By Dr. I. Elizabeth Borgmann.

After the last set of articles, you are probably rather confused about nutrition and pet food labels. You know there is a very limited amount of information that can be gleaned from the packaging. You know that nutrition is much more complicated than it seems. So let’s go back a step and look just at the ingredients list. Just what is all that stuff?
Let me remind you, that you cannot tell anything about the quality of the ingredients from the list. There are different grades of corn, cereal protein, chicken meal…and the list goes on. Here is a hint. Look at the amount of food you need to feed.

If Bag A states you need 5 cups for a 60 lb dog and Bag B states you need 3.5 cups for the same sized dog, chances are that Bag B is using a higher grade of ingredients. Remember to use this to calculate the true cost of feeding. If Bag A costs $30 and Bag B costs $40…..Bag B is a better deal because you are feeding less and getting a more digestible diet to boot.

By-products means things like chicken heads, feet, and feathers, right? Wrong. It means hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers…the nutritious stuff. (This is the stuff that is so popular in other cultures but turns the stomachs of North Americans.) It is unusual for the pet food industry to use the other ingredients but it does make a great sensational story. While working up north I had the opportunity to help some friends in the Federal Government by overseeing a chicken processing plant two days a week. After having worked in the system I can see that it would be very difficult for any undesirable by-products to make it out of a Federal processing plant. (And, as an aside, I feel really fortunate and safe eating meats with that little crown symbol….but I still cook all my meat through and through.) Some provinces have provincial processing plants and rendering plants.

Large, reputable companies would never risk their reputation by purchasing lesser quality ingredients. When in doubt, call the manufacturer and ask them directly.
No, the bag with a protein source as the first ingredient does not necessarily have the most protein. Many foods have different sources of protein to balance out the amino acids. Look for fish, egg and other protein sources. Check the guaranteed analysis and compare protein levels based on an equivalent dry matter basis. This is where you use the guaranteed analysis. This means some complicated math for those that have left high school many years ago but it’s a great mental exercise!
You don’t just get protein from meat sources. Look for glutens. Glutens are protein extracts. No, glutens are not bad. They are bad if unscrupulous sources adulterate the product to artificially elevate the apparent protein level (this is what happened with the rice gluten scare). Almost all pet food manufacturers now screen for melamine. Many have stopped purchasing from China, altogether.

You have probably heard that corn is bad. Forget that. Corn is the least allergenic of the carbohydrates. So, yes, some pets will react, but most won’t. And it is digestible if properly processed. It also causes less flatulence (gas) than soybean or wheat. It provides linoleic acid (an essential fatty acid) and provides both soluble and insoluble fibres.
If you thought fibre was just a filler, think again. There are two types of fibre: insoluble and soluble. Fibre is needed to ensure normal bowel functioning. Without it pets become constipated. Soluble fibres promote a healthy bacterial population in the gut. Starches provide fibre. Beet pulp, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), and mono-oligosaccharides (MOS) are very good ingredients to have in the diet but won’t be present in all diets.

Essential fatty acids are essential. You may see them listed as EPA and DHA. Look also for fish oil, vegetable oil, green lipped mussel, flax and fish (in general).
Preservatives. You need these. Some foods still use BHT and BHA but most have moved over to natural anti-oxidants. These do not work as well, so buy smaller bags of food more frequently rather than trying to save money on a large bag that will last 2 months. Anti-oxidants used as preservatives include Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta carotene, lycopene, lutein (marigold extract), alpha lipoic acid, taurine and selenium. Remember, if a food says “Natural” it usually only means that they are using natural preservatives, and no artificial flavours or colour. Using natural preservatives is now becoming the norm.

And now a list of the other odds and ends you will find on the ingredients list and why they are in the pet foods. Brewer’s Rice is a digestible carbohydrate. Carnitine helps turn fat into energy. Cellulose is a fibre to help prevent constipation. Chelated minerals are attached to proteins to allow for better absorption. Glucosamine is a joint supplement that is added to some diets at preventive, not therapeutic levels. (Therapeutic levels of glucosamine can be found in some specialized diets.) Soy protein isolate is a protein extract from soybean meal providing the benefits of soybean without the side effects of the fibre. Zeolite is a natural insoluble mineral salt that creates a protective film on the intestinal mucosa and thereby absorbs excess water and toxic substances. You will not find all of these in all the diets.

You will also find a list of very chemically sounding names. These are often vitamins and minerals in their full chemical name. You need them to balance the diet.

Hopefully, this has made the ingredients list a less scary foreign language. Ultimately, watch the stool consistency, and the hair coat and skin coat quality, as indicators of your pet’s response to a diet. These are things you can see. But be aware that these are surface indicators and do not show the internal workings of your pet.
Next time we will delve into the popularity of home cooked diets and raw diets.

Dr. Borgmann has been practicing in the Fraser Valley for over 8 years and can be reached at the Whatcom Road Veterinary Clinic