Pets In Your Home

Hills dog food originates from 1939, when the vet, Dr Mark Morris opened the first clinic for family pets. The first commercially available pet food was developed by Dr Morris when he treated a dog, called Buddy, with kidney disease, the food was low in salt, yet high in nutritional value and flavour and became known as Hills Prescription Diet k/d. Royal Canin are concerned, primarily with the age, activity, breed size and lifestyle of the dog when creating individual diets, being the first to introduce specific diets for large breed puppies in 1980 and the first to satisfy different nutritional needs for small, medium and large breeds of dog in 1997.

Hills leading brands are: the Prescription Diet, Science Plan, Vetessentials and Nature’s Best. The Hills Prescription Diet aids against numerous diseases such as, urinary conditions, dermatology problems, renal disease, mobility issues, gastro-intestinal disease and obesity. The Hills Science Plan dog food provides a nutritionally balanced diet determined by the dog’s size, age, sensitivity, breed and special need(s), whilst also containing a clinically proven anti-oxidant formula. Vet-essentials contains highly digestible proteins and a balance of fibres, suitable levels of fat and protein, high levels of omega six fatty acids promoting a healthy skin and coat, the correct amount of omega 3 fatty acids to maintain healthy bones and joints and unique kibble technology providing a clinically proven cleaning action. Lastly Nature’s Best offers a combination of natural ingredients with added minerals, vitamins and other nutrients, the brand also contains no added artificial preservatives, flavours or colourants, no wheat, soya, egg or dairy products.

Royal Canin have products suitable for the particular breed of a dog, extra small dogs, mini dogs, medium dogs, maxi dogs and giant dogs. The Breed Health Nutrition product fulfils the special needs of each breed and has uniquely designed kibbles to match the age of the dog and the size of their jaw. The Extra Small Health Nutrition refers to dogs whose adult weight is 0-4 kg, whilst the Mini Health Nutrition product refers to dogs with an adult weight of 4-10 kg.  Medium dogs are classed between 11-25 kg, maxi dogs between 26-44 kg and finally giant dogs are 45 kg or more. Each differently sized dog has special requirements.

Dogs are typically able to digest and metabolize animal fats because they are carnivores. Animal fats are essential for dogs, they provide energy, vitamins, insulation, essential fatty acids and structure for each of their cells.

Dogs will not develop heart disease or suffer from cholesterol problems like humans do by consuming higher levels of fat. Dogs digest animal fat amazingly well. The fats they ingest are what give them a healthy skin and coat, healthy immune system, and prenatal development.

Carnivores need fats for creating glucose, energy and endurance whereas in humans, it’s carbohydrates that we use for this. While both fats and carbohydrates provide energy, they function very differently in the body of a dog. 95% of animal fat gets digested and is an essential part of the natural diet, while carbohydrates are not. This is why Orijen dog food contains animal fats, normally chicken fat. Burns dog food also contains this type of fat in some of their foods. ‘Duck fat’ has been listed as well as ‘chicken oil’ but some of Burns’ food just have ‘sunflower oil’.

Have you wondered at all what animal fat is in pet food?

The general take on this ingredient by the dog food industry is:

“Animal fat is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering…”

So it turns out that that it is a by-product of rendering which is the same cooking process as that used to create meat meal.

The greasy remains from rendering is marketed as animal fat or “tallow” on packets of dog food. Tallow is classified as “inedible to humans”. Yet tallow can still be used to make dog food. This animal fat is made from mostly unknown and unspecific sources such as slaughterhouse waste, road kill, discarded restaurant grease and dead, dying, diseased or disabled farm animals. Could this be what makes up part of Royal Canin dog food; they have ‘animal fats’ on their ingredients lists?