During the pandemic, dog adoption increased by 200%. And although we Argentines have always been among the countries with the most pets per capita (it is estimated that 78% of our homes have a pet), the anguish of confinement made that figure skyrocket.
The need for a faithful companion with whom to alleviate loneliness was the kick for many families to finish making the decision. A responsibility for life, which implies different variables of care. And among them, feeding It is one of the most studied. The balanced food They are still the most chosen, but there are also many who have begun to include other options.
back to the essence
“If we go back 60 or 70 years ago, the animals lived outside the houses and ate what they hunted. If a cat hunted a little bird, he would eat it whole: its muscles, the bones with calcium, the meat with protein, the contents of the stomach with seeds, the feathers, the beak. That generated an absolutely balanced diet”, illustrates Graciela Castillo, a veterinary doctor. But as the animals began to join the houses and limit their range of action, humans were in charge of feeding them, in general, with meat or leftovers, completely unbalancing the diet.
The market response would come a few years later in the form of balanced food, which produced a huge change in the health of pets. “Animals were seen that recovered the shine of their hair, that achieved a better quality of life and resistance to diseases,” Castillo points out. The specificity was doing its magic and the veterinary food industry was launching products for different breeds, needs and pathologies.
At the same time, we humans begin to put our own nutrition under the magnifying glass and adopt different food currents. This had its mirror in the animal world with various trends that imitated the food philosophy of their owners. One of the most widespread today is the BARF diet, which means Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, biologically appropriate raw food. Created by the Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst, it proposes that pets can, in a certain way, return to natural access to their prey. It respects the ancestral diet of wolves and wild dogs and is generally made up of meaty bones, viscera and vegetables, all always raw. It also requires supplements such as eggs and supplements such as oils with Omega 3. “It has been shown that raw bone splinters in a totally different way than a cooked one. This is a diet that when done properly is balanced and works very well. In fact, there are kennels that use it from the beginning of their litters of puppies. But it is a question not only of decision but of time, because it implies great preparation and organization”, details the veterinarian.
greater transparency
Another growing trend is the cross-feeding or mixed feeding. This proposes a mixture of dry and wet balanced food, so that the animal obtains better hydration. With strong growth in recent years in the United States and Europe, from the food company Vitalcan they point out that it is especially beneficial in felines, because of lower urinary tract diseases and improves palatability, among other benefits. Of course, it should always be supervised by a veterinarian who calculates the correct combination of rations.
The extrapolation of trends from the human to the animal world also implied a search for transparency in the ingredients and labeling of veterinary foods. Therefore, the launch of products made with natural and fresh ingredients is not surprising. One of the newest products on the pet food market, it contains cutting-edge ingredients such as blueberries, coconut oil, chia or probiotics.
Will the animals follow the same food search as their owners, with increasingly varied and exotic options? Probably yes, although the effort to prepare such varied meals is a proof of love on the part of the families that adopt them.
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