Healthy guts!

I recently discovered Eukanuba’s “prebiotic” dogfood, which contains FOS (fructooligosaccharides), a prebiotic that stimulates the growth of good bacteria to enhance your dog’s digestive system.

For pet-owners, this product may come as no great surprise. But for those who don’t browse the aisles of Petco: there’s been a revolution in the category. Gone are the days when dogfood was just “miscellaneous meat” (or horse meat, if you saw that episode of Mad Men). Over the past few years we have seen the sophistication of pet products, and an ever-increasing crossover from the human to the pet world — diet food, salons, chemotherapy, sunblock, massage.

Pets are as old as civilization itself. But dedicated pet-lovers seem to be accelerating their climb towards ever higher levels of emotional commitment, responsibility, involvement and anthropomorphizing with their furry friends. As we become more and more savvy about health and wellness, doesn’t it seem natural to want to apply our knowledge to the protection of loved pets? And at $49 billion in the US alone, the pet product industry is only too happy to oblige.

But as Pet Care and People Care continues to converge, some larger ramifications are beginning to emerge. Will our standard health insurance options soon include a standard “four-legged family member” option? Will Furry Pharma become an increasingly hot, profitable, focus of big Pharma, as they ramp up their spending on pet-related R&D?  Might we see scarce resources diverted from solving niche human health issues to mass pet ones? Is this, indeed the dawning of the age of Pet Rights, Pet politics, and Pet Healthcare reform?

And lest we forget the current (human) healthcare brouhaha — how long before the uninsured resort to Petco for some cheap, dog-approved prozac?