petfoodpro 3/2023

MARKETING
The Vet‘s Corner
Interview with Dr. Gilch,
specialist veterinary practice
Dr. Constanze Gilch
Dr. Constanze Gilch
Dr. Constanze Gilch runs a specialist veterinary practice in Postbauer-Heng, Germany. The range of services
includes ophthalmology, dermatology, surgery, internal medicine and dentistry.
What is high-quality pet food in
your opinion?
The term "high-quality" has changed
considerably in recent years. Every pet
owner understands it differently. In my
opinion, high-quality pet food consists
of good ingredients without too many
additives. Because many of these
additives are not really necessary and
you often don't know how many of them
are actually included. What may be good
for us humans is not necessarily good
for an animal. High quality pet food
should contain the actual ingredient
in good quality. It is important that
the food covers the individual needs
of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and all
necessary minerals and vitamins of the
respective animal.
Does it have to be organic?
Yes, for me personally it does. After all I
do not only want my pet to be well, but
also that the animal I feed it had a nice
life.
What does "complete" nutrition
mean for pets?
A food is complete if it can meet an
animal's entire requirement for the
nutrients it needs. It is important to
distinguish between complete feed
and supplementary feed. Complete
food offers all necessary ingredients in a
balanced relation. Possibly the support
of a nutritionist can be useful.
What do you mean by "speciesappropriate"
pet food?
A pet food is species-appropriate if
it provides what is similar to a food
found in the wild. With a vegan diet
of a pet, however, it could become
difficult, because this can lead to serious
deficiency symptoms. A vegan diet may
be temporarily necessary as an exclusion
diet for severe allergies, for example to a
specific protein. However, it is important
to replace the vitamin B12. If you
prepare the food yourself, you should
always have the ration calculated by a
professional.
What developments have you
observed in the field of pet
food in recent years?
In the past 20 years, two main trends
have been visible. On the one hand, a
grain-free diet has become established,
since grain was sometimes used as a
cheap filler in pet food. However, grainfree
diets can cause various diseases,
such as heart disease, which are not
curable. Of course, this also depends on
the particular animal: a dog obviously
needs grain in certain amounts, whereas
a cat does not. This was not even known
until a few years ago. While veterinary
medicine is already further along here
and has recognized the benefits of
substances from the grain for dogs,
this knowledge has unfortunately not
yet made its way to pet owners and
pet stores. On the other hand, there is
a trend toward rare protein sources to
give pets something special, such as
horse meat, kangaroo, water buffalo or
insects. Here I clearly see a tendency
towards humanization. And this trend
is not necessarily good for the animal,
because more and more often patients
come to the practice with the suspicion
of a feed intolerance, which have already
received all "rare protein sources" at the
age of 1 or 2 years. So there is no room at
all for a food change to something they
are guaranteed not to react to yet. This
becomes difficult at the latest when all
attempts with alternative carbohydrate
and protein sources have already been
exhausted at the beginning of a therapy.
Rare protein sources should therefore
not be offered from the outset.
What do you think about
BARFING (to feed a natural raw
diet)?
There are patients who cannot tolerate
maximum processed food and readymade
products. If the food is actually
self-prepared, it is a good thing. After
all, there is a good intention behind it if
you want to know what is in it. BARFING
with prepared products in the form
of a "ready-made sausage", however, I
consider dangerous, because there are
many bacteria and fecal germs in it. Here
it is always important to have a good
source of supply of the ingredients used.
48
Technology & Marketing