As human health becomes increasingly aspirational, Emilie Lavinia asks: do our four-legged friends really need wellness too, or have we taken things too far?

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve lost the plot when it comes to my dog. She’s on a posh raw food diet for optimal gut health, takes her steps and supplements daily, and gets brushed and massaged more often than I do. I’ve fed her doggy electrolytes, taken her to pup spas and splashed out on behavioural therapy sessions. Her wellbeing is as important to me as my own, but is all this really good for her health, or have I been sold an expensive fantasy?

Wellness products have become increasingly more expensive and good health now appears to be a modern-day status symbol. Against the bizarre backdrop of optimisation culture, pet wellness has emerged as the latest iteration. It begs the question: do our dogs and cats need this, or is the wellness industrial complex simply going after the one thing we’ll spend money on without question: our pets.

If a dog has regular walks and a vet-recommended meal plan, surely that’s enough? Veterinarian Guy Sandelowsky, also known as The Dog Doctor, doesn’t think so. He believes pet nutrition needs an overhaul and believes that we owe it to our four-legged friends to take better care of them, given the overwhelmingly positive impact they have on our wellbeing.

“As a vet, I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of dogs in people’s lives. They are more than pets. They are our therapists, our companions, and sometimes, our lifeline,” he says.

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