We all love our pets and never leave a stone unturned to ensure the best for their health, vitality, and longevity. That being said, however much we love them, taking good care of them is far from simple. In our quest to give them the best, we turn to the “best products” available in the market. Sadly the majority of pet food marketing is geared towards human interests and might not be the best for your pets. Meaning, your pets might need “Nutritional Counselling” to be in the best of their health.
Here we cover some “Whats” and “Whys” of nutritional counseling and how you can take a proactive approach to your pets’ nutritional health.
According to a report from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), about 60% of cats and 56% of dogs in the United States were estimated to be overweight or obese. Ensuring a healthy weight is a must to ensure vitality and longevity. A pet that is overweight or underweight is more susceptible to disease and injury. In addition, obesity is a complicating factor in heart conditions, arthritis, liver conditions, and other ailments.
As pet parents, most food habits that you determine for your furry ones might be flawed at various levels. Why? Your pets have different nutritional needs than humans. Their dietary requirements are different in different stages of life as against an “All Life Stage’ animal food that is sold at your nearest supermarket.
Better awareness and care can add years to their life; research shows that proper nutrition can increase the average lifespan of dogs for up to two years. However, due to limited knowledge about the complexities of pet nutrition, misinformation, and myths that exist about animal nutrition, it may require professional attention as well. For instance, 90% of homemade pet food was found to be incomplete and unbalanced; they are also likely to contain inverse calcium-phosphorus ratios, which is dangerous for pets.
Safety Measures:
The choice of food does not only affects your pets but might affect your other family members as well. For instance, if you feed your pets raw meat, the risk of infection is not limited to your pets, the risk is higher when kids or older people live with the pets.
Food Myths:
This makes it all the more confusing for pet owners; for example, it’s a myth that anything which is a “By-product “ is inferior. The reality is that anything labeled as a by-product is perfectly fine for pet consumption and even human consumption. In addition, it “ensures the sustainability of our global food supply”. (Source)
Prescription Diet:
It is terrible when your furred ones are suffering from some disease; these diseases may require them to be on a prescription diet to ensure relief, rapid recovery and/or longevity. A prescription diet is generally for early and advanced kidney disease, cardiac and liver diseases, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, geriatrics, urinary diseases, bladder stones, and food allergy. Your veterinarian will recommend the proper diet based on your pet’s needs.
To love is one thing, to care is another! To ensure your pet eats what it needs, call us today!
Our experts pay attention to detail and do the best for your furred ones depending on age, health, and surroundings and also help you care for them better.
References:
https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/04/research-obesity-and-lifespan/