When I first read Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats, updated and published by the National Research Council in 2006, my marketing persona wondered (among other things) if someone would pounce on the seasonal aspect of pet nutrition.
To be honest, I laughed it off. The variances are easily covered by a quality diet and clean water, so why bother?Apparently I was wrong, as we now have Seasons Natural, which appears to be based on the information in this publication.The Seasons Natural website states "In the wild, animals forage the seasonal foods presented by nature in preparation for the upcoming season.
A wild animal's diet changes with the seasons. At Seasons Natural®, we have employed the latest advances in pet nutrition to provide your pet a diet that is seasonally appropriate, just as nature intended."We're becoming very focused on what is natural in the wild.
This isn't a new concept in a field I specialize in - aquatic creatures. From environment to food, it's been well researched and discussed to exhaustion. What we've concluded is that we should definitely consider the wild diet when formulating captive diets, but that information must be adjusted to captive conditions.
For example, a livebearing fish in the wild normally has seasonal breeding cycles, diapauses, etc. In captivity, they usually breed all year so their captive diet should be modeled after their breeding season diet in the wild. Fishkeepers have also learned that behavior in the wild is often centered on survival, not because it's the ideal. A good example of that is the well known Betta splendens or 'Fighting Fish', It is a common belief that these fish can be kept in very small bowls because they can be found in shallow puddles in the wild.
However, while Bettas are capable of surviving in mud puddles during dry season, it isn't their ideal environment by a long shot.This is summed up well by Dr. Stephen Dreyer in his book, Feeding Tropical Fishes the Right Way, "What Nature has constructed as aids to survival must never be the rule for aquarists."This makes me wonder if we should be considering the seasonal diet of 'wild animals' when formulating the diet of domestic dogs at all.
Most dogs live in warm homes, so their metabolic changes due to a change of seasons should be nil. Their digestive evolution seems to have little to do with seasonal foraging, other than enabling them to uptake nutrients from various sources so they can survive. I wish this brand well with their idea and it looks like it would be fine to feed the food if it makes pet parents feel better.
They're pushing marketing limits though, and I think they're going to find that even the most 'natural' enthusiast will be a tough sell for this concept. I'm not concerned so much as intrigued by just how necessary it is. It would be interesting to have the experts weigh in on this notion. Is there really a notable difference in seasonal nutritional requirements?
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