
Copper – too much of a good thing? – Part 2
Like all industries, the pet food industry faces a multitude of challenges, the foremost one is producing a diet that meets or exceeds the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards and provides complete and balanced nutrition for all dogs or cats consuming that diet. This is a Herculean task considering that scientists, vets, and nutritionists are not in full agreement on many aspects of pet nutrition. There are simply too many variables, and when things go wrong the results can be heartbreaking.
History of Copper Levels
In 2007, AAFCO removed its safe upper limit on the amount of copper that can be added to dog and cat food. This decision was based partially on the knowledge that older feed trials and studies used copper oxide as their copper source. Newer studies using copper sulfate indicate it is more bioavailable. Normally, higher bioavailability is a favorable characteristic, however, the amount of copper dogs and cats need is extremely small, and too much copper can lead to toxicity. So with AAFCO removing safe upper limits for copper (which EU countries have not done) and pet food companies using the more readily assimilated copper sulfate, it is not too surprising that we are seeing an increase in Copper Storage Disease.
Both copper oxide and copper sulfate are synthetic minerals created in a laboratory. Traditional scientists claim that man-made vitamins and minerals are molecularly identical to naturally occurring vitamins and minerals found in food. This is a highly debated topic with intelligent and sincere experts arguing on both sides of the issue. But we must not forget that vitamins and minerals do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of a complex system that includes many valuable co-factors which work synergistically to benefit the body. Synthetic vitamins and minerals fracture that delicate system, and no one knows exactly what benefits are lost. While I am certainly not an expert, it seems obvious to me that the closer a pet’s diet adheres to its time-proven, ancestral whole-food diet the healthier that animal will be. To be fair, for short-term therapeutic use in treating a specific disease, vitamin/mineral supplementation may be necessary. But for normal, healthy dogs and cats, all of their nutritional needs can and should be supplied through natural food sources.
However, this is simply not an achievable goal for kibble diets mainly because the high levels of heat required to produce a uniformly shaped and shelf-stable kibble destroys most naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. To create a life-sustaining dry kibble, synthetic vitamins and minerals must be added. Please note that when we talk about kibble diets and AAFCO standards, we talk about a life-sustaining, not a life-threatening or life-enhancing diet. Lately, some kibble companies claim their supplements come from food-based ingredients and this is a step in the right direction. But the high temperatures and other harsh processing methods necessary for manufacturing kibble make potency issues questionable and also kill all of the enzymes in their food making the digestion/assimilation of the nutrients very hard on our pet’s bodies.
Will experts ever agree on vitamin/mineral levels or natural vs. synthetic supplements and give pet food companies a 100% accurate diet formula for our pets? Probably not, because every idea is a theory, an estimate, or a range of possibilities based on a hypothetical average. When you realize that many pets fall outside of the average norm, it is easy to understand why many dogs and cats suffer nutritional imbalances and the resulting diseases. Basically these nutritional recommendations are an educated guess based on the best science we have at this moment. With ongoing scientific inquiries, tomorrow we may need to reassess today’s theories and start anew. The best way to protect your pet from human-generated vitamin/mineral deficiencies or excesses is to study their evolutionary diet ingredients and follow what nature has been dictating for eons.
Raw Diet
This is the idea behind feeding your dog or cat a raw, meat-based, carnivore-friendly diet. Scientists who have studied these diets have suggested that organ meats (where copper is mainly found) should make up approximately 6-10% of a dog’s raw, whole-food diet. Feline percentages are very similar with some experts suggesting a slightly higher percentage. These guidelines follow a prey animal feeding model and successfully meet carnivore vitamin/mineral requirements, avoiding unnecessary supplement additions. You will not need to worry about fractionated, unbalanced vitamins or minerals because whole foods contain the proper proportions of elements that our pets need and can safely utilize. Whole foods also do not contain artificial preservatives, coloring agents, fillers, binders, and other inflammatory ingredients usually found in kibble diets.
Convenience V.S. Lifestyle
While it may seem convenient for you to feed your pet a kibble diet full of unnatural, over-processed, synthetic-laden dead food, please consider the health consequences to your pet. If you truly care for your dog or cat, feeding a complete and balanced, live, raw food diet is the best way to keep them safe from human dietary errors often found in commercial kibble and canned pet foods. Thinking of your treasured pet, is it that difficult to choose?