Cracking the dog food code

An observation Ari Klausner ’24 made at a veterinary clinic has turned into a years-long research project that could change how dog food is made.

Klausner was volunteering at the animal hospital when he noticed an influx of dogs coming in with bladder and kidney stones. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, he approached Chemistry Professor David Schrum, Ph.D. with a research idea: analyzing the mineral content and chemical composition of commercial dog food to look for possible correlations with stone formation in canines.

“I was interested,” Schrum said. Klausner got to work reading background literature and then delving into analysis, with additional students joining to help with research before and after Klausner graduated.

“The beauty of our projects is that students come in at various points and the project is always moving forward,” Schrum said.

There is not much regulation on dog food, beyond some limits on the percentage of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which are both found in kidney stones. Part of the research is looking at the actual levels compared to what manufacturers say is in the food—for example, a brand could claim its kibble contains one percent calcium but it is actually between two and three percent. Findings like this could indicate the higher the mineral levels, the more likely a dog might have stones in the future.

Students have analyzed several batches of food from 11 major brands and found a few surprises, like one reputable manufacturer having “values all over the place,” Schrum said. The research is expected to continue for a few more semesters, and once the final data is completed and a manuscript published, each participating student will receive a co-author credit. Schrum has enjoyed watching the students blossom in the lab, improving their measuring skills and strengthening their writing. An “amazing transformation” takes places over this time, he said, and many students realize “I can be a chemist, I can be a scientist. I really enjoy this, and I can go on to grad school.”

Redlands students arrive “very prepared” for this next step, Schrum said. They often have more experience than their new peers, thanks to years of working with lab instruments, collecting data, and giving presentations, and because of this exposure they can “hit the ground running.”