“What should I feed my pet?”
It's one of the most frequently asked questions we hear. Nearly everybody has an opinion about what you should feed, but we like to believe that we have the most believable opinion. We do not sell pet food (except for prescription foods), so there's no advantage to promoting one particular food over another.. Veterinarians actually take courses and continuing education on nutrition. Sales people at pet stores learn how to market foods.
Let's look at some of the advice that people hear:
Myth: “Fill-in-the-blanks-food prevents cancer and will make your pet live healthier and longer”
Fact: There is no data that shows that any brand of food is associated with longer or healthier life.
Myth: “Fill-in-the-blanks-supplement prevents cancer and will make your pet live healthier and longer”
Fact: If your pet eats a well balanced diet, there is no need for supplements. There is no data that shows that any supplement will make your pet live a longer or healthier life.
Myth: “All-natural diets are the best”
Fact: Just because something is all-natural doesn't mean it's a good ingredient. For example, tree bark and chicken beaks are all-natural, but I wouldn't want to feed my dog a diet that contains those. Grapes and raisins are natural, and they can kill your dog.
Myth: “By-products are bad”
Fact: Cottage cheese and egg whites are by-products that are good for you. Some by-products from the human food industry are used as affordable ingredients for pet food. For example, deboned chicken necks serve as a source of good quality protein. Beet pulp is used to provide insoluble fiber, needed to promote health of the colon.
Myth: “Corn is a filler, is poorly digested and is allergenic”
Fact: Corn kernels may be hard to digest, but the form of corn in pet foods is ground corn which is 98% digestible. Corn is a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates for energy and linoleic acid to help produce a healthy coat.. Fewer than three per cent of confirmed food allergies in pets involve corn.
Myth: “Lamb is hypoallergic”
Fact: Any protein source can be involved with allergies; the more prevalent the protein source, the more likely you are to see allergy to it .
Myth: “Animal proteins are better than plant proteins”
Fact: Proteins are a source of both essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids. No single protein source provides 100 per cent of all the amino acids. Both animal and plant proteins can provide essential amino acids. It's wise to eat a variety of protein sources to have a better chance of obtaining all the amino acids needed to sustain health. Well-formulated diets address this. For example, they might use soybean meal, which is high in methionine, to supplement chicken, which is low in methionine.
Myth: “Cooking destroys nutrients”
Fact: Cooking foods makes certain nutrients more digestible and it kills bacteria (like Salmonella and Staphylococcus) and parasites (like Trichinosis). The heat used to process pet foods may destroy some vitamins, but less so than what is lost when the products sits on the shelf in the store. Manufacturers add extra vitamins to the food to account for expected losses.
Myth: “Preservatives cause cancer”
Fact: There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. Actually, certain molds that grow on food can cause liver disease and cancer. Rancid fats (fats that have been oxidized when exposed to air) are potentially toxic. Preservatives in food protect fats from becoming rancid and inhibit the growth of mold. Vitamin E is one of the most commonly used preservatives in high-quality pet foods.
Myth: “Calcium and vitamin C supplements help prevent hip dysplasia”
Fact: Nutritionists know that extra calcium, protein and fat in the diet can predispose to orthopedic conditions such as hip and elbow dysplasia. Large breed puppy foods actually contain restricted amounts of these nutrients to prevent too rapid growth. The vitamin C theory was disproved 40 years ago—dogs and cats actually make their own vitamin C and don’t need it added to their diets..
So, what should you feed your pet? Any middle-priced or better nationally advertised name-brand food. I avoid boutique foods and stick with the large manufacturers, who have colonies of animals which they feed their foods. I figure if something is missing from one of their foods, it's their animals that will be affected first, not yours or mine.
Give treats made here in the USA.. How about table foods? I believe moderation in all things, including moderation. A little table food (so long as you avoid things known to cause problems) is OK by me..
What’s new? This year, it’s digital X-ray. We just finished installing our new digital X-ray machine, which will allow us to view X-rays anywhere in the hospital, easily send images for consultation, get rid of films and the nasty developer chemicals which are bad for the environment, and, most importantly, get better films with fewer retakes.
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