Breed Specific Pet Food Gaining in Popularity
Apr 11th, 2007 by Amanda
Eukanuba has recently launched a new line of breed-specific pet foods. Breed specific pet foods are based on the theory of nutrigenomics. Scientists studying both the genes of humans and animals are beginning to discover that our genetic makeup can influence how our bodies react to the foods we eat.
The National Institute of Health defines nutrigenomics as:
The study of how foods affect our genes and how individual genetic differences can affect the way we respond to nutrients (and other naturally occurring compounds) in the foods we eat. Nutrigenomics has received much attention recently because of its potential for preventing, mitigating, or treating chronic disease, and certain cancers, through small but highly informative dietary changes.
Interesting stuff!
Some of Eukanuba’s new foods include:
- Labrador Retriever Formula (contains glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and L-carnitine for healthy joints). Eukanuba states the food may also be good for the flat-coated, curly coated and Chesapeake Bay retrievers.
- Yorkshire Terrier Formula (contains copper and zinc for skin and coat care). Can also be fed to other long-coated toy dogs such as the Shih Tzu, Maltese, Toy Poodle, Pekingese, Havanese, and Lhasa Apso.
- German Shepherd Formula (contains fructooligosaccharides and a blend of fiber to help the breed’s digestive system as well as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate). This food is also recommended for the Belgian Malinois, Belgian Sheepdog and Belgian Tervuren.
- Boxer Formula (contains beta carotene, L-carnitine, and vitamin E). This food is also recommended for the Rottweiler and Doberman.
- Dachshund Formula (contains glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate to help support a healthy back). Can also be fed to the Corgi, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Australian Terrier, Skye Terrier and Petit Basset Griffon.
Hill’s Science Diet also has recently jumped on the pet nutrigenomics bandwagon.
I’m not quite sure what to make of this new line of diets. I’m not even sure if any genetic research went into their formulations at all. I’d be curious to know if these diets were subjected to feeding trials and if so, were they fed to the particular breed in question?
Many people say it’s just another marketing gimmick developed by the pet food industry to target individual consumers and develop brand loyality. If these additives are so good–why not put them in all pet foods? And are these additives present in enough quanities to even have a therapeutic effect?
If anyone out there feeds these diets to their pets I’d be interested in learning how your dog does on it. Leave your comments below!
5 Responses to “Breed Specific Pet Food Gaining in Popularity”
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I have been using the Eukanuba Lab food since it first hit the shelves. While I am a big fan of Hills Science Diet line (as well as my vet), my Yellow Lab “Layla” was not–she had stool issues with thier low cal line and didn’t find the lamb and rice food palatable.
My vet is very skeptical of the Eukanuba line, simply because they are owned by P&G…he really only has bad stories about Iams however, not Eukanuba. From what I read online, Eukanuba still has a strong following.
Layla has thoroughly enjoyed the food from the moment we brought it in the house. One word of caution, the serving sizes are much smaller than other dry foods–in fact, one cup less per day for Layla’s weight.
Layla currently has a serious sprain in her right front leg….another opporunity for my vet to push getting off Eukanuba…I still haven’t made up my mind what to do. The food appears to have top ingredients on the bag, and while at a steep price point for me ($60 for a 37.5 lb bag), I think it is affordable compared to Royal Canin or other vet recommended brands.
Since starting the food, Layla’s coat has never been brighter or more healthy. Her teeth are immaculate, and other than the sprain, she seems to be in excellent health (her stools are so regular and solid you can set a clock to them). I have found no reason to discontinue the use of Eukanuba. The only issue is weight control…which is an issue for every non-calorie reduced dry food. I do not think that this issue is serious enough to discontinue the food on a permanent basis–perhaps just in the short term in order to shed some pounds on calorie reduced food.
I am anxious to hear other reviews of this food. Royal Canin has had their lab brand on the shelves for over 5 years, and it is enormously popular. Hopefully someone will soon do some lab tests on this food and see how much of the hype and marketing are actually true.
P.S. I am an MBA with a major in marketing.
Aaron from Ottawa, Canada
Lawrence Feufer…
An additional healthy benefit of having a dog is that you never feel pressured to eat every last bit on your plate because your dog is always happy to take the leftovers off your hands. Think of it as the dishwasher pre-rinse cycle with a tail….
angela bassett photos…
Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin…..
[…] cursory bit of research found a number of points of view online. The Pet Food Bible had a nice blog post on the topic mentioning how the breed formulas differ to address known issues for each breed. […]
About two months ago, we switched our German Shepherd from the “standard” Eukanuba to the breed specific formula. Shortly after the switch, our dog became listless and had what looked to be hives on his belly. Our vet’s diagnosis was an allergic reaction to the food which has required numerous vet visits, several steriod shots, medicated baths several times a week and a host of other medications. We contacted Eukanuba to determine if they had received feedback about other dogs having a reaction and they said they had not. At their request, we sent a food sample for evaluation and they were also going to follow-up with our vet. Our vet hasn’t heard from them, and we’ve received nothing in response to the food sample we sent at Eukanuba’s request. We were told that it could be three to four months before the allergy leaves his system. We’ve switched from Eukanuba to Wellness.