Vetnews | November 2024 10 « BACK TO CONTENTS Tomatoes are ground into a sauce, wheat into flour, and beef into hamburger. Water is processed by the addition of chlorine to kill contaminants and fluoride to protect teeth. Salt is processed by being cut from mined blocks or distilled from ocean water before being ground into sand and having iodine added (to this day *lack* of dietary iodine is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities, affecting about two billion people worldwide). Coffee is processed by separating beans from fruit, drying and then roasting the beans, grinding the beans into powder, and then running water over the grounds. Into your coffee may go milk or cream which has been processed through homogenization and pasteurization and which has likely been further processed to increase or lower the fat content, as well as to add vitamin D (to prevent rickets). Sugar may be added — typically processed from sugarcane, sugar beets, or corn. Paleo, keto, Banting, flexitarian – you name it, there’s a food trend to suit any taste. But specialised diets are not only relegated to humans looking to optimise their health – pet owners across the world are increasingly paying more attention to what they feed their furbabies. This includes the growing popularity of an “ancestral diet” for pets, which aims to mimic what domestic animals’ forebears would have eaten in the wild – mostly raw meat but also other opportunistic food sources like fruit, vegetables and even insects. In today’s world that translates as a diet that consists mostly of protein, and contains little or no grains. According to global pet industry reports, grain-fee pet food is making serious inroads among consumers – up to 44% of the North American pet food market and 15% in the UK. There’s a growing interest in this option among South African pet owners. “South African customers are definitely becoming more selective in choosing what they feed their animals, which can partly be ascribed to the growing importance of pets’ role in the family and the knowledge that a premium diet helps keep pets happier and healthier. As a result, we ensure that we offer a wide range of dietary options, including grain-free pellets,” says Roger Bezhuidenhout, Marketing Manager from leading national retailer Absolute Pets. But what are the health benefits of an ancestral diet, and why would someone choose this option for their pet? The biggest factor is that it avoids being carbohydrate-heavy. “When it comes to proper nutrition for dogs and cats, an important thing to consider is that they need animal protein, and don’t actually need carbohydrates. This specifically applies to cats, who definitely don’t need carbs. Dogs can use carbs, but they don’t necessarily need them. Both dogs and cats also need fruit and vegetables, as protein does not contain all the vitamins and minerals that they need,”says consulting Absolute Pets vet, Dr Candice Cooper. “In general we see a lot more overweight pets or pets with diabetes and that’s often because of a carbohydrate-rich diet or sugar-rich treats. Moving from a carbohydrate-focused diet to something more meaty has benefits in terms of the animal’s metabolic condition.” Nutrition Hub’s animal nutritionist, Lourens De Wet, agrees that too many carbs can be unhealthy for pets. And so high-quality pet food, whether it’s in pellet or raw food form, will contain healthy amounts of protein as well as vitamins and nutrients. “There are an ever-growing number of high-quality food options available forpetowners.Forexample,wehavejustintroducedtheUKbrandCanogan, which has the biologically appropriate ratio of meat to vegetables. But the importance is not just in the proportion of protein to vegetables; it also lies in the quality of these ingredients that are sourced from trusted suppliers so owners know they’re giving their companions excellent nutrition,” says Kevin Tuffin, Absolute Pets Commercial Director. Ultimately the choice of diet for one’s pet should consider a range of factors that take into account the individual needs of the animal, but what isn’t up for debate is that high-quality, appropriate ingredients in the correct proportion are always going to be beneficial. v Wild at heart: the benefits of an ‘ancestral’ diet for pets PROCESSED FOODS MADE DOGS … AND YOU The Terrierman If you ask folks railing against “processed” foods what the process is, they’re likely to just blink and fall silent. They have probably never even thought about it. In fact, almost every food we have ever eaten is “processed”. Opinion Piece
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