Holistic treatments and organic low carb diets for pets
Holistic treatments and organic low carb diets for pets
(23 Jun 2018) STORY
Take care of your pet’s health just as you would your own – that’s the latest entry in the Los Angeles guide book for dog and cat owners.
And that means big business for traders and manufacturers in pet health and wellbeing
STORY-LINE:
Across the USA pet owners spent an estimated whopping 69.36 billion USD dollars on their pets in 2017, and about 6.11 billion USD of that was on pet services, according to the American Pet Products Association.
Pet Food Express, a California chain of 62 retail pet shops, offers pet food and supplies with a focus on wellness, holistic treatments and organic pet food.
It has seen double-digit same growth for the past several years at a time when national pet retailers are struggling and most brick-and-mortar retail is flat or down.
It partners with more than 100 non-profit animal rescue and shelter organisations and donates more than one million USD a year to those organisations.
The past president of Holistic Veterinarian Association of USA, Richard Palmquist says pet owners are so much more aware now and are insisting on better wellness offerings for their dogs and cats.
“Well people actually want to reduce the amount of toxicity that’s available to their animals. We’re becoming like this for ourselves, for our children and actually now for our pets as well. It’s funny because actually some people are becoming aware in the reverse order, they’ll change their pets diets diets before they improve their own. When we reduce toxicity in the environment, when we improve the quality of food, and we see this improved health that results, people are interested in that so less toxins, better health. This is very trendy right now.”
Unheard of in the pet industry, Pet Food Express has been awarded National Retailer of the Year four times since 1997.
“We are definitely seeing an uptick in educated pet parents looking for some really quality ingredients. The kind of wellness trend has been something that has happened over the past decade but now we’re seeing a really elevate focus in looking at not only the ingredients that are going into the food but the quality of ingredients that are there, so organic, human grade ingredients. In addition, we are noticing a trend on the minimal processing so looking at freeze dried, dehydrated raw foods or gently cooked items,” says Lindsey Jeansonne, director at Pet Food Express.
There is a big emphasis on natural and holistic dog and cat food. Americans spent 32 billion USD on this last year, according to research firm AllianceBernstein.
The focus is on quality ingredients such as genetically modified organism-free (GMO-free), and grain-free.
Customised pet foods to relieve ailments, such as probiotics to help digestive issues, as well as vitamins and minerals for longevity are also trending.
Integrative veterinarian practitioner Gary Richter says people should avoid anything processed.
“You know if you think of dry food or canned food for dogs and cats, it is by definition a highly processed food that is processed at high temperatures, high pressures and a lot of nutrition can get lost in the process and unfortunately sometimes chemical compounds are created in the process which actually cause inflammation and potentially can even cause cancer so what we’re looking to do is get animals on fresh, whole food, minimally processed diets,” says Richter.
Pet food high in protein that mimics a pet’s natural carnivore diet is also popular choice. Vet Richard Palmquist advises reducing carbohydrates for pets as they have now been shown to cause illness in some dogs.
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