Today there are a number of dog foods and treats promoted as beneficial for dental health. Some sport the Veterinary Oral Health Council seal (VOHC Accepted) for having passed a rigorous product test.

Periodically one finds an ingredient called Yucca schidigera extract on the label of a petfood—and not just on dog and cat food labels. You might even find it on ferret and rabbit food labels; and for those of you who consider your horse a pet, you may see it in horse feeds.

Petfood manufacturers have for years been aggressively exploring the world for quality economical ingredients. More recently, companies have tried to find novel and unusual ingredients to attract pet owners' attention. But a new motivation may soon be pushing the introduction of novel ingredients--scarcity.

Mannan oligosaccharide - also called mannans or, more commonly, MOS - is a naturally occurring component of yeast cell walls. MOS has been researched extensively for use in livestock nutrition and more recently for humans and pets, mainly in Europe and Asia. While most of the nutrition-related discovery has occurred in the past few years, references on mannans appear in literature dating back a half century.

A complex little seed

Great omega-3 source (but not without challenges)

An increasing number of petfoods and pet supplements are targeted at joint stiffness or lameness in the aged dog and cat, or at those dogs engaged in highly strenuous activity. Most of these products contain chondroprotective agents such as chondroitin sulfate and/or glucosamine hydrochloride.

Foods and supplements containing "chondroprotective agents" have become popular in the petfood aisle.