DOGS AND CATS ARE EVOLVED AS MEAT EATERS, SO WHY DO SO MANY PET FOODS CONTAIN LARGE AMOUNTS OF CEREAL GRAINS?

The answer is economy and convenience.

Dogs were eating meat and fat for thousands of years, and it has been less than a 100 years that they’ve been eating grains and starches.

Grains first appeared in pet food about 70 years ago, when consumers were much less educated about pet nutrition than today and wanted the convenience of dog or cat food in a bag. Pet food manufacturers were able to reduce costs by using inexpensive calories from grains and grain byproducts.

While grains such as rice or wheat provided low-cost calories, their high carbohydrate content and high-glycemic properties cause blood sugar swings and elevation, which leads to excess body fat, diabetes and a host of related health problems.

The fact is that cats and dogs are simply not evolved to metabolize the large quantities of cereal grains found in today’s conventional pet foods, and are designed to metabolize their energy from protein and fat.

So why are these ingredients still present in today’s dog and cat foods?
Widely practiced by today’s conventional pet food makers, the traditional “grain-and-carbohydrate” approach to dog and cat food is likely here to stay as the low cost of cereal grains,  combined with ready availability and easy storage and handling all provide substantial savings and convenience to pet food makers.

We wonder what dogs and cats think about that. Click here to learn more about the role of grains in your pet’s food.