Dr. Jean Hofve has more than 30 years of veterinary experience, and is a respected authority on holistic pet health and nutrition. Her books, articles, and videos on pet food and nutrition have appeared around the world. She has been an official advisor to AAFCO, the organization that sets standards for pet food for almost 25 years. She has long been a voice for animals and against the powerful pet food lobby.
Pets can be environmentally expensive. U.S. dogs and cats consume roughly a third of America’s animal-derived energy. Some analyses have blamed pet food for as much as 25–30% of the environmental impacts from animal production, including land use, water use, fossil fuels, fertilizers, and agricultural chemicals. That sounds alarming—but most estimates are based on theoretical models, not direct measurement. The results depend on how emissions are measured and allocated, and what assumptions the authors rely on. The most frequently cited analyses are also the most unrealistic. Pet food primarily uses ...
Data suggest that diet is largely irrelevant in terms of extending longevity... On the other hand, there is plenty of research showing that the more prey-like the diet, the better for the cat. Certainly dry cat food has no place in the diet if longevity is the goal.
The story of copper toxicity from commercial pet food is really a "series of unfortunate events." You might be interested to see what goes on behind the scenes and how the pet food industry--how it's completely profit motivated and fundamentally uninterested in the health of our pets.
Dr. Jean has more than 30 years of experience as an integrative feline veterinarian. She offers both brief (30-minute) or full virtual consultations to guide you to the best health plan for your cat.
Dr. Jean is now offering no-cost nutritional consulting for both cats and dogs with high quality Standard Process supplements.
There's a ton of cat feeding advice on the internet, and books galore, but if you want the real why and how to create the best plan for you, "What Cats Should Eat," by holistic feline veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve, gives you the key to your cat's optimal health!
FINAL UPDATE 12/27/22 The FDA has closed its investigation into this matter, saying there is "insufficient evidence" to establish a causal link between diet and DCM in dogs. They will not be providing any further updates. NOTE: We now know that, as suspected all along, the purported link between grain-free pet foods and heart disease was entirely speculative. I can say with confidence that grain-free foods DO NOT cause heart disease in dogs or cats. There was and is no scientific evidence to support FDA's original theory, much less its naming ...
I admit, it really irks me when companies who know nothing about feline nutrition give bad advice to their customers. This is the case with Assisi Animal Health, which manufactures a device called the Assisi Loop. Now, the product is a good one and I've heard great reports about it. But they should stick to what they know! Here are a few of the things they got wrong in a recent article published by Business Insider. "Your first look at a bag of cat food should ensure that it has the American ...
Updated 11/13/25 With 80 zillion products on store shelves, you've probably gotten the message about Omega-3 fatty acids. But did you know that they're just as important for pets as for people? The anti-inflammatory effects of Omega-3s EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid) have been thoroughly researched, and are abundantly proven to be beneficial for dogs and cats. (If you'd like more background info, please click here for a more general article on Omega-3s.) I've been a big fan of Omega-3s for many years. In fact, I even served ...
The fish used in pet food may contain all kinds of toxins and drug residues, including persistent organic pollutants that actually stop the body from eliminating it and other toxins. Another common toxin, domoic acid, may be an unrecognized factor in chronic kidney disease.
Many thanks to Susan Thixton at TruthAboutPetFood.com for letting us reprint her excellent article here, which applies 100% to cat food as well as dog food. The multiple rounds of heat processing that pet food undergoes causes many deleterious changes that can harm our pets. And it's worse than most people even imagine. How many times are Ingredients cooked in Kibble Pet Foods? Do you know the processing involved in the manufacturing of kibble pet food? How many times are the ingredients cooked? The answer might surprise you. Pet food ...
Updated 5/17/20. Questions about coconut oil keep coming up, so I thought I'd explain in why I recommend not giving it to their cats and dogs. Humans have lived with coconut palms for millennia. Primates, including early humans, ate, and still eat, coconuts. Coconut is a natural food for us. The carnivore's natural diet is high in both protein and animal fat. Wild animals But there are only three essential fatty acids (EFA) that cats must obtain from their diet: linoleic acid (LA), alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and arachidonic acid (AA). ...
Updated 3/23/18 As part of my duties as an AAFCO advisor and member of several Working Groups, I attend numerous webinars and teleconferences. In one group, the discussion centered around the use of 4D meats and other rotten junk in pet food, and the consensus was that as long as these things are rendered (heat-processed) to kill pathogens, they're perfectly fine for pet food. Well, that just isn't true. So I put together the following document to show that there are MANY potential toxic principles in pet food that need ...
Many thanks to our good friend Mollie Morrissette for her excellent reporting on this issue. This is one more reason for why it is so important to have consumer representatives at AAFCO meetings--we provide a layer of protection (and a warning to these guys that we are watching!) when feed suppliers want to use harmful or non-edible feed materials. A similar ingredient ("Fat product, feed grade") was discussed at the last two meetings, and despite opposition from industry, was finally banned. Company warned to stop using revolting feed additives: Industrial grease, ...
Photo credit: Jean Hofve Updated 6/6/20 There have been a few myths about the desert plant Yucca schidigera floating around the internet. In particular, some are suggesting that yucca is not safe as a daily supplement, even though it's present in many pet foods. So it's time to set the record straight! Yucca is an extremely versatile and useful plant, but in large doses it is seriously irritating to the entire GI tract. There's a lot of it growing wild around my Colorado home, and it's definitely not ...
