Your Pets Daily - dog food

One in ten UK pets eat better than their owners!

Katie Court — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:00:00 +0000

With search terms such as 'raw pet supplies' (150%) and 'dog food' (160%) seeing a huge increase in searches over the past 12 months, Wren Kitchens has conducted research into the UK's attitudes towards pets in the kitchen and how much on average they're spending on pet food.

Being the additional members of our family, Brits also have the opportunity to create special pet areas within their kitchen designs to ensure that they're even more well cared for in the kitchen.

The Cities Spending The Most On Their Pets

Spending £543 on pet food each year, the research highlighted that almost one in ten Brits (9%) spend more on pet food than they do on household food.

A further 12% of Brits went on to admit that they spend the same amount on their pet as they do on their household food.

Breaking down the study by UK city, it was Liverpool that came out on top as the location that spends the most, with an average of £52 being spent on pet food every month.

City	Average monthly spends on pet food
Liverpool	£52
London	£50
Glasgow	£50
Birmingham	£50
Nottingham	£47
Leeds	£45
Belfast	£45
Cardiff	£44
Edinburgh	£44
Southampton	£42

Pets In The Kitchen
Brits love to spend quality time with their pets, but how has all this bonding impacted their attitudes to what they will and won't allow pets to do in the kitchen? Well, nearly a quarter (24%) of UK pet owners allow their animals to sit with them at the dinner table.

Not only do Brits enjoy sitting with their pets at mealtimes, but the research also revealed that more than a quarter (27%) of Brits allowed their pets to eat their leftovers, with one in six (15%) even letting their pets lick their plate clean.

When it comes to cooking in the kitchen, Brits are not leaving their animals out. In fact, the study showed that 24% of UK pet owners feed their animals home cooked food and one in ten (10%) Brits eat exactly the same meal as their pets...now that's puppy love!

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Vet reveals the popular dog food brands you should avoid feeding your dog

Your Pets Daily Editor — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 16:00:00 +0000

With so many brands to compare, it can be confusing to know what to look out for in ingredients lists, particularly if your dog has a sensitive tummy, an allergy or falls into the puppy or senior category.

To save dog owners the hard work, the in-house veterinary surgeon at Pooch & Mutt, Dr Linda Simon, has weighed in on some of the UK's most popular dog food brands to see what nutritional value they are really offering your furry friends.

Read below to see what Dr Simon thinks about these popular dog food brands.

Dry food: Pedigree Vital

As one of the original and most well-known commercial dog food brands in the UK, you'd think Dr Simon would give them a gleaming review. However, this is not the case.

"Dogs require a high-quality protein for muscle repair, as well as a healthy coat and skin, so ideally, a good quality dog food would have whole meat or fish as the first listed ingredient. This is not the case for Pedigree. Instead, Pedigree lists cereal as its first ingredient and only contains 7.2% meat as a whole."

"The recommended carbohydrate percentage in dog food is 20-45%. This Pedigree food contains 82% carbohydrates, which could lead to significant weight gain in dogs, not to mention other issues such as difficulty building muscle, passing more stools, experiencing more digestive problems and sluggishness."

"Dogs require a high-meat diet to get the nutrients they need, and Pedigree's focus on cereal and carbs alongside a very low meat content makes it less favourable in comparison to some other brands."

Sensitive stomachs: Hills Science Plan Perfect Digestion Adult 1+

"Pooches with sensitive tums need food that's specifically designed to aid digestion and gently support their delicate gut ecosystem; otherwise, they can suffer with frequent diarrhoea, constipation, bloatedness and/or smelly farts. Not a great time for the pooch... or the parent!"

"The ideal food for dogs with sensitive tummies avoids too many carbs, as that can lead to obesity, diabetes and other chronic medical issues. Some nutritionists also advise against grains and wheat, as many dogs find them hard to digest. Hill's contains an excess of carbs in its ingredients list - including wheat, maize, rice and oats."

"In reality, the best core ingredient for a gut-friendly dog food would be a whole, lean protein which helps build the dog's digestive system with its anti-inflammatory effects, instead Hills main ingredients are wheat and maize."

"Lots of dogs can digest all kinds of food, but if your dog has a sensitive stomach, you'll want to be more careful and choose gentle, digestible ingredients, something that unfortunately, this Hills Science food does not particularly offer."

Sensitive skin: Royal Canin Skin Care

"One of the big perks of feeding your dog the right diet is that it can contribute to comfortable skin that's free of itchiness and a smooth, shiny coat. Many dogs with sensitive skin have allergies - to grain or otherwise - so dog foods that contain grain will be riskier for them."

"Royal Canin has maize, gluten and rice as its first three ingredients when protein rather than carbs are of more benefit to a dog's diet."

"Dogs with sensitive skin benefit from supplements for skin and hydration. Collagen as well as omega fatty acids are great examples of this. Royal Canin does actually include omega fatty acids which are great to reduce inflammation. However, a dog with sensitive skin often has allergies, so foods full of grains - such as Royal Canin's - could be seen as riskier, so I would be cautious in choosing this food to help with your dog's sensitive skin."

For puppies: Harrington's Puppy

"Getting the food right for young pups is super important - they need all the extra nutrients and whole foods they can get to develop strong bones and muscles as they rapidly grow. Alongside this, the right food needs to be gentle on their small, delicate tummies."

"The first ingredient in Harrington's is 'meat meal' - a powder made from animal parts that humans don't consume. As it's created by rendering, this can affect nutrient bioavailability, meaning many of the important nutrients can be lost."

"It's key to know exactly what you're feeding puppies, so that if they react badly to a meal, you can clearly read the label to investigate the ingredients. The nutritional information of Harrington's is vague - it's unclear which meats are included. This means the contents could change over time and cause a reaction or digestive issues in your pup."

For seniors: Bakers Senior

"Much like puppies, senior dogs need special care when being fed - their diets must be gentle on the stomach yet full of whole ingredients to keep them nourished, lean and spritely in this late stage of life."

"Bakers contains a very low proportion of meat at 5.1%, which is not clearly labelled, and listed as 'Meat and animal derivatives".

"As a senior dog is less active than a younger dog and their metabolism has slowed, they shouldn't eat too many carbs wherever possible. Senior dogs who are overweight have a worse quality of life and tend to pass away months, or even years sooner than slender, healthier dogs. Bakers contains an excessive amount of carbohydrates, at 52% wholegrains."

"Finally, to help a senior dog have the best quality of life, the addition of supplements and nutraceuticals can have a positive impact on their ageing body and functions. Bakers contains no supplements or nutraceuticals, so whilst this might taste great to your pooch, it really won't be offering them much support in terms of their ageing joints and body."

Recycling pet food packaging made paw-sible by new initiative

Your Pets Daily Editor — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 11:47:59 +0000

Recycling pet food packaging made paw-sible by new initiative

· The UK's leading pet care business paves the way in recycling flexible plastic pet food packaging

· More than a quarter of pet owners are confused over what pet food packaging they can or can't recycle

· 14% would like to see their local pet shop offer a recycling point for pet food packaging

In an industry first, nationwide pet care business Pets at Home is leading the way by introducing a store take-back scheme through dedicated recycling points for flexible pet food packaging. The new initiative, which is being supported by pet food producers Mars and Purina PetCare, is being trialed across 40 stores and three Vets4Pets practices across the country and aims to combat flexible packaging waste in the sector, tackling the pet food packaging made of these materials.

New research* from environmental charity Hubbub, which has partnered with Pets at Home to run the trial, reveals that more than a quarter (26%) of pet owners say they are confused over what pet food packaging can or can't be recycled and 14% would like to see their local pet shop offer a recycling point for pet food packaging.

Flexible plastic packaging (plastic that can be bent, squeezed or scrunched) offers pet owners multiple benefits including a longer shelf life, portion control, and convenience. However, it is tricky to recycle meaning most councils and local recycling points are currently unable to offer flexible plastic recycling.

Through working with specialist recycler Enval, which has the ability to recycle and recover flexible plastic, the trial means pet food pouches go through a specially designed process to turn the packaging back into materials ready for reuse. Following the trial, the initiative will be rolled out wider across the country with the aim of having recycling points in the majority of Pets at Home stores by the end of next year.

Louise Stonier, Chief People and Culture Officer at Pets at Home, said: "We are really excited to be able to offer this service as we know it is important to make it convenient for our customers to return their used packaging when they come to our pet care centres. This is all part of "Our Better World Pledge" to create a better world for pets and the people who love them."

Jack Hodgkiss, Creative Partner at Hubbub, said: "This trial marks a significant stepping stone towards tackling the issues associated with plastic packaging. Around 44% of UK households have pets1 and most of them don't have access to flexible plastic recycling through their local council. We are thrilled to be partnering with Pets at Home to make flexible plastic recycling possible for many of the UK's pet owners."

Alison Bramfitt, Group Packaging Manager for Purina, said: "Purina's vision is that none of our packaging ends up in landfill or as litter, we are committed to working towards a waste free future. Currently in the UK only 16%** of councils collect flexible plastic. Collaborating with Pets at Home and Mars allows us to provide our consumers with further recycling options and increases the total amount of flexible plastic that is currently collected and recycled. We also continue to work on innovative solutions that will make our packaging easier to recycle."

Kim Smet, Interim General Manager for Mars Pet Nutrition UK, said: "We're delighted to be a partner in this initiative. Supporting the collection and recycling of flexible plastic packaging is an important step in realising our ambition of creating a circular economy where packaging never becomes waste, and ultimately of creating a better world for pets."

Pets at Home is appealing for pet owners local to the 40 participating Pets at Home stores and three Vets4Pets practices, to bring in their rinsed flexible plastic pet food packaging to be recycled. All pet food brands are accepted. For more information, visit: https://pearl.csiltd.co.uk/shop/en/pets/recycle# 

Your Pets Daily - dog food

One in ten UK pets eat better than their owners!

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Vet reveals the popular dog food brands you should avoid feeding your dog

Dry food: Pedigree Vital

Sensitive stomachs: Hills Science Plan Perfect Digestion Adult 1+

Sensitive skin: Royal Canin Skin Care

For puppies: Harrington's Puppy

For seniors: Bakers Senior

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Recycling pet food packaging made paw-sible by new initiative

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