Feel guilty about what you feed your pet? Find a more sustainable way to do so

If you cook for your dog yourself and feed it raw food, you need special knowledge about the Barf method (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food). — Photos: dpa

Cats and dogs are passionate carnivores, while their food is often wrapped in plastic packaging – a worrying fact for shoppers concerned about sustainability.

Pet owners can act to mitigate the environmental impact, says Kathrin Irgang, a Berlin veterinarian who provides nutritional counselling for small animals.

Pet food is often packed in plastic – why is that? And are there alternatives?

Irgang: It is not easy to package pet food. Dried food, for example, is sprayed with fat so you can’t put it in simple paper bags.

But there is now food in paper bags with compostable film, and treat biscuits in paper cups. You can also buy wet food in tetrapaks and jars – although glass is heavy, of course, so it’s hard to carry.

If you cook your own food or feed it raw, you can minimise packaging waste a lot.

Are these realistic alternatives?

You can cook your own pet food or give them raw food. But you need to get some information, as just giving them some more vegetables and a bit of meat does not automatically meet their needs.

Feeding cats a completely plant-based diet is theoretically possible, but also complicated and a challenge for their digestive tract.

Dogs and cats are hunting animals, they don’t only eat muscle meat but need certain minerals from bones and offal, as well as vitamins. So I strongly advise you to get some nutritional counselling from a qualified veterinarian to put together a good diet.

Isn’t the pet competing with humans for food?

Not necessarily, with the right diet. Offal is definitely part of it. Dogs, for example, also eat udders, which we don’t eat. But cats are highly selective; they only eat what they became familiar with during their first months of life.

With cats, you can’t just think, your pet will get hungry and eat it eventually. That is not true, cats would otherwise not eat at all.

So it is difficult to change a cat if they did not grow up with home-cooked food.

So how can I feed my cat in a way that is more sustainable?

It is hard. Dry food is now available for cats and dogs, made out of insect protein – using larvae from soldier flies and producing it takes less resources than regular food, at least according to the manufacturer. There are also food manufacturers who only use wild animals or who consider whether free-range farming methods are involved.

Can you feed dogs and cats entirely on plant-based food?

In theory, yes, but only if the animals are not growing, pregnant or giving milk to their young.

But it is complicated to make sure your pet gets a diet that meets their needs, especially with cats. You have to be very careful with this type of feeding.

Also, sometimes the alternatives out there contain plant protein that is hard to digest, and a lot of carbohydrates, which can be challenging for prey animals to digest.

Feeding the dog special dry food for their whole diet is often unpopular because it contains animal by-products and carbohydrates, isn’t it?

Dogs aren’t wolves, they can digest carbohydrates, just not in too large quantities. When you look more closely at animal by-products, often these are parts of the carcass that humans don’t eat, so that is good news in terms of sustainability.

The dry food should suit your pet’s needs, if it’s labelled as being suitable for their whole diet – though that also applies to canned food, of course.

Dogs often pick up rotten things outdoors and don’t seem to worry much about perishable food – so could they be given things that would otherwise be thrown away?

You can keep an opened can in the fridge for about two days, but then you should throw it away – a dog’s stomach acid is not capable of killing all germs.

Giving your pet raw meat is not risk-free, for you or your dog as it could contain germs and parasites. Many also make the mistake of defrosting frozen food, dividing it up into portions and then freezing it again, which makes it even more dangerous.

Buying ready-made meat meals for your dog can be difficult as you might not know what has been added and how much. You do need to be aware of what the different food offerings available contain so you can be sure your dog is getting a diet that is nutritionally suitable.

What else can pet owners do?

First of all, something very simple: Feed your pet less if they are getting fat – 60% of domestic dogs are too fat, which is bad for their health and the environment.

And consumers should buy food that is not enriched with superfoods or has been transported long distances.

So for example, think linseed rather than chia, as a good regional alternative. – dpa