Fruits and Vegetables in Pet Foods

Do cats and dogs need fruits and vegetables? The answer lies in understanding what they choose to eat in the wild. That is what their genetics dictates and what we should heed. The entire prey of carnivores is consumed--including the viscera with organs and GI tract filled with the fruits and vegetables that have been consumed by their herbivorous prey. Thus it would be appropriate to provide small amounts of these elements to the diets of cats and dogs. The vitamin, mineral, and nutraceutical benefits of fruits and vegetables are well known and scientifically substantiated. The fruit and vegetable components of most Wysong diets are minimal. In the Archetype all-meat varieties they constitute less than a tenth of a percent.

Nevertheless, we get letters of complaint claiming that the fruits and vegetables in these diets are improper and could harm their pets. No science, no proof, just a claim picked up somewhere in the abundant pet food lore that circulates.