(FORTUNE Small Business) – Dick Van Patten is feeling bearish--and it has nothing to do with the stock market. The former star of the TV show Eight Is Enough and co-founder of Natural Balance Pet Foods has recently expanded beyond sales of premium dog and cat food and is peddling chow for lions, tigers, and polar bears. "We're now selling to half the zoos in the country," says Joey Herrick, president of the San Diego-based company. It generated $50 million in sales last year, 7% of which were for exotic animal dinners such as vitamin-fortified frozen beef hearts. --ADELLE WALDMAN