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Archive for the ‘Dog Nutrition’ Category
Special Needs Request for the Texas 200 Rottweilers
In April, we wrote to you about the Texas 200 Rottweiler Rescue Mission that resulted in placing over 200 adult Rottweilers into rescues and permanent adoptive homes across the country. Read more on B-Naturals Newsletter – June 2011 – Summer Time Brings Skin and Ear Troubles…
The Diarrhea DilemmaA common topic when discussing nutrition and diets is how well dogs digest their food. Raw diet proponents brag about small, hard stools that blow away in the wind. Home cooked advocates remark on similar attributes, including fewer odors and commercial dog food supporters look for fewer ingredients and/or no grains for smaller stools. But occasionally, any dog on any diet can develop diarrhea.Read more on The Diarrhea Dilemma…
In Part I, we looked at the history of pet food recalls that led to illness and death in our dogs since the 1960's. In Part II, we examined the high carbohydrate content of commercial foods that leads to a diet that is not only high in what dogs don't need, but can lead to health problems that can shorten the life span and adversely affect the immune system of dogs.
The veterinarian business has been booming. Scheduled appointments, rather than walk in visits are the norm today. Higher prices are charged for office visits and more sophisticated medical equipment and techniques are being used more frequently. Check any veterinarian's waiting room and the majority of the problems being addressed include skin and coat problems, gastric symptoms, kidney issues, urinary tract infections or problems with weight management. These problems generally get addressed by veterinarians prescribing antibiotics, flagyl and steroids and the dog's owner leaving with one of these along with a bag of or several cans of prescription dog food meant to address these common problems. These issues have become so common place that specialists are now available on a referral basis to address these health problems on a more advanced level.
Each of the 'special' diets prescribed often further reduce the protein and protein quality in the food, add more fiber, and leave dogs in worse nutritional shape. Our dogs become hungrier as their bodies crave fat for energy and satiation and the lack of high quality animal based proteins result in a loss of organ health and a further compromised immune system. While the owners of these dogs may either become more frustrated or achieve some small satisfaction with the fact that their dog has 'firmer' stools, the unfortunate truth is the, health problems continue to persist with a diet that offers poor nutritional value and is irritating to the digestive tract.
I hesitate to blame our veterinarians. They are practicing what they were taught in veterinary school. The nutrition textbooks and prescription diets have been developed by the dog food industry. While veterinarians may be skilled practitioners with a good ability to diagnose illness, they continue to dispense and give advice on nutrition as it was recommended and taught to them by the pet food industry.
Although many pet food companies may perform research on what diets are needed for our dogs in health and in illness, the real crime is, they know those types of diets can't be duplicated in dry food based diets and the production costs are often too high to provide it in canned foods.
For example, a dog with chronic renal failure may require a low phosphorus diet but it still needs a high quality protein diet for the kidneys to function well. This is interpreted as 'low protein' by the dog food companies and even at that; they use poor quality proteins such as soy or other plant based sources. Poor quality fat is often added to some of these diets to help maintain weight for the dog, but often can result in pancreatitis in dogs with poor kidney function.
The same prescription diets are also offered for calcium oxalate and struvite crystals. These two problems couldn't be more different. Dogs with calcium oxalate crystals need foods low in oxalates, however, not surprisingly, oxalates are contained mostly in grains and vegetables. Struvite crystal formation is NOT a diet related issue. Struvite crystals develop when bacteria is present in the urinary tract. Bacteria cause a high pH in the urine, which is a perfect environment for struvite crystals to form and multiply and create a urinary tract infection. The most effective and assured way to cure the infection is to have a sterile urine culture done, which determines what bacteria are present and what antibiotic is needed to treat the urinary tract infection. A UTI can be difficult to treat, so often a full 4 week course of antibiotics is needed. A follow-up urine culture is necessary after the antibiotic protocol is completed to ensure the infection is completely gone.
Prescription diets are dispensed for dogs with 'food' allergies on the concept that introducing a 'novel' protein will resolve this issue. However; upon examination of any commercial dry dog food there is such a large array of ingredients that it is hard to decipher what foods or ingredients might be the offender. Additionally, putting a dog on a novel protein for a long period of time will only result in an allergy to that protein. Finally, these diets are made up of processed foods and are of poor nutritional quality that they are difficult for even a healthy dog to digest and absorb. Imagine how this might affect a dog that is already having difficulties with digestion.
Dogs with gastric problems such as IBD, IBS and colitis are often given prescription foods that reduce fat and increase fiber. The high fiber helps remove moisture from the stool in the colon which helps produce a firm stool, but also provides less nutrition and creates irritation to the intestinal lining, creating a permanent problem. Owners think the dog is 'fixed' because its stools are firmer, however; over time, further problems can develop. Continued inflammation of the intestinal lining results in poor absorption of nutrients and creates discomfort and pain in the dog.
Weight management is addressed by prescription diets with lower fat and more fiber. This, in turn, creates a dog that is constantly hungry. Dogs need fat to feel full and satisfied. Additionally, a higher carbohydrate diet is more fattening and the dog receives less of the amino acids it needs from an animal based protein diet.
Prescription liver diets also have problems. It is a common misconception that dogs with liver problems need less protein. Nothing could be further from the truth. Depending on the liver issue the dog may need reduced fat in the diet, as fats are processed through the liver, but the liver requires a good amount of high quality proteins to help the liver regenerate. Shunt issues or end stage liver issues that cause ammonia build up in the blood stream simply need to avoid red meat and organ meats, which contribute to this. Poultry, eggs, fish and dairy such as yogurt and cottage cheese offer a good protein source and are fine for these issues.
The very diets created to help with these health problems actually make the problems worse and regular commercial diets are often the impetus of these health problems in the first place, yet the public remains naïve to this fact.
There isn't one commercial dog food on the market today that I can recommend to any dog owner for any reason. The pet food industry, with all their own clever ways of creating marketing schemes to sell commercial dog food, has boxed themselves into a corner. There are ways they could correct this, but it would mean back stepping on everything they have preached over the last 60 years. I think many dog owners would be willing to pay more for a dog food that is healthier for their dogs. The amount spent at the veterinarian clinics reflects that. With a growing awareness of canine nutrition by the public, it is time the pet food industry becomes more innovative. Some solutions they could use might be to develop a pet food and encourage dog owners to add some fresh animal protein to the food. The could also offer pet foods that contain fewer ingredients. Additionally, they could perhaps offer nutrition classes to veterinarians that reveal the latest research in spite of what processed dog food can offer would be helpful.
Unfortunately, until the time comes when large corporations truly care about the populations they claim to 'care about', dog owners need to understand their animals need to have the same quality nutrition they need for themselves. For dogs, this includes a diet that consists of fresh foods, which are animal protein and fat based. It means taking the time to do a little research to understand that a healthy diet means less illness, more longevity, and a better quality of life. This means understanding nutrition for dogs in calcium/phosphorus ratios, amount to feed and the importance of variety in the diet. These aren't difficult concepts and can be achieved in a raw or home cooked diets.
Read more on The Best Food to Feed Your Dog – Part III…
The Best Food to Feed Your Dog – Part II
Introduction In Part I, we talked about the history of dog food, some of the strategies used by pet food manufacturers to sway the consumer mindset, briefly talked about pet food testing and posted a recap of the main pet food recalls since 1995. In Part II, Lew takes a closer look at the biggest, and perhaps the most harmful and detrimental 'filler' used in dry commercial dog foods, and how it can affect your dog's health. We'll end the series in March with a more in-depth discussion on commercial dog food – the ingredients, preservatives, added synthetic supplements and how the contents of that attractive dog food bag not only provides inferior nutrition to a fresh food diet, but how over time, feeding processed food to your dog overtime can set the climate for a variety of serious health issues. Read more on The Best Food to Feed Your Dog – Part II…
Read more on The Best Food to Feed Your Dog – Part I…
Nutrition and the Brood BitchNutrition is a key element for fertility, the healthy development of the neonates, production of milk during lactation, producing good muscle tone for labor and instilling good immune systems in both the dam and the puppies. It is important to start good nutrition a few months before the planned breeding. This helps set the stage to build a healthy uterine lining and keeps the hormones working well to insure better fertility. Read more on Nutrition and the Brood Bitch – December 2010…
Hot Spots and Skin Irritations Hot spots are moist, oozing areas that are often hidden by the coat in the early stages. Usually the symptoms start with a dog scratching the affected area or rubbing it against furniture or on a rug. A closer look generally reveals a wet, infected, oval or round area under the hair coat. The hair is generally matted and falls out in the area and the affected area can spread without treatment. While hot spots may be a onetime occurrence, more frequently they continue to return. This can be seasonal in some situations, or more repeatedly, depending on the cause. They are most often found on the head, neck, hip or rear legs. Read more on Hot Spots and Skin Irritations – November 2010…
A question that often comes up is whether or not blood values can determine the nutritional needs of dogs. For the most part, the answer is 'No.' Blood work results are described as a 'snapshot' of your dog's blood values at the time the blood work is done, showing if infections, disease or other abnormalities may be present. It also indicates how the body is metabolizing certain values. For instance, if a blood work test shows high calcium, it does not mean that too much calcium is in the diet. Certain diseases or ailments can cause the body to metabolize calcium so that more is circulating in the blood, and does not apply to what is in the bones (where calcium is stored). http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/calcium/test.html Read more on Canine Nutrition and Blood Work Values…
By Lew Olson, PhD Natural Health Whatever diet you are feeding your dog, it is important to use several animal protein sources. This is what we call variety, and variety helps to make sure a dog is getting all the nutrients they need. Proteins are made from amino acids and each protein source offers different amounts of the 11 amino acids provided by food. Locking your dog into one or two animal protein sources may cause your dog to have deficiencies in one or more of these. Let's look at what amino acids are, why they are important for your dog, and how to keep a good variety of them in your dog's diet. Read more on Protein and Variety in the Diet…
We always want our dogs to look great and to perform at their very best. We want our working dogs to have steady endurance and drive. We want our tracking and search and rescue dogs to hold the scent and stay on the trail. We want our agility dogs to have the energy and balance to make the jumps, go through the weaves smoothly and effortlessly, and to handle each obstacle with precision. We need our obedience dogs to stay focused and our Schutzhund dogs to have stamina, courage, and stay on task. We want our conformation dogs to have ground covering side movement and to be happy and confident in the ring. And we all want our dogs to have lean, muscular and fit bodies. Read more on Nutritional Strategies for Performance Dogs…
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