Selecting a Food for Your Pet
You’ve spent many years working to find the very best for your dog. Feeling like the food choices you’ve made might have been hurting her is awful.
Having found this post , you’re ready to be with a group of people who care just as much about food as you do, and you’re expecting to be told to choose your dog’s food even more carefully and cautiously than you already do. Many of you have spent a long time finding a food with a certain number of “stars” or with a brand name blessed by an expert who purports to know the truth about dog food. We know you’ve worked very hard and educated yourself for years on this.
The cardiologists and nutritionists who uncovered the taurine-DCM connection have been unanimous in their assessment that the best way to get your dog out of danger in this situation, and to protect your dog from future problems like this, is to buy your food from a company that has shown a commitment to doing regular nutrition research and that has the ability to catch these kinds of problems before they get so serious.
In particular, they recommend that your food company employ at least one full-time nutritionist (which must be a PhD or board-certified veterinary nutritionist), that all the company’s diets are formulated by nutritionists at these levels of expertise, and that the company not release a formula without testing and trialing that formula using the feed trial protocols established by the AAFCO. In other words, no diet is sold until it proves that it nourishes real dogs, under real conditions, rather than just having the right nutritional math but never having been tested. The company should do a huge amount of quality testing, and every batch coming into the plant should be tested. The company should manufacture the diet themselves, so it can control the ingredients and quality; it should not just send a recipe and a bag label design to a plant that makes food for many companies. And the company should subject its diets to peer-reviewed scientific research, and be able to back up any of its claims with data that is available to the public. The company should have a full scientific team for developing formulas.
Perfect, you say – I’m ready to buy whatever vet diet this is; who makes it? It’ll be tough going up to that much money a bag, but anything for my dogs.
There are five US dog food brands that we know satisfy these criteria:
Purina (most formulas)
Hills (Science Diet)
Royal Canin
Eukanuba
Iams
And this is where the conversation generally comes to a screeching halt.
We know you’ve been told and believed for years that those food companies were terrible, the worst, full of garbage, made from floor sweepings, maybe with euthanized pets in it.
Feed one of those diets? You would do anything for love, but you won’t do that.
We understand, believe us. We really do. Several of the admins were feeding expensive “lots-o-stars” brands, and it was just as tough for us to wrap our brains around feeding one of the big three as it is for our members.
However, the facts are inescapable. The vast majority of the lots-o-stars brands have done an excellent job marketing their stars and their delicious human-appealing ingredient words, and a pretty poor job making sure that they’re nourishing our dogs. We have been working for months to find even a single lots-o-stars brand that employs a full-time nutritionist, let alone meets the other criteria.
So you’ll find that when it comes to talking about lower-risk foods, the same companies are going to get mentioned a lot. None of us are involved with, employed by, or influenced by any food companies – we’re simply applying the advice of the cardiologists and nutritionists who are deeply involved in both identifying and solving this terrible problem.
1- Selecting the Best Food for Your Pet
There is a reason that the folks at WSAVA used the words "selecting the best food for your pet". Remember these guidelines and the WSAVA nutrition toolkit were first published in 2011, well before this current DCM issue arose.
World Small Animal Veterinary Association global nutrition guidelines.
https://www.wsava.org/WSAVA/media/Arpita-and-Emma-editorial/Selecting-the-Best-Food-for-your-Pet.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2Bg3cFjmc8xJ9b9zewrJBlQlGn_SFAlu44F6zMnkRrk4l0z4tnwheNgbU
2- Deciphering Fact from Fiction: looking at an ingredient list:
http://vet.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/DecipheringFactFromFictionIngredients.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1rJ6E-Recqoad5UIJKkZydhUH-4vAXNARVFHAcb3HxeJtv6HVYm7Yj4OM
You can exclude the water in the protein and fat contents by dividing the GA % listed by (100 - % moisture) and multiplying by 100. For example, a food with a GA of 10% protein and 70% moisture contains 33% protein when the water is removed. 10/(100-70)*100
The WSAVA guidelines are international and you should be able to obtain the recommended diets internationally as well. There may be some varieties that are only available in certain locations (the Royal Canin breed specific diets is a good example of this as breeds that are popular in one country may not be in another).
3- WSAVA guideline basics:
Through all of this diet-DCM issue, I think the most important thing I have taken away from it is "WHY trust the company that manufactures my dog's food".
I have re-read the WSAVA guidelines several times. I 100% agree with and support them. I do not understand why some people do not support the WSAVA guidelines for pet food manufacturing companies.
It seems like the most common reason is a belief in some sort of conspiracy between WSAVA and the Big 4. The second reason just seems to boil down to a hatred of 1) big companies in general, 2) one/all of the Big 4.
Some people seem to be more focused on demonizing the Big 4 rather than questioning their own dog food company as to why that company does not meet the same criteria - or making excuses for them not to.
Some of those companies are even making excuses and trying to throw shade on the Big 4, for example "we don't do feeding trials because we do not believe in locking dogs up in cages for 6 months." - as if that is how all feeding trials are ran - ie, "look how evil and unethical the Big 4 are for doing feeding trials! We are not like that!".
Sorry people (and companies), that is called deception.
WSAVA guideline basics:
The WSAVA guidelines provide a list of requirements that a company should meet when manufacturing pet food.
1) Labels must provide factual information. Labels are designed to attract consumers. Many keywords used in marketing have no nutritional meaning. The ingredients list does not provide nutritional value.
2) Pet food manufacturers should have a PhD/AVCN/ECVCN nutritionist on staff. They should be willing to provide names, qualifications and credentials for the people who formulate their foods.
3) The company should meet AAFCO standards. How does the company meet AAFCO standards? There are two ways, feeding trials or nutrient profiles (by formulation or by analysis of finished product?).
4) Companies should be willing to tell you where their foods are produced and manufactured.
5) Companies should be able to tell you what their quality control measure are to insure consistency, safety and quality of food.
6) The company should be willing/able to provide a complete nutrient analysis on all of the foods they manufacture.
7) The company should be able to tell you the caloric value of the food.
8) Has the company done any product research (bonus if yes)? If so, was it published in a peer-reviewed journal (double bonus if yes)?
9) The company should tell you how they prove that their food is complete and balanced to meet AAFCO requirements.
and this is my own qualification:
Because AAFCO requirements are the bare minimum, I want the company that manufactures my dog's food to go above the AAFCO requirements, of their own volition.
If the company who manufactures your pet's food doesn't meet these guidelines, why do you trust them? Regardless if their brand has been linked to diet related DCM or not. The WSAVA guidelines are not linked to the diet-DCM issue. They should be something all pet food manufacturing companies strive to meet.
What specifically do people NOT agree with in the WSAVA guidelines? How does anything in their guidelines make people think it is a conspiracy? Or is it that the WSAVA guidelines set the bar too high for your company to meet - and you know that.
To me, by not meeting, or trying to meet, the WSAVA guidelines, the company is stating they are willing to take a chance with your pet's health and wellbeing. They are willing to use your pet as the test subject.
So the real question is, WHY are you willing to accept that?
They also need to have sound quality management systems because the best food in the world without a sytems of checks and balances is just as bad. They should be doing their own audits of suppliers, procedures, records, processes, sanitation, and mock recalls to make sure they can trace everything down should they identify a tainted ingredient.
4- Two references if you are concerned about food allergy:
Since we get many questions each day on dogs with possible food allergies, we wrote an information document that everyone can look up. It is a complement to the great article by Dr Freeman:
http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2017/01/food-allergies/?fbclid=IwAR15r7c7vR_TZOLMVCVu98IsNPyMKxRWYPi6OxBEhcwHB2P9xAHLlTYrXtw
Food allergy pdf
5- For Custom/homemade diets. Board-certified veterinary nutritionists:
I have put together a list of vet nutritionists listed by office, and reached out to all of them to note the ones that will consider consulting on raw meat based diets. The ACVN listings do allow you to sort by remote consults with clients and remote consults with vets (some will only provide recipes or advice directly to a veterinarian, either communicating both with client and vet or only with the vet), but that still didn't cover the raw issue as so many will not advise on raw. I am not a raw feeder or vet, but wanted something to provide when I advise people to see a nutritionist if they are preparing raw or other home prepared diets.
The second sheet has comments and hopefully helpful links. I am sure there will be errors and typos, so please let me know if you find one. If you know of board certified nutritionists not listed let me know, or if you see your office and don't want to be listed I will happily remove it
I noted it on my second sheet but just because there are a gajillion members here- if I haven't noted a response from a particular clinic don't ask them yourself unless you are actually considering using their service. I don't want anyone to get annoyed at being contacted because of me. This is just an attempt to help make quality nutrition advice available as easily as possible.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15M2T24oXP3Ohti3CQNFq6n58Nu9fDRgz573kvAnm-Vk/edit?usp=sharing&fbclid=IwAR3MD1htz8fVGeXQ8a6lANilUiEqRzMjuMoYMN3Bfyo-p_xxhJeTp-daC5I
6-Transitioning to a new food.
So now you've selected a new diet. Transition can be a bit tricky for some pets, especially if leaving the "grain free" diets which are high in legume fibers. This document may help.
(In case you have trouble seeing the PDF here is copy of the text just with poor formatting)
Transitioning your pet to a new food:
Traditional method, for dogs not typically known to easily get digestive upset:
Replace approximately 25% of the food daily for 3 days.
-The first day feed 75% original, 25% new food
-Second day: 50% of each food
-Third day: 75% new food, 25% original food
-Fourth day: 100% new food
If at any time your pet gets diarrhea, vomiting, or refuses to eat, slow the transition. If this persists call
your veterinarian
**Slower method, for dogs who do not do well with transitions AND for dogs who have been on "grainfree" diets. These diets are typically very high in fiber and have caused changes in gut bacteria.
Same philosophy but much slower mix-in of new food.
First day: feed 75% original, 25% new food
Continue this 75/25 mix at least 3 days to verify this is not affecting stool or causing other problems
After 3-4 days of normal stool: feed 50% original, 50% new food daily
Continue the 50/50 mix through 3 days of normal stool
Then 75% new food, 25% original for several days of normal stool
Then 100%
If on grainfree:
EXPECT some flatulence or stool problems during the transition but please contact your veterinarian for advice and to see if you need a probiotic
If you need to transition more quickly, often a prescription gastrointestinal diet can be used immediately and then several weeks later you can transition to your long-term diet of choice.
**IMPORTANT CAVEATS
-It is very common during allergy season for dogs to suddenly start itching. In most of North America, peak allergy season is July to October. If you are changing foods during allergy season and your dog starts to itch or get skin problems, do not assume it is the new food that is causing the itch. Environmental allergies are far more common than food allergies. Call your veterinarian and perhaps they can prescribe a temporary anti-itch medication to slow the itch. If the itching still continues to worsen after cold weather, discuss with your veterinarian whether the new diet might be the cause and find another alternative.
-Also, if you start changing foods and get a SEVERE response (ie repeated vomit or severe diarrhea)
Call your veterinarian. It may require treatment, whether it is due to the food change or not.
https://www.facebook.com/download/2148142688588742/Transitioning%20to%20a%20new%20food.pdf?hash=AcroZJJloov_b5zl
