Learn How To Read a Pet Food Ingredient Label - Pt 3

Marketing Labels

Marketing labels such as "natural", or "premium", or "veterinarian recommended" or "prescription" are not necessarily indicative of high quality so please be careful not to fall into that trap.

"Indoor only" is another meaningless marketing label that is nothing more than an enticing gimmick. This label originally started out in the dry food market but it has now made its way to canned food labels. Cats did not stop being obligate carnivores just because we put a roof over their heads.

If you are thinking about feeding any 'breed-specific' food, please see this link for some straight-forward comments about the utterly absurd claims that these companies make regarding these diets. A Siamese is no different from Persian or a Maine Coon - or an 'alley cat' - when considering optimal dietary composition. No matter the breed, the cat is still an obligate carnivore.

Royal Canin was one of the first companies to come out with these breed specific diets as a marketing gimmick.

The labels on Hill's over-the-counter products contain a statement that says "Veterinarian Recommended".

Unfortunately, many of my colleagues do, indeed, recommend products made by Hill’s (as well as Purina, Iams, and Royal Canin) and this is a testament to the fact that most veterinarians are not well-versed in proper feline nutrition and simply defer to these large companies that have huge marketing budgets. These large budgets include substantial sums of money dedicated to sponsoring - including very heavy advertising - our professional meetings and infiltrating veterinary schools to get students ‘married’ to their products.

Keep in mind that a large marketing budget does not equate with the manufacturing of high quality or healthy products.