Phosphorus and sodium contents in commercial wet foods for dogs and cats

Abstract

It has been reported that wet foods for dogs and cats have high levels of sodium and phosphorus due to their composition. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the sodium and phosphorus contents in wet pet foods, and compare it to daily requirements for both species. Twenty‐five commercial wet foods for adult animals were evaluated, 13 for dogs and 12 for cats. The analyses’ results were compared to the European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF 2018) recommendations. All foods contained phosphorus and sodium amounts above minimum requirements. Three wet foods for dogs exceeded the safe upper limit for phosphorus, and four wet foods for dogs and three for cats exceeded 3.75 g of sodium/1,000 kcal metabolizable energy (ME), considered safe by FEDIAF. No studies were found at the present time evaluating whether higher sodium levels are safe for dogs and cats; however, consumption of high phosphorus diets has been associated with adverse effects on renal function parameters. Therefore, more studies are necessary to investigate the health implications of phosphorus and sodium concentrations observed in some foods evaluated in this research.

Drivers and facilitators of hunting behaviour in domestic cats and options for management

“…With the advent of commercial pet food manufacture, owners can, in principle, provide a complete diet to their cats, which fulfils their macronutrient, micronutrient and amino acid requirements. Nevertheless, some nutrients may be diminished or lost during manufacturing, some foods rely on plant protein sources, potentially compromising bioavailability of amino acids (Kanakubo et al 2015), and some brands do not meet all micronutrient recommendations (Davies et al 2017, Brunetto et al 2019. Thus, we accord with Bradshaw et al (1999) that a selective advantage of retaining wild behaviours arose from "the probability that diets provided by people were unlikely to meet their nutritional requirements".…”

Effects of dietary phosphates from organic and inorganic sources on parameters of phosphorus homeostasis in healthy adult dogs

“…Modern pet food often contains significantly higher levels of P than the recommended daily allowance in animals, with levels sometimes exceeding the requirements more than fivefold [ 5 – 11 , 86 ]. Moreover, not only the amount of total P but also of highly soluble P (P sol1 ) can be extremely high in processed feed [ 9 ].…”

Mineral Composition of Cereal and Cereal-Free Dry Dog Foods versus Nutritional Guidelines

“…In this study all tested foods were in compliance with FEDIAF [3] recommendation, both in terms of minimum and maximum recommended levels. It is worth remembering that high levels of P may be due to the composition of mainly fresh meats [39], since animal protein contains more P than plant protein. In our study, analyzed dog foods with the highest P content (ranging from 0.938 to 1.204 g/100 g DM) were also characterized by a high protein content, above 30% of DM (ranging from 34.14 to 38.97 g/100 g DM).…”

“…Na excess, in addition to heart disease, chronic kidney disease, damage to the gastric mucosa and stomach cancer, may also impair Ca homeostasis by increasing risk factors for Ca oxalate formation [44]. Such high amounts of Na can therefore pose a health risk to dogs, and excessive amounts of Na in dog food have previously been reported [39]. Further studies are needed to investigate what concentrations are safe for dogs.…”

“…In our study among the calculated minimum ratios, only the Na:K ratio was met in all tested foods. In turn, Brunetto et al [39] examined 25 wet foods for dogs and cats, whereof 28% of tested foods exceeded 1.5 g/100 g DM of Na, which is regarded as safe by FEDIAF [3]. However, FEDIAF declares that perhaps higher levels may be safe, but no scientific data are available.…”