Chickpeas in dog and cat food

Is it OK for dogs and cats?

Dogs

In a short study, an extruded dog food with chickpeas was well digested, and FDA says pulses have been used in pet foods for many years with no evidence that they are inherently dangerous. Chickpeas are among the pulses in FDA's unresolved review of diet and canine DCM. FDA says it does not know the specific connection, and said in December 2022 it would post further updates only when there is meaningful new science.

Cats

In a short study in 10 cats, extruded diets with up to 30% raw chickpeas were well digested (over 80% on average) and stools were ideal. FDA's DCM reports were almost all dogs (9 of 524 reports up to April 2019 were cats), and FDA notes cats more often get a different heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

How settled this is: Under investigation — not settled

What chickpeas is

Chickpeas are the seeds of Cicer arietinum, a legume. "Garbanzo beans" is another name for the same seed. They are a pulse: a legume crop harvested for its dry seed, in the same broad group as peas and lentils. The EU Catalogue of feed materials lists them as "chick peas" in its section on legume seeds.

Why it is in pet food

Pet food makers use chickpeas mainly as a plant protein source. Pulses are protein-rich and low in fat, which makes them easy to add to pet foods, and they also bring a lot of fibre. FDA notes that pulses are used in many grain-free foods in greater proportion than in most grain-containing foods.

What it does in the food

Legumes and pulses typically contain around 30% dietary fibre, which holds water and is partly fermented by gut bacteria. In a study in 10 dogs, an extruded diet with about 44% chickpeas had high overall digestibility (above 80%), similar to the other test diets. Dogs fed the legume diets had more short-chain fatty acids in their faeces, a sign of fibre fermentation. In a study in 10 cats, extruded diets made with 7.5% to 30% raw chickpeas were digested at over 80% on average. A diet made with 30% chickpeas that had been cooked before extrusion had the lowest dry matter digestibility, about 77%.

Safety and limits

Raw chickpeas contain anti-nutritional factors, such as trypsin inhibitors, that can lower digestibility and upset digestion. Heat processing reduces these: in one dog-food study, trypsin inhibitor activity in the chickpea diet was no longer detected in the finished extruded food. Legume sugars called oligosaccharides are fermented in the gut and have been linked to gas. In that study they did not fall consistently during extrusion, but the dogs showed no digestive upset and stools were ideal. Dogs and DCM: since July 2018, FDA has looked at reports of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs eating foods with pulses and/or potatoes as main ingredients (in the first ten ingredients). In its label review of reported foods, FDA counted chickpeas and beans together with lentils; 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils. FDA says it does not know the specific connection. It also says it has no definitive information that these diets are inherently unsafe and need to be removed from the market. In December 2022 it said it does not intend to release further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information. A 2021 analysis of 18 dry dog foods linked peas most strongly with compounds that differed in DCM-associated diets. Its authors said their results did not support a role for other pulses such as chickpeas, which appeared much less often, but that more research is warranted. Cats: in a study of 10 adult cats, extruded diets with up to 30% raw chickpeas gave high digestibility and ideal stool scores; food intake was slightly lower on the chickpea diets. Cats made up 9 of 524 DCM reports to FDA up to April 2019.

What depends on the amount and the recipe

How the chickpeas are processed (raw seeds carry anti-nutritional factors that heat reduces), how much of the recipe they and other pulses make up, and the rest of the formula. FDA's DCM review focused on foods in which pulses were main ingredients, listed in the first ten ingredients. The feeding studies cited here were short (14-day periods per diet) and used small groups (10 dogs, 10 cats). Both had co-authors from an ingredient company (ADM), which supported the dog study.

Not the same as

• Peas — Seeds of a different pulse, Pisum species, with their own feed-catalogue entry.
• Lentils — Seeds of a different pulse, Lens culinaris, with their own feed-catalogue entry.

Sources

1. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1104 amending Regulation (EU) No 68/2013 on the Catalogue of feed materials (Official Journal L 177, 4.7.2022) — European Commission / Publications Office of the EU, 2022. Entry 3.3.1 'Chick peas: seeds of Cicer arietinum L.' in section 3 (legume seeds); peas (3.11.1, Pisum spp.) and lentils (3.8.1, Lens culinaris) are separate entries.
2. FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy (June 2019 update; status note December 23, 2022) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, 2022. July 2018 start; pulses and/or potatoes as main ingredients (first 10 ingredients); label review counted chickpeas and beans with lentils; 93% of reported products had peas and/or lentils; 515 dog and 9 cat reports to April 30, 2019; cats more likely to develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; December 2022 statement on no further updates until meaningful new science.
3. Questions & Answers: FDA's Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs (content current as of August 19, 2024) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, 2024. Most reported diets had pulses high in their ingredient lists; pulses used in many grain-free diets in greater proportion; legumes and pulses used for many years with no evidence they are inherently dangerous; FDA does not know the specific connection; no definitive information that the diets are inherently unsafe and need removal from the market.
4. Smith CE, Parnell LD, Lai CQ, Rush JE, Freeman LM. Investigation of diets associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs using foodomics analysis. Sci Rep 2021;11:15881 — Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio), 2021. Metabolomic comparison of 18 dry dog foods; peas most strongly associated with differing compounds; results do not support a role for other pulses (e.g., chickpeas), which were present much less often, but further research warranted.
5. Reilly LM, He F, Rodriguez-Zas SL, et al. Use of Legumes and Yeast as Novel Dietary Protein Sources in Extruded Canine Diets. Front Vet Sci 2021;8:667642 — Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2021. Pulses defined as Leguminosae crops harvested for dry grain; protein-rich, low in fat, ~30% dietary fibre; anti-nutritional factors and oligosaccharides; 10 Beagles, 14-day periods, diet with 43.56% garbanzo beans: digestibility >80% and similar across diets, ideal faeces, higher faecal SCFA; trypsin inhibitor activity 0 in the final extruded diet; oligosaccharides not consistently reduced; no gastrointestinal distress; two co-authors employed by ADM, which supported the research.
6. Reilly LM, He F, Rodriguez-Zas SL, et al. Effects of graded inclusion levels of raw garbanzo beans on apparent total tract digestibility, fecal quality, and fecal fermentative end-products and microbiota in extruded feline diets. J Anim Sci 2021;99(12):skab297 — Journal of Animal Science (Oxford University Press), 2021. Garbanzo beans = Cicer arietinum, a pulse used as plant protein in pet food; raw garbanzo beans contain anti-nutritional factors that can reduce digestibility and cause digestive upsets; 10 adult cats, 14-day periods, extruded diets with 0-30% raw or 30% cooked garbanzo beans: raw inclusions gave >80% average digestibility and ideal faecal scores; 30% cooked diet lowest DM digestibility (77.3%); slightly lower intake on garbanzo diets; two co-authors affiliated with ADM. (Publisher page blocks automated access; abstract and author affiliations read via PubMed / Europe PMC.)

Checked against these sources on 2026-10-15. Definitions are in our own words. This is a reading aid, not veterinary advice: a vet who knows your animal comes first.