Pea Fiber in dog and cat food

Is it OK for dogs and cats?

Dogs

Pea fiber is a fiber source commonly used in pet foods, and we found no regulatory limit for it in the sources listed. Because it comes from peas, it is part of the unresolved question about pulse-rich diets and DCM in dogs. A long-term company study that included pea fiber found no clinical DCM, but a group of veterinary cardiologists disputes how its heart measurements were read.

Cats

Cats have no set dietary fiber requirement, though fiber can have health benefits. Very high fiber can reduce how well nutrients are digested. The FDA's DCM questions are about dogs, and the sources here include no feeding trials of pea fiber in cats.

How settled this is: Under investigation — not settled

What pea fiber is

Pea fiber is a fiber-rich material made from peas. The EU Catalogue of feed materials describes pea fibre as a product obtained by extraction after grinding and sieving dehulled peas, and crude fibre must be declared for it. The catalogue lists pea hulls (mainly the skins removed when peas are skinned and cleaned), pea bran, and pea pulp (also called internal pea fiber) as separate materials. In a 2023 lab analysis of one pea fiber sample from a feed mill, about 60% of the dry matter was total dietary fiber. About 92% of that fiber was insoluble, and the sample also had about 14% crude protein.

Why it is in pet food

Pea fiber is a fiber source commonly used in pet foods. Insoluble fiber adds bulk, which can increase stool output and help normalise how quickly food moves through the gut. Gut bacteria can also ferment fiber into short-chain fatty acids, which supply much of the energy that colon cells use in dogs.

What it does in the food

Pea fiber mainly provides insoluble dietary fiber. In a lab model using fecal bacteria from dogs, pea fiber produced the lowest amount of short-chain fatty acids of the five fibers tested over 12 hours. The authors linked this to its high content of insoluble cellulose, which dog colon bacteria break down poorly. This was a small test-tube study using samples from two dogs, so it shows how fermentable the fiber is rather than its effect in living animals. Fiber is not a required nutrient for dogs or cats, although it has health benefits.

Safety and limits

We found no regulatory limit for pea fiber in pet food in the sources listed, and the EU catalogue lists it as a feed material. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that a diet too high in fiber can interfere with nutrient absorption and lower the digestibility of some nutrients. On heart health, the FDA has been looking into reports of non-hereditary DCM in dogs. Its question-and-answer page (content current as of August 2024) says most diets in those reports had pulses such as peas or lentils high in the ingredient list. It also says there is no evidence that pulses are inherently dangerous, and that it does not know the specific connection. A 2025 study followed 60 dogs for 18 months. Its authors are current or past employees of a pet food company. In that study, the one food with pea fiber (about 10% of the recipe) also contained pea protein and peas, and it had more fiber than the other foods. All dogs were judged clinically normal for DCM. However, fractional shortening and ejection fraction were lower in that group than in the two groups fed foods without peas. The authors suggested this might be explained by mild heart-valve disease, which more dogs in that group developed. A 2026 letter co-signed by more than 100 veterinary cardiologists says those results show reduced heart-muscle function when peas and pea fiber were added to a grain-inclusive food. Pea fiber was not tested on its own, so its separate role is not known. For cats, the sources here include no feeding trials of pea fiber.

What depends on the amount and the recipe

Several things matter: how much pea fiber and other pulse ingredients the recipe contains, the food's total fiber level, and the rest of the formula. The FDA says non-hereditary DCM appears to involve several factors working together, including genetics, underlying illness and aspects of diet such as formulation and processing. How fermentable a fiber is also matters. Merck notes that highly fermentable fibers can cause gas and loose stools, while pea fiber behaved as a mostly insoluble, less fermentable fiber in lab tests.

Not the same as

• Pea hulls — mainly the outer skins removed when peas are skinned and cleaned; the EU catalogue lists them separately from pea fibre, which is extracted from dehulled peas
• Pea pulp (internal pea fiber) — a separate EU catalogue entry: the residue of wet starch and protein extraction from peas, mainly internal fibre and starch
• Pea protein — the protein-rich fraction of peas, not the fiber fraction
• Peas — the whole pea seed, which also contains starch and protein
• Dried plain beet pulp — a different fiber source, made from sugar beets rather than peas

Sources

1. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1104 amending Regulation (EU) No 68/2013 on the Catalogue of feed materials (replaces the Annex; entries 3.11.2 Pea bran, 3.11.5 Pea hulls, 3.11.10 Pea pulp [internal pea fiber], 3.11.12 Pea fibre) — Official Journal of the European Union (Publications Office of the EU), 2022. Current EU description of pea fibre (extracted after grinding and sieving dehulled peas; crude fibre must be declared) and separate entries for pea hulls, pea bran and pea pulp [internal pea fiber].
2. Holt DA, Corsato Alvarenga I, Donadelli RA, Aldrich CG. Substrate degradation and postbiotic analysis of alternative fiber ingredients fermented using an in vitro canine fecal inoculum model. J Anim Sci 101:skad078 — Journal of Animal Science (via PubMed Central), 2023. Pea fiber was chosen for its prevalence in pet food formulations. One sample from a local mill had 59.5% total dietary fiber (92.3% insoluble) and 14.3% crude protein on a dry-matter basis. It produced the lowest total short-chain fatty acids of five fibers at 12 h, which the authors attributed to insoluble cellulose. The study was in vitro, with inoculum from two dogs.
3. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals (Sanderson SL) — Merck Veterinary Manual, 2024. No dietary fiber requirement in dogs and cats, but health benefits; insoluble fiber adds bulk; fiber increases fecal output and can normalise transit time; short-chain fatty acids supply about 70% of colon-cell energy in dogs; highly fermentable fibers can cause gas and diarrhea; too much fiber can interfere with nutrient absorption and digestibility.
4. 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. Most reported diets had pulses high in the ingredient list; no evidence pulses are inherently dangerous; FDA does not know the specific connection; DCM is likely multifactorial (genetics, underlying conditions, diet formulation and processing); content current as of 19 August 2024.
5. Morris EM, Stiers CA, Hancock LB, Gross KL. Different carbohydrate sources in dog foods supported overall health and cardiac function: an 18-mo prospective study in healthy adult dogs. J Anim Sci 103:skaf225 — Journal of Animal Science (via PubMed Central), 2025. The only test food with pea fiber (9.7%) also had pea protein and peas and had more fiber than the others. Dogs were judged clinically normal for DCM, but FS and EF were lower in that group than in the two foods without peas. The authors offered valve disease (10 dogs in that group vs 5, 5 and 4) as a possible explanation. All authors are current or past Hill's employees.
6. Pion PD. Letter to editor regarding different carbohydrate sources in dog foods supported overall health and cardiac function: an 18-month prospective study in healthy adult dogs. J Anim Sci 104:skag028 — Journal of Animal Science (Oxford Academic), 2026. Letter co-signed by 102 veterinary cardiologists. It argues that the 18-month study showed reduced heart-muscle function when peas and pea fiber were added to a grain-inclusive diet, and that the authors misinterpreted the echocardiographic measures.

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.