Weird Question - Pet Nutrition?

[julesapple]

Odd question, but a thought that struck me earlier when my Ma was saying their dog is getting fat. They asked their vet about proper feeding, but their vet will only recommend the brand of food that they have a sponsorship type deal with (they have a glossy posh stand in reception) and won't answer questions about fresh meats etc in the little dawg's diet. Benji is putting on weight despite being a very well exercised young dog and the vet says it's fat.

Does dog biscuit have the nutritional list on it - I mean, protein, calories, carbohydrates etc? I've gurgled and it's very difficult to find out what these products actually consist of.

I've just looked on our dried catfood box (cos we haven't got a dog) and there's more info on the break down of the cardboard box than there is on the actual dried food. It also tells me all the wonderful(?) stuff they've added, like vital complexes and vitamins and essential oils blah blah, but it doesn't tell me what they've added it to.

I would presume that excess carbs are as bad for dogs as they are for people......?

[alldigging]

Try another vet?

Email the companies who make them if it's not on their sites.

Nic's mum's cats are on a low calorie food. I think it's high fibre but they are constantly begging cos they are hungry. They are losing a bit of weight - they get to go out now but not out of the garden.

[Plot10]

Jules - don't know what brand your parents are using but T**co's website is very good for listing the ingredients and nutritional breakdown of the brands they sell. Our vet recommends Chappie although they do sell the fancy stuff at the surgery. Personally I'd be suspect of a vet that wouldn't give proper nutritional advice, I'd have thought that's part of their job but that's just my opinion. Through trial and error we've found that our dog is best suited to a mix of tinned and dry food but she's a big dog.

I expect a "wild" dog would mostly eat protein in the form of carrion etc with perhaps the odd root or something, certainly not the highly processed cereal products produced today. (Though my dog's favourite food is soup and there's not much of that in the wild) I'm sure someone better qualified than I am can answer that one.

[Jeanied]

My vet has recommended Chappie too- my dog was on Burns dry food then I discovered she prefers tinned dog meat so she went onto Wainwrights tinned but she reacted badly with a tummy upset so she is on Chappie at the moment.

[rustylady]

What breed of dog is it Jules, and how old?

[Veggielot]

I would hope a vet would give you the information you ask for. Most vets will only have a limited number of suppliers and will therefore pick from those they get. We had a diet food for one of our old cats, we tried a few including the one from the vet. We went with the vet one in the end because it was the one the cat liked best. Our vet did suggest we stop using it because the cat wasn't really loosing any weight but as it was the only food she really liked we kept her on it.

[julesapple]

Rusty

He's a Shihtzu, just over a year old. He reacts badly to a lot of pet food. I think my AP's are going to introduce him to a fresh meat diet. Their cat is already on fresh meat only and she's just bursting with health - she's a rescue Persian and was in a very sorry state when they got her.

[julesapple]

I expect a "wild" dog would mostly eat protein in the form of carrion etc with perhaps the odd root or something, certainly not the highly processed cereal products produced today. (Though my dog's favourite food is soup and there's not much of that in the wild) I'm sure someone better qualified than I am can answer that one.

Love the idea of a Soupivore.......

[mothhawk]

Rusty

He's a Shihtzu, just over a year old. He reacts badly to a lot of pet food. I think my AP's are going to introduce him to a fresh meat diet. Their cat is already on fresh meat only and she's just bursting with health - she's a rescue Persian and was in a very sorry state when they got her.

If you want a really good reason for feeding a fresh meat diet, read through this page How pet food is made - you'll probably never buy commercial pet food again.....

eta if you're really squeamish, best skip over the "Raw Materials" paragraph..

[julesapple]

MH, I know.....DD did her dissertation on it.

[Glutton4...]

Whatever they choose to feed to the dog, just needs to be reduced in volume. But do it gradually, and the dog's stomach will shrink, gradually. Make sure they're not 'supplementing' the dog's diet with tit-bits, though, as many owners have a tendency to overlook the extras!!

[julesapple]

Titbits are unheard of at my Ma's, and Benj isn't overfed because he doesn't like or tolerate most of it. He doesn't even look slightly chubby to me, but I'm no expert. He's not greedy either. They have to coax him to eat the processed stuff. I wondered if he might be pinching the cat's, but he'd have the scars to show for it if he did!

Benj aside, I was just wondering about carbs and animals; do they affect animals in the same way?

[SarzWix]

Dogs can have thyroid problems as well, it's something GSDs are prone to apparently so I keep an eye on Pads, and don't give her those so-called 'dental strips' because they're processed with fluoride which can trigger thyroid problems.

I reckon dogs will be as sensitive to high carbs as humans, perhaps more so because they wouldn't naturally eat them in the wild although they would eat some greens.

I'd go with the raw food diet if they can afford it, so much better for them than tinned muck. If I could afford it Pads would be on it exclusively.

[julesapple]

I'd go with the raw food diet if they can afford it, so much better for them than tinned muck.

The dog or my APs?

[Bill HH]

When humans diet it all down to will power, as the dog owner dicides what the dog eats then the dogs will power is not a factor, feed smaller portions. carbs turn into glucose which is then stored as fat whether in people or dogs. I like to see a dog eat its food with relish, if you have to coax it to eat anything its not hungry enough.