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A balancing act
When feeding dogs and cats, there are many elements that need to be considered.
Contrary to popular belief, dogs nor cats require variation in their diet, in fact regularly altering what your cat and/or dog eats can be detrimental to its health. Dogs and cats decide what to eat in a different way to humans, and their system copes with the food in a different way. Dogs and cats need time to adjust to new diets and, as such, they should be introduced slowly to new food. If diets are altered quickly, stomach upsets are likely and, ultimately, fussiness towards food and intolerances.
That is not to say that if the food you are feeding your cat and dog is not right, you shouldn’t change it, the key is to research the food thoroughly so that it needs to be changed as little as possible.
There are many elements that influence what is fed to small animals. Tradition is one, whether this dates to way back, or just what the family pets have always been fed. Pet food has seen some great advances in the past few years, and it’s not just the nutritional content that has altered, the look of it has as well.
The most recent development in pet foods has got to be dried food and the fact that these kibbles, when fed at the correct amount, can provide a complete diet for your dog or cat. In addition to standard diets, many companies produce products tailored to meet the needs of specific conditions, and put this into kibble. This is especially true of a company like Hill’s and Eukanuba. Looking at one product, Hill’s say their Prescription Diet canine j/d, shows just how advanced these dried formulations can be. This product is designed to ease aching joints and provide a better quality of life within 21 days using a combination of EPA (an omega-3 fatty acid), glucosamine, chondroitin and L-carnitine.
To further illustrate this point, Eukanuba have recently developed a new product designed specifically for the very active dog called high activity. Containing higher amounts of nutrients and proteins, high activity supports exercise, performance and endurance for the active dog with a greater caloric energy need.
There are many nutrients essential in pet nutrition, too many or not enough of any element can potentially cause problems. By feeding a complete food, at recommended quantities, these problems should be avoided.
When calculating how much food a cat or dog should have, there are a few factors to consider, these are: size, physiological condition and health. Although health and size are fairly self explanatory, physiological condition is an interesting factor as it covers how much exercise the animal does, what stage of its life it’s at as well as taking account of any other activities such as breeding.
When looking at all these factors, this demonstrates why there is more than one type of pet food available per brand, because not all food will suit all animals of the same breed. This is especially true of dogs; in fact, small dogs develop far quicker than large dogs, reaching physical maturity at an earlier age. This means that their feeding needs change quicker.
Whatever stage of life or development, the need for the diet to be balanced is essential. Dogs and cats need: proteins, fats, carbs, vitamins, minerals and water. A correct balance means that the animal has the ingredients required for growth, activity and repair. In addition, the importance of water should never be underestimated. All animals need water, a large proportion of their body is made up of it and, although most animals can last a few days without food, without water, they die quickly.
The best advice is to consult the people that know about the nutritional needs of dogs and cats, such as nutritionists and vets. If pets are fed incorrectly, they can become obese, develop health complaints, or become thin as a result of not eating.
Nutrecare cater for dogs and cat, whatever their nutritional requirements by providing the owner with a selection of top quality pet foods, from reputable companies at sensible prices. To view the selection, simply click on the appropriate icon. For more information on any of the products available, please call Nutrecare on 01562 825978.
Written specially for Nutrecare
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