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Pet Nutrition

What should I feed my pet?

You are what you eat – and the same goes for pets. Good nutrition is a key element to ensuring a happy, healthy pet. Owners must remember that they have a duty of care to provide their pet with a suitable diet. Check with your vet for the optimum weight of your pet.

Whilst there are a number of options, the Pet Health Council (PHC) believes that prepared pet foods provide a healthy, balanced and convenient diet for pets.

Prepared pet food caters for all manner of purses, palates and preferences and is available for all age ranges and for those that require special diets. There are dry pet foods including biscuits and mixers, and wet pet foods including pouches and cans. There are also ‘treats’ such as chews and biscuits although these need to be consciously incorporated into an overall diet to ensure a pet isn’t overfed. Water is a nutrient as well and must always be readily available.

These types of pet foods are carefully formulated to ensure that owners meet the nutritional needs of their pets – for example, did you know that a cat’s diet should contain 41 essential nutrients, while a dog requires 37? Many owners who prepare food for their pets do not have the nutritional information to hand to ensure a balanced diet for them.

What’s more, there’s a wealth of science to support commercially prepared pet foods and it is widely recognised by vets that dogs and cats are now living longer, healthier lives.

Be aware of potentially unhealthy alternatives…

There is one school of thought that a diet of bones and raw meat is the best option for pets. The PHC strongly recommends against this type of diet for a number of reasons. Firstly there is no scientific evidence to support this diet. In fact, there is considerable evidence which shows this type of diet is difficult to regulate resulting in nutritional deficiency which can have damaging effects on animals.

Raw meat and bones have been known to cause health problems in the animals that eat them, especially young, growing animals, as a result of nutritional imbalance.

Bones can be particularly dangerous as they can get lodged in the food pipe, stomach or bowel which can lead to serious complications. They can also cause inflammation of the digestive system and can fracture the animal’s teeth.

Uncooked raw meat carries the risk of bacterial contamination.

In the same way that we do not eat raw chicken for example, due to risk of food poisoning, similarly we should not feed it to our pets – they too can suffer the symptoms of food poisoning from bacteria such as Salmonella, E.coli and Campylobacter.

It must also be remembered that raw meat and bones can pose a threat to pet owners who prepare the uncooked food as they too can be exposed to the harmful bacteria. Storing raw meat or bones in the same fridge or freezer as the owner’s food can also pose human health problems, with the young, elderly or immunocompromised are particularly at risk.

Commercially prepared pet food contains only thoroughly cooked meat and fish and hence eliminates this possibility.

Please click here for our leaflet on ‘Nutrition for Cats & Dogs'.

MRSA statement

The Pet Health Council is aware of the recently published report by the Soil Association, warning that meat sold in the United Kingdom could be infected with MRSA. The Council would like to acknowledge that no infected meat has been identified in the UK by the Government or Food Standards Agency. It should also be noted that the strain of MRSA identified is different to hospitals acquired strains. Furthermore, cooking meet properly will destroy MRSA.

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