Revealed: Better advice on specialist pet diets needed

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This article is part of our digital feature on petcare

Specialist petcare brands need to do more to communicate the purported benefits of grain and gluten-free diets for cats and dogs, research for The Grocer suggests.

More than a third (34%) of pet owners believe specialist products are not taken seriously enough. The research by Harris Interactive backs this up: while 19% are glad quality specialist products are available, a quarter believe people who buy such products are ‘well-meaning but misguided’ and 21% say they are an ‘expensive waste of time’.

Despite this, specialist brands are winning growing shelf space. “There are many growing trends around the humanisation of pets, and rightly so,” says Henrietta Morrison, founder of organic grain-free pet foodbrand Lily’s Kitchen. “Gone are the days when the family pet is ’just a dog’ and survives on scraps and waste. We recognise their needs and want to nourish them.

Specialist petfood (gluten-free, grain-free, etc) is growing in popularity. Which statement do you most agree with?

	Total	Male	Female
They’re not taken seriously enough - it’s important these options are available	35%	31%	38%
People who buy them are well-meaning but misguided	25%	27%	23%
Specialist petfood like that is an expensive waste of time	21%	23%	20%
Standard petfood is often poor quality - I am glad better options are becoming available	19%	20%	19%

“Cats and dogs have different nutritional needs to humans, therefore grain-free foods aren’t specialist but just the correct nutrition required. Cats are obligate carnivores so a diet free from grains is absolutely required. However, this doesn’t mean you can just feed a tin of tuna or chicken breast, as cats also require taurine. This is why you really need to ensure the recipes are complete.”

Therein lies another potential opportunity: communicating the dangers of feeding pets human food. A staggering 56% of pet owners say they feed their pets human food as a ‘treat’; only 21% recognise that doing so is bad for pet health, while 11% say they do it every day and a further 11% do so occasionally but feel guilty afterwards.

Do you ever feed your pet(s) human food?

	Total	Male	Female
Very occasionally as a treat	56%	55%	58%
No - it’s very bad for them	22%	22%	22%
Every day - it cuts down on food waste	11%	11%	11%
Sometimes but I feel guilty when I do	11%	12%	9%

Greater eductation on the potential dangers of gluten - from either human or petfood - is needed, suggests Guy Blaskey, founder of Pooch & Mutt, which produces entirely gluten-free pet food. “When it comes to the question of gluten, there is a far stronger argument that dogs should have a gluten-free diet than there is that humans should,” he says.

“Human digestive systems have had 10,000 years to adapt to gluten, dogs have only been fed it since cheap, mass-market brands started using wheat to make up 90% of their food. The potential for the market is huge; 40% of UK households own pets and pets are increasingly being treated as members of the family, so are getting better food.”

He adds that with more consumers purchasing independent brands such as Ella’s Kitchen and Bottle Green for themselves, they are doing the same for their pets: “Specialist diets are becoming more common and inherently less specialist. Brands like Pooch & Mutt were not available from supermarkets as little as five years ago. That’s changing.”

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