidence. Some of these brands include Royal Canin, Purina Pro Plan and Hills (I can't remember all of the brands). These brands have at least one qualified animal nutritionist or board certified animal nutritionist onboard, who helps to formulate the recipe used by these brands. Please take some time to read the links provided to learn more about their guidelines.
Here at Kettle Labradors, we feed Royal Canin to all of our dogs (other than Snoopy who eats Purina Pro Plan). We prefer Royal Canin as they have breed specific kibbles which are formulated specially for Labrador Retrievers and many other breeds, and it is easily available as many retailers carry them across Singapore.
And no, we are not sponsored by these brands. How I wish they will sponsor some, I will be happy even with a free 3kg pack a month.
Home prepared meals
I some times prepare cooked beef, lamb and fish as occasional treats and toppers for our dogs. However, I do not recommend feeding dogs solely with home prepared meals unless you consult a qualified animal nutritionist to help you with formulating such a diet. Home prepared meals have a high risk of nutrient deficiency as it is very difficult to provide the full spectrum of what your dog needs, and therefore an animal nutritionist will be able to help you with that. The effects of nutrient deficiency cannot be seen or felt until a much later stage and so we recommend that you feed an appropriate diet right from the start.
I also do not recommend feeding a purely raw diet as firstly there is very little evidence that a raw diet is more beneficial as compared to other properly formulated/prepared diets (most information available online are based on personal experiences and bias information/evidences which are not peer reviewed), and secondly the risk of introducing harmful bacteria is significantly higher. Read more about feeding a raw diet here.
Myths about the big brands
A lot of people do not feed their dogs with kibbles that are formulated with WSAVA guidelines for various reasons, and we will look at these myths here.
These brands sponsor big events
Some times I see one of the reasons people don't trust these brands is because they sponsor big events or nutrition classes in veterinary schools. Big companies, pet food or not, are able to do so as they have a big marketing budget. If people don't see any problems with global brands like Mercedes Benz sponsoring big events, or BMW sending an engineer to a university to lecture about car designs, then why do they shun these pet food companies?
Veterinarians earn commission by recommending these brands
So don't pet shops earn a cut whenever they sell or push for certain brands? The reason veterinarians carry or recommend these brands is because they are scientifically proven, formulated by qualified animal nutritionists, and backed by peer reviewed evidence. Selling pet food is a way of bringing extra income to their clinics but there are reasons why they only carry certain brands and the above mentioned is the main reason.
Other brands use better ingredients
You may have seen other brands that use "superior" ingredients like "FRESH chicken meat", "FRESH whole herring", "FRESH turkey meat" etc. and think that they use quality ingredients as opposed to dehydrated poultry protein, maize, hydrolyzed animal proteins etc. used by the bigger brands. Firstly, many of the times the naming of the ingredients are the result of a marketing effort that targets our emotions. The word "fresh" may seem really good for our pets, but nutritionally they are similar or might even be a little lacking as compared to the so called "inferior" formulas.
I will quote a passage from this article "Why you shouldn't judge a pet food by its ingredient list" (also note that this article is written by qualified professionals).
"There are specific regulations that govern how ingredient lists must be presented on the label. Ingredients must be listed in order of weight, including water, so ingredients with high water content (like fresh meats and vegetables) are going to be listed higher than similar amounts of dry ingredients even though they may contribute fewer nutrients to the overall diet. So a diet with chicken (70% water) as the first ingredient may have less actual chicken than a diet that has chicken meal (< 10% moisture) as the second or third ingredient. Additionally, ingredients from the same source (i.e. chicken meat, chicken fat, chicken by-product meal) can be split into component parts, further complicating assessment of how much of each ingredient is actually present in the diet."
The whole article can be found here and it is really a good read to help understand this topic.
Their food are filled with low quality fillers I will quote a passage from this article "Myths and Misconceptions surrounding pet foods".
"In reality, corn provides a nutritious, affordable source of carbohydrate for energy, essential amino and fatty acids for healthy skin, coat and immune system function, and a variety of other nutrients. These nutrients are released during the manufacturing process, and are easily absorbed and utilized when included in complete diets."
Read the full article here.
How about grain free?
There are a lot of false advertising stating the grains are bad for our dogs, therefore giving rise to grain-free products. Veterinarians have observed a correlation between dogs that are fed a grain-free diet and them developing non-hereditary Dilated Cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart. It is usually not the absence of grain that is the problem, but rather the substitutes that are used to replace the grains such as lentils and peas. Although the FDA's findings are inconclusive at this moment, I don't see the need to risk by feeding your dog a diet from boutique brands with exotic ingredients.
Summing it up
Sure, all pet food companies employ different tactics to market their products but as a person who really loves science, I like to see peer reviewed research done on formulas before they are rolled out to the mass market. I have also put up links of useful articles written by qualified professionals in the Blog and Resources page.
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