Pets Magazine November 2018

Vet
expectancy. So, if you want
your furry friends around as
long as possible, it’s a good idea
to pay attention to how much
carbohydrate they are eating -
and keep it to a minimum.
In nature, cats get about 98% of
their energy from proteins and
only about 1-2% from
carbohydrate sources. Dogs are
much better at breaking down
carbohydrates, but still get the
majority of their energy
from protein sources in
the wild.
Yet, modern commercial
pet food often contains
much higher amounts of
carbohydrates than our
pets are used to - as
much as 70% of
commercial dog food is made
up of carbohydrates.
The reason is simple:
carbohydrate is much cheaper
to produce than protein.
Properly processed, these carbs
shouldn’t do too much damage
to dogs, but will cause
problems for cats. And in both
cases, the amount of carbs
we’re feeding our pets is much
higher than in the wild.
Owners also often don’t realise
the amount of carbohydrate
their pets are getting; those bits
of toast and pizza crust can end
up causing digestive problems
like IBS, diabetes, and
diarrhoea.
Fortunately, there is a lot of
research currently being
conducted into the field of gut
microbiomes in mammals.
One such study, carried out by
Tharos, found that an energyrich
malt extract containing
amylase helped horses digest
carbohydrates better, leading to
“The amount of carbs
we’re feeding our pets
is much higher than in
the wild...”
more energy and fewer
gastrointestinal issues.
It’s actually very unusual to
find measurable evidence of a
product positively altering the
gut microbiome. Often socalled
probiotics make little
measurable difference to the
enzyme makeup of the gut
microbiome. So, to find a
measurable change is
incredibly significant and
shows that the extract is
reaching the intestine without
being denatured by stomach
acid along the way.
Given these incredibly positive
results, we expect that a version
of the malt extract could be
Pets Magazine
developed for cats and dogs to
increase the levels of amylase
and help them better digest
carbohydrates. This should
result in less malfermentation
in the gut, leading to fewer
cases of IBS and diarrhea, and
to happier, healthier pets.
The fact that cats have been
licking spoons clean in early
tests shows that animals love
the taste of the malty flavour. It
may also turn out that the malt
extract can be used to
encourage pets to ingest
medications such as worming
tablets as well, something
which will delight cat owners
when it arrives!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr Rosemary Waring is an
expert with Tharos, a scienceled
health company focused on
animal digestive health,
malfermentation, and the gut
microbiome. Dr Waring
qualified in Natural Sciences at
the University of Cambridge
and completed a PhD in
Biochemistry at the University
of Birmingham.
Web: http://tharos.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
TharosEquine
LinkedIn: https://
www.linkedin.com/company/
17945663/