What Is Palatability—and Why Is It So Important for a Dog’s Food?

It goes without saying that the taste of our food matters. Yet we can overlook palatability when it comes to choosing our dogs’ food.

Food is a big part of any animal’s day, and a huge factor in the quality of their life. It’s rewarding to think that our dogs enjoy the food that we provide, and that it’s contributing to their well-being. If they don’t like it, there’s a good chance they won’t eat enough of it to get the energy and nutritional value that it’s designed to provide. Dr. Rae Sires, one of the in-house Board-Certified Veterinary Nutritionists® at The Farmer’s Dog, puts it this way: “A complete and balanced food in the dog’s food bowl cannot benefit them and contribute to their health and wellness if the dog isn’t willing to eat it.”

Here’s what we know about dogs’ taste in food, and how to choose a diet that will get them excited for mealtime every day. 

How do we know how palatable a dog food is?

Palatability is, simply, how appealing an animal finds their food. At face value, it might seem like an abstract concept. Who’s to say that what’s palatable for one dog is palatable for all? Dogs, like humans, have different preferences. But when it comes to pet-food palatability, there’s rigorous and standardized testing to determine how one diet compares to another.   

“Quantitative measures include variables which can be directly measured, including the length of time a dog eats a certain food or chews on a treat, or the actual weight of the food that the dog eats at one time,” Dr. Sires says. 

She adds that qualitative evaluation methods “can be a little more challenging to assess.” The qualitative assessments don’t involve such specific values. They’re instead determined through observing dogs eat. Researchers look for which food the dog approaches first, whether they lick the food, or if they turn their heads away from it and walk away. 

Clinical studies have shown that fresh, gently cooked food from The Farmer’s Dog is highly palatable.

Palatability as a therapeutic treatment for inappetence

When your dog is sick, one of the first things you may notice is that they lose all or most of their interest in eating. Inappetence can appear in a few different ways: There’s anorexia, or refusal to eat; and hyporexia, where the dog shows less interest in food than normal. A more palatable food can be therapeutic for dogs experience either type of inappetence.

“The more palatable the food,” Dr. Sires says, “the more likely the dog will eat it, which can be very beneficial when you are attempting to entice a dog that doesn’t feel well—one recovering from surgery, for example—to eat.”

There are many diseases that can cause inappetence, including certain cancers, gastroenteritis, kidney disease, liver disease, and others. Dr. Alex Schechter, veterinarian and founder of Burwood Veterinary in Michigan, says when confronted with a patient with inappetence, he’ll recommend a more palatable food like The Farmer’s Dog immediately to make sure they’re getting enough calories while he figures out the underlying cause. He also points out that dogs need to be eating consistently in order for medications to be effective. 

Palatability as a solve for picky eating

Sometimes palatable food is therapeutic, and sometimes it’s simply the best solution for a picky eater. When confronted with pickiness, enlist your veterinarian’s help to rule out any underlying medical cause. But barring any major health issues, there are a few common (and surmountable) reasons a dog might turn his nose up at dinner. A recent switch in food can cause a dog to show picky behavior as they’re leery of the new grub. And, occasionally, a dog may not be eating because their food is just not appetizing to them.

Kibble is an ultra-processed food; it’s made via a high-heat, high pressure process that produces a dried pellet. Pet-food companies may then add palatants to the dried pellets—these substances will typically show up on the label as “natural flavors.” They are intended to improve the food’s smell, taste, and occasionally texture, but, even with the addition of palatants, a dog could still find the food unappealing.

Dr. Schechter explains the simple at-home method for assessing how much your dog likes their food: “Basically, you put the food down and see if your dog will eat it and how quickly. If you set kibble down and it sits there all day and he eats it and he grazes throughout the day and it takes six hours? Probably not the most palatable.”

The obvious concern about pickiness from a veterinary perspective, after ruling out any major illness, is that a picky eater is not getting sufficient calories or nutrition to maintain their weight and health. But picky eating can also lead to excess weight, perhaps paradoxically. Vets generally agree that treats should not make up more than 10% of a pet’s total daily caloric intake, but when a dog isn’t eating their meal, a concerned owner often does the natural thing: add toppers to the food, offer more treats, or slip them food from the table in hard-to-measure quantities. Caloric intake and the right balance of nutrients become more difficult to control. 

“The owners [are] just giving [their dogs] all this food because they’re worried about their calorie intake. It’s a lot easier for some of the patients to eat The Farmer’s Dog, where it’s controlled portions that you know they’ll eat,”  Dr. Schecter says.

Finding nutritious food that a dog will eat happily—without worrying about extras and toppers—can offer peace of mind for dog owners and lead to a healthier, happier lifestyle for their pups.

The post What Is Palatability—and Why Is It So Important for a Dog’s Food?  appeared first on The Farmer’s Dog - Digest.