Pet Cuisine:  Feeding Galloping Gourmets
by Stephen J. Ackerman and Judith Levine Willis


Will your dog really be better off if you buy the 70-cent-per-can "gourmet" 
dog food instead of the ordinary half-dollar brand? Will your finicky cat 
thrive, yet lose weight, if you switch to an expensive "diet" dinner? 
Finding the right answer for your pet can be important to its health and to 
your pocketbook.

Feed for pets is more than a $6 billion industry, with almost $5.7 billion
devoted to dogs and cats. According to the Pet Food Institute, a trade
association, there are 54.5 million dogs and 63.2 million cats in the United
States. 

After the first dog biscuits were sold in 1860, change came slowly. Canned
horsemeat joined dry dog foods in the 1920s, with dry meat meals and the
first cat foods appearing in the 1930s. Commercial variations flourished in 
the 1960s.

The Human's Dilemma 

If you stroll down the supermarket pet food aisle today, you may find some
100 varieties of dog food.

Most common are "low-calorie" products to help Rover lose 
weight. Prominent, too, are brands with nutrients suited to dogs of 
different ages. Some victuals claim benefits purely cosmetic, such as 
alleviating canine "bad breath"--a condition more likely to trouble the 
master than the mastiff. Amid such a profusion of products, how is one to 
choose? 

Specialized pet foods, sometimes called "prescription" feeds or diets, have 
been marketed primarily through veterinarians or kennel clubs, and intended 
as part of a comprehensive health regimen. Recently, however, they've begun 
showing up on supermarket shelves.

"We are opposed to the sale of 'prescription' diets in supermarkets," says
George Graber, Ph.D., director of FDA's division of animal feeds in the 
Center for Veterinary Medicine. He explains that feeding a pet such foods 
without the advice of a veterinarian could harm the pet.

The regular dog and cat foods on the market provide a "complete and balanced
diet" for pets, and clearly show this in their package labeling. While some 
products may claim to taste better--and large manufacturers maintain kennels
with the happy mission of testing such claims--all foods so labeled are 
adequate nutritionally for healthy animals. FDA insists that pet food be as 
safe for animals as human food is for people. Labels list ingredients in
order of preponderance, along with a chemical analysis. Even a product's
name may not be misleading as to content or nutritional properties. 

FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine works closely with the states through
the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) to insure the
safety of animal feeds. Manufacturers must provide scientific support to
justify nutritional claims, including the assertion that a product
constitutes a "complete and balanced" diet, either throughout an animal's 
life or during a specified part of its life cycle.

Who's the Gourmet?

Whether or not a pet becomes a demanding "gourmet" depends on its owner. In 
choosing varied, "gourmet" diets for our pets (diets to which they may
become quickly and expensively accustomed), we fall into an anthropomorphic 
fallacy, a tendency to attribute human characteristics to animals.

Dogs and cats are creatures of habit. A pup or kitten raised on an ordinary 
feed will grow to like it, sometimes shunning rarer delicacies in favor of
"the usual." Though Fido may clamor for your steak while his own chow waits 
in his bowl, he'll ordinarily go for his regular meal if other temptations
don't compete. Variety is not so important to him as it may seem to you.

Some "gourmet" pet foods (and especially pet "treats") are designed to
appeal more to the human purchaser than the animal consumer. Color-blind
canines are indifferent to the pastel hues that beckon the buyer of dog 
candies, just as kittens value the cute shapes less than the content of 
their bonbons. We pay extra for such gimmicks because we consciously or 
unconsciously equate human tastes and needs with those of our pets. Catering
to this tendency in the extreme was a luxury mineral water marketed in New
York as "the only water your dog needs to drink." 

"What are you trying to achieve in adopting a special diet for your pet?" 
asks Beverly Corey, D.V.M., an FDA veterinarian. "Once you know that, do you
have enough information to make the proper selection?" Your answers to these
common-sense questions can protect you from wasteful spending, and they can 
prevent you from inadvertently harming your pet's health. 

You should have reason to depart from a "complete and balanced" pet diet in 
favor of a more specialized regimen. These reasons may include age, disease,
or even stress, but they should be diagnosed by a veterinarian. Otherwise, a
good rule to apply to your pet's system is the traditional wisdom, "if it 
ain't broke, don't fix it." 

Pet Foods with Drug Claims

FDA is especially concerned about pet food products labeled for the 
prevention or treatment of disease. Such labeling, Graber points out, 
renders the product a drug. He says that as far as he knows, no pet foods 
carrying drug claims are being legally marketed in the United States. 

FDA has been working with the states, through AAFCO, to make sure that pet
foods are not labeled with drug claims. Of particular concern recently has
been cat food labeled for the prevention of feline urological syndrome
(FUS), a urinary tract problem in male cats.

In February 1990, AAFCO sent a letter to pet food manufacturers reiterating 
FDA and AAFCO's position that claims that a product may prevent or treat FUS
are drug claims and are not allowed on feeds unless they're approved as 
drugs. Even though FDA gave companies ample time to make necessary label
changes, some failed to make them.

Armed with FDA documentation, Missouri and Texas state officials have seized
hundreds of tons of cat food labeled for the prevention of FUS, and New York
state officials are contemplating similar action. At least one company whose
products were seized has assured FDA that it will no longer label products
for sale in the United States for the prevention of FUS.

In a similar case in 1987, the manufacturer of Purina Puppy Chow complied 
with FDA's request to withdraw its advertising claims that the product could
ease canine hip displasia (CHD), a genetic disease affecting the hip joints 
of some breeds of dogs, particularly German shepherds. The supporting 
evidence printed in the advertising brochure provoked a strong reaction in
the veterinary community, which dismissed it as scientifically inadequate.
Although American Kennel Club breeders have made progress in breeding a 
tendency toward CHD out of some purebreds, many dogs still suffer from the
complex problem, which involves not just breed but genetics, weight when
young, and other factors. No dog food has been shown to relieve the disorder. 

FDA allows companies to make "gray area" claims on pet food labels provided 
there is adequate data to support their safety for these uses. "Gray area"
claims are defined as those that provide useful health-related information, 
but do not directly state disease prevention or treatment. Examples of gray 
area claims are "low magnesium" or "produce acidic urine pH." 

Weighty Problems

"Low-calorie" pet foods have emerged to help pudgy pooches and fat felines
reduce. A safe and effective weight reduction program, however, must
recognize not just the physiological differences between humans and dogs or 
cats, but also those between dogs and cats. 

From a fifth to over half of dogs are overweight, though the lack of
agreement as to what constitutes canine obesity complicates the estimate. If
your dog is overweight, in most cases a veterinarian's opinion is needed to 
decide what to do. Placing the dog in a hospital and starving it used to be 
considered an option. But, according to FDA veterinarians, this is rarely 
done today because it's now known to be extremely dangerous. It produced
only slightly more weight loss than reducing the amount of regular food, and
certainly the dogs didn't like it.

Unless your dog is so committed to its regular food that it refuses anything
else, the best course is usually to switch to the same amount of "diet" 
product recommended by the dog's vet, rather than reducing the amount of
regular food. 

Putting cats on a diet can be tricky, too. A "fasting" cat can develop a
painful liver condition called hepatic lipidosis. More gradual weight 
reduction, with enough food to maintain 60 to 70 percent of the cat's usual 
energy intake, is essential. A veterinarian can help you determine what this
means in terms of food portions or types for Tabby. 

Other Nutritional Needs 

The commercial success of age-based dog foods set off widespread
mass-marketing of specialty pet foods. Promoters claim these products 
address the particular nutritional requirements your pet encounters as its
physiological makeup changes with age. Does your pet really need this 
costlier precision in its diet? 

Some veterinarians find advantages in these products for some dogs and cats,
though the nutritional benefits will likely vary with breeds as well as with
individual animals. But it's also true that any "complete and balanced" food
will be adequate for pets of all ages without particular health needs.

Specialized foods can make valuable contributions toward controlling pets'
afflictions, though usually as part of a comprehensive therapeutic program. 
For example, inflammatory bowel or other gastrointestinal diseases can
respond well to special diets, but the advice of a vet is essential in
treating pet illnesses. Well-intentioned experimenting with a pet's diet may
relieve one condition only by risking another.

Cats and dogs aren't our only pets, though they have commanded the lion's 
share of veterinary research. AAFCO now is devoting new attention to
"specialty products" designed for gerbils, goldfish, ferrets, and other 
creatures. Overweight hamsters may some day find themselves doomed to 
reducing diets, just like dogs, cats--and people. 

Though gourmet goodies may tempt you as you stroll the pet food aisle, it's 
wise to keep in mind that expert advice, rather than impulse and intuition, 
should be your guide in feeding Fido and Tabby. This approach can protect 
both your pet's health--and your pocketbook. n

Stephen J. Ackerman is a writer based in Washington, D.C. Judith Levine 
Willis is editor of FDA Consumer.