Did you know that two-thirds of U.S. households share their homes and lives with pets? That's 86.9 million homes with dogs, cats, birds, fish, lizards, turtles, rabbits, and more. To some, pets are delightfully weird little guys who live with us rent-free. To others, they are essential service providers whose talents, smarts and noses help us navigate the world. 

And to nearly all, they are family. 

Just like our families, we want to give them the best. With an estimated $63 billion in sales last year, pet supply companies are continuously upping their game to meet our expectations and our pets' needs.

Let's explore where GMOs can show up in pet products and why you might want to seek non-GMO options. 

The truth about cats and dogs

North Americans are more likely to live with a cat or dog than any other kind of creature. Unsurprisingly, products for house panthers and canine companions dominate the market — not to mention the list of Non-GMO Project Verified products. 

Cat and dog products share some of the same ingredients and, therefore, some of the same GMO risks. Recipes revolve around meat, poultry and fish, which is good news for conscientious shoppers. Commodity crops such as GMO corn, soy, canola, cottonseed and alfalfa mostly end up in livestock feed, so choosing meat, poultry or fish products with non-GMO or organic certification can have an outsized impact on the GMO supply chain.

GMOs are also used as secondary ingredients, such as corn, soy or canola. Our regular readers know that GMO commodity crops can harm soil health, environmental wellbeing and farmers’ ability to save seed — all good reasons to seek out non-GMO options. Pet supply brand Honest Kitchen shared their compelling reason for going non-GMO in their 2021 Impact Report, citing a study in which "hogs that were fed a genetically modified diet had considerably more stomach inflammation than a group fed a strict non-GMO diet." Ouch.

Birds, bunnies and beyond

Cats and dogs aren't the only show in town, of course. Practical reasons such as allergies or lack of space can lead animal lovers to explore the joys of smaller pets, including birds, rabbits, and guinea pigs, to name a few. The Non-GMO Project is proud to work with several brands catering to small animals' unique needs.

Some commonly used ingredients in small animal feeds come from crops considered high risk of coming from GMOs, such as soy, canola, corn and alfalfa. Harrison's Bird Feed explains its decision to source non-GMO and organic ingredients by describing the shortcomings of conventional products on the market. 

Traditional feed, they write, "...removes [the] seed coat, using steam, high pressure, or solvents to separate high-value components, such as oils, vitamins, antioxidants, and nutraceuticals. What is left is classified as a byproduct. Corn used for ethanol, various fibers and simple carbohydrates are reconstituted in various feeds. These starches are further bleached, colored and offer the ideal base for extrusion caramelization, giving a light fluffy finished product. The resulting flours act like purified sugars, digest fast and overwhelm the homeostasis of the nutrient system." 

We're grateful to brands like Harrison's for communicating their non-GMO commitment. Honest Kitchen, whose 2021 report we mentioned above, used more than 15 million pounds of non-GMO produce that year in their pet products. That's a lot of happy dogs and cats! 

Millions of pounds of non-GMO ingredients can make a lot of other animals happy, too. Farmers who switch from GMO crops to non-GMO report increased biodiversity in their fields — more pollinators, microorganisms and wildlife whose activities support the food system all of us depend on. And maybe those wild animals aren't going to fetch a ball or snuggle with us while we watch TV, but that's okay. We've already got family for that.