Over the past 40 years, the health of cats and dogs has declined. A 2024 study of 40,000 dogs shows that their health is now three times worse than it was 40 years ago. This really stands out to me because, growing up in the 1970s, I clearly remember that the dogs and cats from my childhood and early adulthood were much healthier and didn’t have many of the health problems we see today.
When I was growing up and in my early adulthood, I remember most of the dogs, even large breeds, in our community living into their teens, and cats often living for decades.
Just like human medicine, veterinary medicine has made great progress thanks to the education, experience and dedication of those in the field.
The Ongoing Decline in the Health of Cats and Dogs
Studies show that the genetics of cats and dogs can strongly affect how long they live and how likely they are to get certain diseases, just like in humans. This could be partly caused by irresponsible breeding driven by ignorance or greed. Responsible breeding of cats is even less common. The reality is, dogs are mostly bred for their looks or behavior (temperament), not for their health or ability to live a long life.
Environmental factors are important: If something isn’t good for humans, it’s likely even worse for cats and dogs! Common things in our environment today, like lawn treatments, pesticides, air fresheners, detergents, and many other chemicals that didn’t exist 40 years ago, are definitely contributing to health problems. This affects humans, but it’s even more significant for the health and lifespan of our cats and dogs. Just like with humans, not getting enough exercise can lead to poorer health and a shorter lifespan. In fact, even a long daily walk might not be enough for dogs. Most cats are also not active enough.
We Are What We Eat – Cats and Dogs Are What They Eat
What we feed our pets and what we allow them to consume is just as important as any other factor. Fortunately, we have the most control over what our cats and dogs eat and how we nourish them with biologically appropriate, species-specific nutrition.
Unlike humans, our cats and dogs rely entirely on us to decide what they eat. Their health, happiness, and lifespan depend on the choices we make for them, which is why it’s crucial to seriously think about nutrition.
In human nutrition, we know that junk food—like Twinkies—isn’t good for us, even if it’s readily available at the store.
Humans often choose healthy foods like salads, thinking they're making the best choice for their health. However, salads can have risks like harmful bacteria, pesticides, and too much dressing that adds extra sugars and fats. Similarly, dogs and cats that eat processed pet food might unknowingly be exposed to hidden sugars, highly processed fats, and potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the label. While processed pet food is marketed as healthy, it often lacks the quality we expect and may contain harmful ingredients. Both humans and pets can fall short of getting the full health benefits they expect, even with good intentions.
The pet food industry often promotes processed products as the healthiest option. Advertisements and shiny labels with pictures of whole meats, fruits, and vegetables are common. However, the truth is that most pet foods are rarely made from real whole foods. They are usually made from synthetic vitamins and waste products from the human food chain. To make things worse, it’s very difficult to figure out what’s really in most foods for cats and dogs.
While many informed pet owners are advocating for feeding real, whole, fresh foods to cats and dogs, most of the pet food and veterinary industries promote processed products. The pet food and veterinary industries downplay the nutritional significance of real, whole foods and demand that kibble and canned food are the only safe options.
It's important to note that two large companies make over 90% of all pet food on the market. One of these same companies also owns more than 50% of all veterinary practices in the U.S.