Nutritional Diseases In Your Dog

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Nutritional Diseases In Your Dog

Similar to healthy dogs, sick dogs need to eat in order to supply energy and nutrients for growth, for replacement and repair; as well as to meet an ever changing need. Nutritional requirements for a sick dog usually do not differ greatly from those of a healthy dog. A sick dog's dietary needs, however, can become substantially different from those of a healthy dog.

Diseases in which a dog's diet will need to be changed are often due to true nutritional diseases, in which the diet itself is responsible for the disease. Most of the true nutritional diseases are deficiency diseases. What this means is that they are diseases caused by a diet that contains an insufficient amount of one or more needed nutrients. Most of these diseases were the result of inadequate or improperly balanced home-made food. Since cost-effective commercial food became more and more nourishing, most of these deficiency diseases gradually disappeared. Vitamin or mineral deficiencies are rarely seen as a primary disease any more. Both vitamins and minerals are inexpensive and are needed in such small amounts that today, few commercial dog foods fail to contain them in adequate amounts.

Although energy and protein continue to be a problem with some dog foods, the number of brands that still contain insufficient fat or poor quality, indigestible protein become less and less every year. When a deficiency of fat occurs, it most often appears as an insufficient amount of total energy in the diet which results in weight loss, sluggishness, dry and dull hair coat, poor physical condition and, in some extreme cases, emaciation and uncontrolled diarrhea. A deficiency of essential fatty acids may also occur, although it is unlikely. The total amount of the fats most often used in commercial foods can drop to as low as 1% of the diet and that diet will still contain sufficient fatty acids. The only exception to this might be in cases of dry foods where larger quantities of fat have turned rancid.

When a deficiency of fatty acids does occur, it appears as a loss of weight and condition, a dry, dull coat, but more specifically as eroded areas on the skin. These will most likely show on the pads of the feet, between the toes and over the bony protuberances of the body where pressure reduces the blood supply. Although these erosions may superficially resemble "hot spots," they differ from them in four major aspects such as: They do not respond to routine steroid therapy; they appear on both short-haired as well as long-haired dogs; they require an average of three months to heal; and adding fatty acids to the diet promotes their recovery, because a deficiency of fatty acids caused them.

A deficiency of protein in the diet is still sometimes seen. This causes weight loss and dull, dry hair coats. It may also produce anemia, reduce the body’s ability to cope with and recover from infections, and, if left neglected, will eventually lead to the dog’s death.

Worms Resulting From Fad Diets

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Worms Resulting From Fad Diets

Internal parasites are a constant threat to dogs because of their natural habits. Moderate infestations with intestinal worms may go unnoticed unless the dog is eating a deficient diet. When puppies are infested with only moderate amounts of roundworms, fed diets containing inadequate protein, the injury resulting from the worms is far greater than the injury would be in puppies eating an adequate diet. This is because the protein deficiency favors the rapid growth and build-up of the parasites.

Every new parasite further decreases the effective value of what little protein the dog does eat. Feeding the infested dog a diet adequate in protein stops the injuries and weight loss being caused by the worms, but will not reverse these effects until the dog is wormed. On the other hand, dogs that are fed adequate levels of energy and protein show very little adverse effects from even heavy infestations with roundworms, except for being slightly underweight. This is immediately corrected when the dog is wormed.

Dietary considerations should be made from the viewpoint of prevention rather than from the viewpoint of treatment. Dogs that are being fed with diet adequate in protein and energy have far less susceptibility to either roundworms or hookworms, and are much more capable of resisting potential infestations.

Protein Deficiency In Dogs

Protein Deficiency In Dogs

There are three common causes of protein deficiency in a dog's diet: Insufficient total protein in the diet; imbalanced and poor-quality dietary protein; and bulky, low-energy diets.

1. Insufficient total protein in the diet. This cause is frequently seen in kennels of hunting dogs where their owners attempt to cut down. Such items, considered as lacking in protein, are cornbread, biscuits, oatmeal, boiled potatoes and cheap, dry dog foods composed mostly of cereal, may make up as much as 90 percent of these dogs' diet.

2. Imbalanced, poor-quality dietary protein. Imbalanced food containing inexpensive proteins of low biological value are frequently found among the 10-cent-a-can dog foods. The protein in such foods is usually gelatin, collagen, or those found in cereal wastes. A typical product is an example made from rejected pinto beans from a canning plant for humans' food.

3. Bulky, low-energy diets which cause the marginal amounts of protein present to be converted to energy. Foods, either canned or dry, containing too little fat or too much cereal wastes, tendons and similar indigestible materials are usually the cause of this type of protein deficiency.

The Growing Puppy

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The Growing Puppy

After the puppy has been weaned, he can begin to learn how to handle and digest different types of new foods. During the next 12 to 18 months of his life, he will continue to learn how to cope with the variety of new foods he eats. For the first six to eight months of that period the puppy will be both growing and using nutrients and energy at an incredible rate. If a food is fed containing ingredients to which a puppy is not used to or nutrients that are difficult to digest, he may be unable to obtain sufficient nutrients and energy to sustain his rapid growth. In such cases the puppies are usually stunted.

In addition, foods containing too many ingredients which the puppy has not yet learned to digest can cause another problem called "hurry diarrhea". When a dog owner gets in too big a hurry to feed adult dog food to a puppy, excessive amounts of indigestible materials are usually introduced into the puppy's digestive tract. These materials irritate the sensitive intestine of the inexperienced puppy and produce a diarrhea.

Formulating a suitable diet for a puppy is one of the most important steps in starting a dog's life. The only source of nourishment a rapidly growing puppy receives comes exclusively from what his owner provides him. His health and growth will be a reflection of how well the owner is doing his job. If you provide your pet with poor materials during this building period your puppy will be destined to carry inferior parts for the rest of its life.

A growing puppy needs twice as much energy and nutrients as an adult dog. Simply feeding him twice as much as an adult dog's food is not enough, however. The energy and nutrients must be in a form that is digestible by the puppy's inexperienced and sensitive digestive tract. However, as the puppy grows older, the diet can include foods that are more and more difficult for a dog to digest. Continue to feed your growing puppy the same food that was used to wean him, but gradually add additional foods to train the puppy's inexperienced digestive system. Just as the food fed to an adult is not suitable for a puppy, the food fed to a puppy is not suitable for an adult dog.

By the time the puppy has reached maturity, his digestive system should be thoroughly trained to handle all of the foods it will be fed during his adult life. Generally, canned and soft-moist foods contain ingredients of higher digestibility than dry foods. Canned foods are usually more suitable to feed to growing puppies than soft-moist foods. There are exceptions, however, and a few dry foods containing easily digestible nutrients are much better for feeding fast growing puppies than numerous canned foods containing poorly digestible nutrients.

Weaning Your Puppy

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Weaning Your Puppy

Whether a newborn puppy is fed by his own mother or by his owner, he must eventually be taught to depend on something besides milk for his food. This learning process is called "weaning", and represents the changing of a puppy's diet from liquid to solid. At about three to four weeks of age, as soon as their eyes open and they are able to move about with some ease, most puppies will begin to experiment with the solid foods being fed to their mother. When this happens it is time to begin to teach the puppies to eat from the pan.

Instituting such an early feeding procedure accomplishes four important things. First, it allows you to feed the puppies a food that is more satisfactory for them than the food you are feeding their mother. Second, it speeds up the weaning process because the puppies will learn to eat solid food at an earlier age. Third, it begins the social interaction between the puppy and his owners. And finally, it allows you to reduce the mother's intake of food at the same rate you increase that of her puppies. The latter prevents the mother from overeating as the early feeding of her pups promotes reduced lactation.

Weaning is a learning process in which the pups' digestive system is trained to eat solid foods. Before the puppy is born, he is fed by his mother with pre-digested nutrients. When he is whelped the puppy drinks the mother's milk. The mother's milk contains some of the most digestible nutrients that a puppy can eat. At weaning the puppy's digestive system must learn to handle each new food in turn, as it comes to him. Similar to all learning processes, the weaning process cannot be taught faster than the puppy's ability to learn.

In formulating the diet, the ingredients that make up the food fed to a puppy that is starting to wean must be highly digestible and non-irritating. An excellent weaning diet can be made easily by preparing slurry using a specialized dietary animal foods designed to be fed to patients with gastro-intestinal disorders, mixed into equal parts of the mother's milk substitutes. "Half and half" coffee cream can also be used. High-quality ration-type commercial foods also make adequate solid foods to mix with the liquid part of the diet. In all cases, ผ to ฝ tablespoonful of grated, raw liver should be added to each can of food just before it is mixed. The slurry can be either beaten with a fork or mixed in a blender.

For larger breeds, it may be more practical to use the higher quality, expanded dry foods in combination with the canned foods to blend with the liquids. Addition of dry foods may also help these larger, faster-growing puppies to get sufficient nutrients in the quantity of food they are able to consume in. Whatever the mixture used, the quantity of milk substitute in it is gradually reduced, so that when the puppy is about six or seven weeks old, he is only eating pure, solid food.

How To Change A Dog's Diet

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How To Change A Dog's Diet

There are five basic steps when it comes to changing your dog's diet. They are as follows:

Step 1: lf a dog is in a new environment, has a new owner, or is being required to undergo some other emotional or physical strain, food changes should be postponed until the stress has been eliminated or the dog has adapted to it. With changes in ownership, the diet fed by the previous owner should be obtained if at all possible and fed until the dog becomes accustomed to its new surroundings.

Step 2: Once the dog is in a proper emotional state to accept a dietary change it should be accomplished without delay. Start by substituting 25 percent of the old food with new food. Mix the two thoroughly making every attempt to conceal the new food within the old. This mixture should be fed until the dog eats the mixture with the same relish that it ate its previous food. For some dogs this may be the first time the mixture is fed; for others it may take several days or even weeks. Don't hurry the procedure. After all, the dog may have had 24 months to get accustomed to its old diet. Don't expect it to change all of that in just 24 hours. Once the dog is eating the 25:75 mixture as well as it did its previous food, proceed to step three

Step 3: During the third step, 50 percent of the old food is replaced by new food and slightly less effort is made to conceal it within the old food. Again, when the dog is eating the 50:50 mixture with the same gusto it did its previous food, proceed to step four.

Step 4: Now 75 percent of the new food is present in the mixture being fed, and little if any effort is made to conceal the new food except to mix it evenly with the ordinal food. By now, most dogs will readily accept the increased mixture the first time it is fed. If the dog accepted the 50:50 mixture at the first feeding, step four can be eliminated and you can proceed directly to step five.

Step 5: This is the final step, the one in which all of the old food is eliminated from the dog's diet. One hundred percent of the new food is fed from then on. For some dogs this procedure may take only three days and require only steps two, three and five. For others it may take longer and must progress through each step separately. Do not become discouraged. With dogs, food likes and dislikes are mostly learned from previous experiences. Changing a food is a process of unlearning and relearning, and such things cannot be hurried.
The third general consideration that should be made by all dog feeders any time they feed a dog has more to do with human behavior than it does with a dog's.

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4 Important Tips When Feeding Your Dog

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4 Important Tips When Feeding Your Dog

Rule 1: A dog should be fed by the same person at every feeding. This rule is not nearly as important where a couple of house pets are being fed by several members of the same family, as it is where large numbers of dogs are being fed by numerous different kennel personnel. It is particularly applicable where dogs are in strange environments such as boarding kennels, veterinary hospitals, or show arenas. Dogs that have become accustomed to one feeder may exhibit all sorts of erratic eating behavior if that person is changed.

Rule 2: Every dog should have its own food and water container. This precaution is not only sound behavioral psychology, it also is just plain good hygiene. It is especially wise to assign food bowls on an individual basis when your feeding containers are noticeably different from one another. Besides improved feeding technique, certain practical benefits are to be gained from following this rule. In racing stables, for example, where maintenance of body weight is so important, feeding instructions can be written on the bottom or the side of each dog's feeding container, right next to its name or number.


Rule 3: A dog should be fed in the same place every time it is fed. Whether it be the corner of the kitchen, beside the back-door steps, at the rear of a kennel run, or along the left-side wall of a cage, the site where the food container is placed should remain the same every day. In fact, everything that's done with the food container should be identical at each feeding. lf you use a push cart or wagon to carry the tub of food to the dogs, always use the same cart and tub. lf you pre-fill food bowls in the diet kitchen and carry them on the cart, don't decide one day to carry the tub of food on the cart and fill each bowl as you reach the dog. It may have become boring to you, but to your dog it has become the way of life. A change only serves to disrupt his way of life and to create cause for insecurity.

Rule 4: No dog should ever have its food changed without a good reason. Contrary to popular opinion, dogs do not need a change in food from time to time to keep them from growing tired of the same food all the time. Many dogs have lived normal, healthy lives by eating the same food throughout their entire lifetimes. In many instances where a dog owner thinks a dog has gotten sick and tired of a food, the dog has just gotten sick from the food. Not so sick, perhaps, that it really showed, but sick enough to stop eating. When a dog food is deficient, it is not uncommon for a dog eating that food to lose its appetite. Of course, nutritional deficiencies are not the only thing that will cause a dog to lose its appetite.

Too Much Dog Food Can Be A Bad Thing

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Too Much Dog Food Can Be A Bad Thing

A common cause of disease of excess food is the unwise use of vitamin and mineral supplements. A dog's cells use most vitamins and minerals at only so fast a rate. Once the cells are using them at the maximum rate, the cells cannot use these Vitamins or minerals any faster, regardless of how much of them is
present.

Any excesses due to too much in the diet will either accumulate in the body or will be excreted by some organ. If the excess nutrients build up so rapidly that the organ cannot keep up, the same substances that are vital in small amounts, may become deadly in excess amounts.

A dog does not eat to meet its need for vitamins, minerals, protein, or any other nutrient. It eats to meet its need for calories. If too much vitamins, minerals or protein are fed in relation to the number of calories in a diet, the dog will consume an excess of these nutrients. If too little is fed, the dog will develop a deficiency, yet will not seek out more of the deficient nutrient as long as its energy requirements are being met.