Potatoes in dog and cat food

Is it OK for dogs and cats?

Dogs

Cooked potato in a complete dog food is a digestible starch source. Potatoes are part of FDA's open DCM review, but far fewer reported foods contained potatoes than peas or lentils. A 2021 study had too few potato foods to evaluate them, and FDA has not identified a cause. FDA said in December 2022 it would post further updates only when there is meaningful new science.

Cats

Adult cats have no strict dietary need for carbohydrate, but they digest properly cooked starch well. In a 28-day study in young cats (six per diet), those fed a food with potato flour as its only starch source grew normally, had normal stools and digested about 98% of the starch. Cats were 9 of 524 DCM reports to FDA up to April 2019.

How settled this is: Under investigation — not settled

What potatoes is

Potatoes are the tubers of Solanum tuberosum, a plant in the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes and aubergines. The EU Catalogue of feed materials lists potatoes and several potato products as feed materials. These include steam-peeled potatoes, mashed potato, potato flakes (rotary-dried steamed potatoes) and potato granules (washed, peeled, cut and dried potatoes). Potato protein, potato pulp and concentrated potato juice from starch manufacture are listed as separate materials.

Why it is in pet food

Potatoes are used as a carbohydrate (starch) source, whole or as products such as potato flour. FDA's 2019 update described many foods in DCM reports as labelled grain-free, with pulses and/or potatoes in various forms (whole, flour, protein) among their main ingredients. Some potato by-products from processing and starch extraction are also used in feeds for companion animals.

What it does in the food

Raw potato starch resists digestion (it is a "type 2" resistant starch), but dogs and cats digest properly cooked starch with more than 90% efficiency. In a 28-day study of 30 young cats (six per diet) on five diets, the diet using potato flour as its only starch source had starch digestibility of about 98%. That was in line with the rice, wheat, cassava and sweet potato diets, and post-meal blood glucose did not differ significantly among the diets. Carbohydrates are not essential nutrients for adult, non-breeding dogs and cats, because the body can make glucose from amino acids and fats. They become conditionally essential in some life stages, such as lactation.

Safety and limits

Glycoalkaloids: potatoes naturally contain glycoalkaloids, mainly alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine. Levels are 3 to 10 times higher in the peel than in the flesh and much higher again in sprouts. They rise when potatoes are stored in light, alongside greening of the peel. Peeling and cooking lower them by varying amounts (peeling by 25-75%, boiling by 5-65%, frying by 20-90%). EFSA's 2020 opinion found no data on the effects of potato glycoalkaloids in dogs or cats, so it could not assess the risk for companion animals. It noted that levels in by-products such as potato starch and potato protein concentrate are likely to be low, because the peel is removed early in processing. Dogs and DCM: since July 2018, FDA has looked at reports of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs eating foods with pulses and/or potatoes as main ingredients (in the first ten ingredients). Among foods named in reports up to April 2019, 42% contained potatoes or sweet potatoes, against 93% with peas and/or lentils. A 2021 analysis of 18 dry dog foods found potatoes and sweet potatoes too rarely to evaluate them. FDA said in December 2022 that it does not intend to release further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information. Cats: 9 of 524 DCM reports to FDA up to April 2019 involved cats, and FDA notes cats are generally more likely to develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

What depends on the amount and the recipe

Several things matter. Whether the potato is cooked (raw potato starch is poorly digested). The condition of the tubers and which part is used (peel, sprouts and greening raise glycoalkaloids; cooking and peeling lower them). Which potato product is used. How prominent potatoes and pulses are in the recipe, the pattern FDA's DCM review looked at. And whether the whole diet is complete and balanced, since nutritional disease is rare in dogs and cats fed complete and balanced commercial diets. The cat study cited here was small and short (30 young cats, six per diet, 28 days) and was run with a pet food manufacturer.

Not the same as

• Sweet potatoes — A different plant, Ipomoea batatas, with its own feed-catalogue entry.
• Potato protein — A protein-rich co-product left after potato starch is separated, not the whole tuber.
• Potato pulp — What remains of ground potatoes after starch extraction; a separate feed material.
• Tapioca starch — Comes from cassava (manioc) roots, Manihot esculenta, not from potatoes.

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. Entries 4.8.1-4.8.15: potatoes (tubers of Solanum tuberosum L.), peeled (steam), mashed, potato flakes (rotary drying of steamed potatoes), potato granules (washed, peeled, cut, dried), potato pulp, potato protein, concentrated potato juice; 4.9.1 sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas); manioc/tapioca/cassava (Manihot esculenta) as a separate entry (4.6.1).
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; foods, many labelled grain-free, with pulses and/or potatoes in various forms (whole, flour, protein) as main ingredients (first 10 ingredients); 42% potatoes/sweet potatoes vs 93% peas and/or lentils in reported products to April 2019; 515 dog and 9 cat reports; cats more likely to develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; December 2022 status statement.
3. EFSA CONTAM Panel. Risk assessment of glycoalkaloids in feed and food, in particular in potatoes and potato-derived products. EFSA Journal 2020;18(8):6222 — European Food Safety Authority (EFSA Journal), 2020. Glycoalkaloids in Solanaceae (potato, tomato, aubergine); alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine; 3-10 times higher in peel, much higher in sprouts, increased by light and associated with greening; reductions from peeling (25-75%), boiling (5-65%), frying (20-90%); potato by-products used in companion-animal feeds; no data on adverse effects in cats or dogs and no risk characterisation possible; low levels likely in potato starch and protein concentrate. (Publisher page blocks automated access; full text read via PubMed Central.)
4. Sanderson SL. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual (full review November 2023) — Merck & Co. (Merck Veterinary Manual), 2023. Raw potato starch is a type 2 resistant starch; dogs and cats digest properly cooked starches with >90% efficiency; carbohydrates not essential for adult non-reproducing dogs and cats but conditionally essential in some life stages (e.g. lactation); nutritional disease rare on complete and balanced commercial diets.
5. 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. Potatoes and sweet potatoes were insufficiently represented among 18 dog foods (in 2 DCM-associated and 1 comparison diet) to evaluate; peas most strongly associated with differing compounds.
6. Zhang S, Ren Y, Huang Y, et al. Effects of five carbohydrate sources on cat diet digestibility, postprandial glucose, insulin response, and gut microbiomes. J Anim Sci 2023;101:skad049 — Journal of Animal Science (Oxford University Press), 2023. 30 young cats (mean age about 7 months), six per diet, 28 days; diets with potato flour, sweet potato, cassava, rice or wheat as only starch source; no effect on growth or stool scores; starch digestibility about 98-99% with no significant difference (potato diet 97.95%); post-meal glucose AUC not significantly different; diets formulated and made by a pet food company whose staff co-authored. (Publisher page blocks automated access; full text read via PubMed Central.)

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.