THE USE OF COMMERCIAL PET FOODS IN THE NU TRITION OF DOGS AND CATS - ASSESSMENT OF THE NUTRITIONAL ADEQUACY OF PET FOODS - REVIEW ARTICLE

This review attempts to give viewpoints for assessing the nutritive va lue of commercial dog and cat foods. The world sales of pet foods and pet products had reached in recent years more than US$ 28 billion, acc ounting for more than 13 million tons of pet foods per year. In Hungar y the tendency of the sales of pet food products parallels with that o f the world market. Besides giving a survey of the various types of co mmercial dog and cat foods, tile most important regulations are discus sed, which are appropriate for claiming the nutritional adequacy of th e products. The Hungarian, American, as well as the EU regulations reg arding the information on pet food labels are explained. The claim ''n utritionally balanced and complete'' can be substantiated either by us ing the nutrient profile suggested recently by the Association of Amer ican Feed Control Officials or by claiming that the product has succes sfully passed an appropriate feeding test (Table 1). The characteristi c differences in the nutritional physiology of the dog and the cat are discussed and emphasised. The cat being a strict carnivorous animal r equires adequate vitamin-A, arachidonic acid and taurine in its feed. Among the many ideas used for pet food formulations, two new concepts are discussed: the use of a proper ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, and the use of prebiotics (Figure and Table 2). The importance of the quality control of pet food products is stressed. The careful e valuation of the analysed chemical composition and the knowledge of th e nutritional requirements help to evaluate the real nutritional value of the products for health and longevity. The recommended methods for assessing nutritive value of the commercial dog- and cat foods is dis cussed, and the necessity of the official quality control is emphasise d.