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 They are Shih Tzus, a dog breed whose name comes from the Chinese
word for "lion dog."
"Absolutely, they know they are spoiled," says owner Stephanie
Patterson of Wooster, Ohio, who feeds her little canine friends
Merrick-brand culinary creations. "They are like my children, and I
don't want them eating anything I can't identify."
Patterson's Shih Tzus are not alone in eating like kings and queens.
The gourmet pet food on the shelves these days is hardly the
tasteless kibble of yore. Instead, pets are downing delicacies that
would not seem out of place on a multi-course tasting menu in Paris.
The brand Tiki Dog, for instance, offers wild-caught ahi tuna with
sweet potato, crab, egg, garlic and kale. Merrick's "French Country
Cafe" recipe features a blend of duck, carrots, Yukon Gold potatoes
and garden peas. Its "Cowboy Cookout" meal is a mélange of beef,
green beans and Granny Smith apples, and a case of 12 cans retails
for $35.88 at Petco.com, compared with $17.88 for a case of Purina
ProPlan.
Weruva brand - advertised as "People Food for Pets" - serves up
concoctions like Marbella Paella with mackerel ("Bring Spain to your
dog!"), as well as Steak Frites with pumpkin and sweet potatoes
($50.64 for 12 cans at Chewy.com).
Devoted pet owners, it seems, are lapping it up. Premium dog and cat
foods are slated to gobble up 51 percent of the market in 2015, or
more than medium- and bargain-priced brands combined, according to
market-research firm Euromonitor International.
The total food bill for America's dogs and cats amounted to $27.1
billion in 2014, with high-end fare accounting for $13.7 billion of
that.
It adds up to $263 per dog, per year, and $108 per cat, just for
food, according to Euromonitor.
That figure is no surprise to Jared Koerten, Euromonitor senior
analyst. He owns a Shih Tzu-Maltese mix, Lilly, who is partial to
freeze-dried delicacies.
"The trend is called 'pet humanization,' or treating them like your
own children," says Koerten. "People don't want to give their pets
anything they wouldn't eat themselves."
Indeed, the trend is especially potent with Millennials, who are 18
to 35. They are "coming into the market in a big way," Koerten says
- and while they may not be having kids as early as their parents
did, they are definitely "spoiling their little furbabies."
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GONE TO THE DOGS?
Is all this gourmet pet food - led by popular brands such as Blue
Buffalo Pet Products Inc , which just started trading publicly -
really necessary? After all, dogs have survived for millennia
without Iron Chef-worthy fare.
Pet owners have convinced themselves to hold to a higher standard,
says Alexandra Horowitz, who teaches psychology at Barnard College
and is author of the book "Inside of a Dog."
It's the "perfect convergence," she says: Anxious owners wanting to
give their pets the very best, and manufacturers more than willing
to give it to them (and charge them handsomely for it).
In that sense, owners may be overthinking their pets' dining
requirements. Just like fancy pet hotels - with flat screen TVs,
four-poster beds and Skype services - heightened expectations likely
say more about us than they do about our dogs.
"Prepared dog food itself is a bit unnecessary," admits Horowitz.
"Dogs developed precisely through eating the remains of what their
humans were eating."
Yet owners like Stephanie Patterson are only too happy to pay up for
gourmet treats. Her previous dog had numerous health issues and high
vet bills, which she suspects was due to cheap dog food.
From her current four-legged diners, she certainly hasn't had any
complaints about the five-star fare: "They love it."
(The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his
own.)
(Editing by Beth Pinsker, Lauren Young and Dan Grebler)
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