Are Grains Bad for My Pet?

Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition), technician learning and development manager at Ethos Veterinary Health, explains how grains such as corn can be beneficial for pets.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability).

“Corn is one of those grains that people like to stay away from [because] they think that animals don’t necessarily digest it well. I’m sure that some of that probably goes more to the fact of [for example], the family dog at a barbeque eating some corn on the cob that they shouldn’t have, and not to be too graphic, but, it looks a lot the same coming out as it did going in.

But people have to remember that when grain is put into a pet food, it’s being processed. And so for corn, let’s say, to be processed to be put into a food, it’s being cooked, it’s being under a lot of high pressure. That [process is] taking out all the water and the starch and so really we’re left with a lot of protein within that corn diet. That really is really good for the amino acids; it’s good for their coat, it has a lot of good benefits like that.

Each grain is going to be a little bit different but they all have very good qualities that they’re used for.”