Goat remains a niche animal protein in dog and cat food. However, as the world warms and farmlands degrade, goats could become the G.O.A.T. protein source.
Compared with cattle, goats generally have a smaller environmental footprint because they require less feed, less water and less land per animal, according to research published in Pastoralism. Like cattle and sheep, however, goats are ruminants and their gut microbiome does generate methane during digestion. That methane comes out one end or the other, so goats are not naturally zero-emissions livestock. However, goats emit less methane per unit of body weight than cattle and sheep, although emissions vary substantially among production systems. That said, two-, six- and no-legged animals still tend to have overall lower environmental impacts than mammals.
Beyond goats' relatively lower colonic contributions to climate change, goats may become increasingly important because they are well adapted to hot, dry environments where cattle production becomes more difficult. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that climate change is currently exacerbating desertification in some regions.
Pastoralists, especially in Africa and Asia, have already gone goat. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization figures reflect that goat herds have been increasing in recent decades and now stand at 1.1 billion worldwide, compared to 1.5 billion cattle.
Goat in dog and cat foods
Some of those 1.1 billion goats make their way into pet food. Zignature lists goat as the first ingredient in its Original Goat Formula dry dog food. Its wet dog food lists goat, water, goat lungs and goat liver among the first ingredients. Green Juju’s freeze-dried goat recipe lists goat heart, goat with bone, goat liver and goat kidney. Carna4 lists goat and goat liver in its Easy-Chew Goat dog food. For cats, Zealandia’s Goat Pâté Wet Cat Food lists goat, along with lamb organs and New Zealand green mussels, among its ingredients.
For dogs and cats with allergies, goat may be useful in an elimination diet. However, research specific to goat-based dog or cat foods remains limited, which subsequently limits label claims about digestibility, allergy management or other factors.
According to research results published in the journal Foods, goat fat includes oleic, palmitic and stearic acids, with higher polyunsaturated fatty acid levels than lamb and beef. However, goat meat quality varies by breed, age, diet and production system.
Goat may work in pet food products designed around novel or alternative animal proteins, or with a sustainability focus, but research on the cloven-hooved creatures remains limited.
