Lentils in dog and cat food

Is it OK for dogs and cats?

Dogs

Lentils are a recognised feed material, and the FDA says pulses have been used in pet food for many years with no evidence that they are inherently dangerous. They remain part of an unresolved question about pulse-rich diets and DCM in dogs. In a small 28-day study in beagles fed lab-made diets, a high-lentil diet did not cause DCM-like changes, while a high-pea diet caused mild, subclinical ones.

Cats

Most of the DCM reports sent to the FDA involved dogs. By April 2019 the FDA had 9 reports in cats, and it notes that cats more often develop a different heart disease (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). Like other plant proteins, lentils contain no taurine, so a cat food with lentils must still supply taurine from animal ingredients or a supplement.

How settled this is: Under investigation — not settled

What lentils is

Lentils are the seeds of Lens culinaris, a legume. The FDA groups lentils with peas and other legume seeds under the name pulses. The EU Catalogue of feed materials lists lentils as a feed material, and it lists lentil hulls (a product of dehulling lentil seeds) as a separate one. Pet food research has used both green and red lentils.

Why it is in pet food

Lentils supply starch for energy, along with protein and fiber. Researchers describe legumes as a popular grain-free alternative carbohydrate source in dog diets.

What it does in the food

In one lab analysis on a dry-matter basis, green lentils had about 27% crude protein and about 57.5% total starch. They were also roughly one-third total dietary fiber, with small amounts of oligosaccharides such as stachyose and verbascose. In a lab model using fecal bacteria from dogs, legumes including lentils behaved as slowly fermentable fiber sources. In a 28-day beagle study, a red lentil diet had lower protein and methionine digestibility than a rice-based diet. Like other plant proteins, lentils contain no taurine.

Safety and limits

We found no regulatory limit for lentils in pet food in the sources listed. In July 2018 the FDA began investigating reports of DCM in dogs eating certain foods. Many of these foods were labeled grain-free and had peas, lentils, other pulses and/or potatoes as main ingredients. In the FDA's June 2019 update, 93% of the reported products contained peas and/or lentils. The FDA says report numbers alone cannot establish a causal relationship. It also says pulses have been used in pet foods for many years with no evidence that they are inherently dangerous, and that it does not know the specific connection. It adds that it has no definitive information that these diets are inherently unsafe and need to be removed from the market. On December 23, 2022, the FDA said it does not intend to release further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information. Its question-and-answer page is marked as current as of August 2024. A 28-day study fed 8 beagles lab-made diets. It was funded through a Canadian government agriculture research program for pulses and a national research council, and a grain company and a pet food company donated ingredients. In that study, a diet with about 42% red lentils did not produce DCM-like changes, although stroke volume was lower than on the commercial diet fed before the trial. A diet with about 58% wrinkled pea flour, an ingredient that is not sold commercially, did produce subclinical changes. The authors noted the small sample and said the test diets may not represent most commercial foods. They also said it is unclear whether longer feeding or more lentils would change the results. For cats, the FDA had received 9 DCM reports by April 2019, compared with 515 in dogs. Cats need dietary taurine, which plant proteins lack, and taurine deficiency can cause DCM in cats.

What depends on the amount and the recipe

Several things matter: how much of the recipe is lentils and other pulses, how the food is formulated and processed, its amino acid and taurine supply, and the individual dog, including breed and health. The FDA says non-hereditary DCM may involve genetics, underlying medical conditions and diet together. In the beagle study, lentils were included at a lower level than peas, and the authors said this may explain why the lentil diet had a weaker effect. For cats, the key point is that the complete food supplies enough taurine.

Not the same as

• Lentil hulls — the product of dehulling lentil seeds; a separate EU catalogue entry, for which crude fibre must be declared
• Peas — a different pulse (Pisum species); in a beagle study a high-pea diet and a high-lentil diet gave different heart results
• Chickpeas — a different pulse (Cicer arietinum), with its own EU catalogue entry

Sources

1. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1104 amending Regulation (EU) No 68/2013 on the Catalogue of feed materials (replaces the Annex; entries 3.3.1 Chick peas, 3.8.1 Lentils, 3.8.2 Lentil hulls, 3.11.1 Peas) — Official Journal of the European Union (Publications Office of the EU), 2022. Lentils (seeds of Lens culinaris) and lentil hulls (from dehulling lentil seeds; crude fibre must be declared) are separate EU feed-material entries; chick peas (Cicer arietinum) and peas (Pisum spp.) have their own entries.
2. FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy — U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, 2022. The investigation began in July 2018. Peas, lentils and other pulses were main ingredients in many reported diets, and 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils (June 2019 update). Report numbers alone cannot establish causation. The December 23, 2022 statement says no further public updates are planned until there is meaningful new science. By April 2019 there were 515 canine and 9 feline reports, and cats are generally more likely to develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
3. Questions & Answers: FDA's Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs — U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, 2024. Legume seed ingredients are also called pulses (e.g. peas, lentils); pulses have been used in pet foods for many years with no evidence they are inherently dangerous; FDA does not know the specific connection; no definitive information that the diets must be removed from the market; DCM is likely multifactorial; content current as of 19 August 2024.
4. Traughber ZT, He F, Hoke JM, Davenport GM, de Godoy MRC. Chemical composition and in vitro fermentation characteristics of legumes using canine fecal inoculum. Transl Anim Sci 4(4):txaa200 — Translational Animal Science (via PubMed Central), 2020. Green lentil composition on a dry-matter basis (27.1% crude protein, 57.5% total starch, about 32-36% total dietary fiber, stachyose and verbascose present). Legumes are described as a popular grain-free alternative carbohydrate source in dog diets and as slowly fermentable in vitro. Funded by ADM, which employs two of the authors.
5. Quilliam C, Reis LG, Ren Y, Ai Y, Weber LP. Effects of a 28-day feeding trial of grain-containing versus pulse-based diets on cardiac function, taurine levels and digestibility in domestic dogs. PLoS One 18(5):e0285381 (funding statement corrected in PLoS One 19(8):e0308509, 2024) — PLOS ONE (via PubMed Central), 2023. In 8 beagles fed lab-made diets, a 42% red lentil diet did not produce DCM-like changes, although stroke volume was lower than on the commercial diet. A 58% wrinkled pea diet produced subclinical changes. Both pulse diets had lower crude protein and methionine digestibility than the rice diet, and plasma taurine was unchanged. The authors note the small sample, the lower lentil inclusion, and that test diets may not represent most commercial diets. Corrected funding: the AAFC AgriScience Program (Canadian Pulse Science Research Cluster) and NSERC, with in-kind support from Alliance Grain Traders and Horizon Pet Foods. The wrinkled pea flour is not commercially available.
6. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals (Sanderson SL) — Merck Veterinary Manual, 2024. Cats need dietary taurine; plant-based proteins contain no taurine, so cats need some animal protein or added taurine; taurine deficiency can cause DCM and retinal degeneration in cats.

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.