PETS - New food may add years to their lives

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New food may add years to pets' lives By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 31/12/2001)

AN experimental pet food may make cats and dogs live longer by reducing the damage to genetic material linked with the diseases of ageing.

Preliminary evidence of the effects of the "functional food" was presented yesterday to the Waltham International Symposium in Vancouver, Canada, a gathering of academics and vets.

A DNA damage test to validate the antioxidant blend for cats and dogs has been developed by the Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, in Leicestershire, funded by Mars Pet Foods, the manufacturer of Pedigree Chum and Whiskas.

Patents are pending on the food, which mixes antioxidants, notably vitamins C and E, which mop up damaging chemical intermediates, called radicals.

In a controlled trial of 40 dogs fed the blend of vitamins and amino acids for only two months, DNA damage was reduced by 26 per cent compared with animals on a conventional diet.

Cats fed the blend displayed 17 per less DNA damage.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

Answers

HGH for animals!!!! I love my "babies" I don't know if I would put them on anything "new" until proven!

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

What if the pet doesn't like it? Does that mean it has to go to a shrink cuz it wants to die? This may cause more heartache than it's worth.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

SAR, Waltham is an extremely highly-respected petfood company in Europe and Canada. My lovely Italian vet put me on to them years ago when I was trying to get old Sooty to eat her Hill's low-protein diet--she hated it but would eat the Waltham's. When he took over the local PetsMart vet department, he chucked out all the prescription Hill's and put in Waltham's. BTW, Hill's gives vets petfood for their own animals--that may be why their commercials say "I'm a vet and I feed Hill's. . ." or "More vets feed their pets Hill's. . ." If my vet trusts Waltham's, then I do too! I just wish I could get the regular Waltham's dry food. Tell you what, though, when this new stuff comes on the market, if I have to order it from Podunk, I'll do it. If my kitties can live healthier lives, why not? Hell, like Sweetie said, can you get any of that for us?

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

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