Pet Health Tip - Digestive Enzymes

A majority of more health conscious consumers, like our clients, place a priority on the quality of their animal’s diet. This is a good idea since a nutritious diet can make a real difference in your dog or cat’s health. However, something that should be considered is how completely that food is digested. This is where the role of digestive enzymes becomes very important. If the expensive, premium food you are providing to your companion is not being properly digested then your animal is not going to derive all the benefits from their diet that they should. This can be harmful to their health and a waste of money as well.

Any food cooked at temperatures higher than 105 degrees or so have their enzymes destroyed during the cooking stages, so processed foods like kibble and canned diets are essentially dead foods. This means that the body, especially the pancreas, has to work much harder to digest the food that is eaten. Studies have shown that animals that eat processed food diets can have a pancreas that is four times larger than normal! The increase in diseases such as pancreatitis have, in our experience, a direct correlation to a lifetime of eating processed foods and the stress that places on the body. In addition, as an animal ages the amount of enzymes secreted decreases and research is drawing a correlation between the symptoms we experience as we age and a decline in enzyme production.

What should I do?

We recommend you provide either the Digestive Enzymes and Probiotics or the Daily Multi Plus with every meal. For animals that eat processed foods this is a must to avoid the consequences of a lifetime of eating enzyme deficient foods, but those fed whole food or raw diets also benefit. These supplements will ensure your dog or cat is digesting their food quickly and thoroughly and deriving all the nutrition possible from their diet. We and our animals take digestive enzymes with every meal everyday and we credit this habit with our family’s level of health and lack of the digestive disorders with which many others suffer.