Keeping Our Pets Happy And Healthy: The Grain-Free Pet Diet Debate

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• Veterinarian Warns Against Grain-Free Diets For Cats, Dogs

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  An increasing number of dog and cat food companies are marketing products that are “grain-free,” but according to a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the dietary fad isn’t one that pet owners should necessarily buy into.

  Dr. Sandi Sawchuk said that she thinks that the focus on eliminating grains from pet foods mirrors the human interest in gluten-free diets. But according to Sawchuck, the Irish setter is the only breed of dog that has ever been diagnosed with gluten intolerance.

  The diet does make more sense for cats, according to Sawchuk, because they are “true carnivores.” But just because cats don’t need grains doesn’t mean that they can’t play a positive role in feline nutrition. In fact, as long as the grains are cooked, she said, “They do offer a good source of nutrition. They offer some carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, fatty acids, and so on. So it’s part of the balanced diet.”

  Owners might think that they are helping to avoid or minimize food allergies and reactions for their pet when they buy grain-free products, but according to Sawchuk, “Grains fall very low on that scale of what causes allergies.”

  “Don’t fool yourself thinking that a grain-free diet is going to solve your dog’s allergies or food allergy problems,” she added.

  In fact, animal proteins cause the most allergies in pets, so eliminating grain from a diet could actually increase the consumption of more likely allergens. In addition, Sawchuk explained, protein is not a substance that mammals can store well, so a lot of a high-protein diet is actually excreted.

  “It makes for some pretty expensive urine,” she said, adding that the extra nitrates also cause yellow patches in the lawn.

  Some owners want to feed their dog a low-carb, high-protein diet, but going grain-free doesn’t necessarily guarantee that either. Sawchuk said that any dry food has to have carbohydrates as a component to hold the kibbles together. She added that the carbs used in the absence of grains — like potatoes, yucca, and sweet potatoes — can sometimes be harder to digest than the grains are.

  When choosing a pet food, Sawchuk said that owners should check to see if the product has gone through Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) diet trials. She warned that some labels will say that the product was formulated to meet AAFCO standards, “but they may never have fed that food to an animal,” she said. “Unless they’re going through feeding trials, you may miss out on these nutritional deficiencies and things that we’re now seeing in other foods.”