Nutritional information on dog food

Long gone are the days when pet owners fed their dogs on left-overs and scraps from the table. As more and more information becomes available today’s pet owners are more demanding in terms of meeting their pet’s nutritional needs. This has fuelled the creation of a massive pet food industry with supermarket shelves bursting with commercial diets.

When the first commercial pet food diets appeared in the 1950’s they often utilised leftover and poor quality meat, gristle and viscera. Standards have greatly improved with some products containing human grade meat. Many companies are now marketing the fact that their foods contain no artificial ingredients reflecting a trend in human eating habits.

For the new dog owner this choice can be daunting but thankfully most commercial pet foods will meet your dog’s basic nutritional requirements as long as you follow the recommended feeding instructions for that particular food.

Diets in adult dogs should be balanced with water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Healthy adult dogs can be fed on complete ‘’ canned, dry or semi – moist’’ food varieties. These complete diets do not need to be mixed with any additional foods, which is the mistake many pet owners often make. Mixing a complete food with another food type is essentially increasing the energy content of the diet and increasing the risk of obesity.
Despite the range of commercial diets available some people advocate the feeding of a more natural home made diet.

There are a number of specially formulated premium foods, which have been specially formulated, to ensure health growth and keep him healthy at each stage of his life. Your Veterinary Surgeon will be able to give you the advice of the appropriate diet for your puppy or dog. For a long time Vets and nutritionist’s have been recommending to feed a commercially produced food, especially a premium food rather than home made diets, which unless carefully formulated can be potentially harmful for your dog.

Puppies

As a general guide, puppies require more: calcium and phosphorus to help build strong bones; protein to help develop strong muscles, more calories for increased energy expenditure and fatty acids for a healthy coat, they need more of these than mature dogs do. It has also been shown that large breed puppies have different nutritional needs.

The pregnant and nursing bitch

Should be fed a diet almost identical to the puppies diet as she is providing so much of the nourishment for the pups at this time, energy rich formulation will help to maintain her own body weight.

The adult dog

Control of excessive nutrients is vital for an adult dog, so reducing the levels of nutrients than those of a puppy is vital. Carefully controlled levels of essential fatty acids for a healthy glossy coat, high-quality protein to maintain muscles, and sensible levels of calcium and phosphorus for strong bones and teeth. Excess levels of sodium and phosphorus should be avoided.

The less active or weight prone dog

Being overweight puts potentially dangerous stress on every bone, muscle and organ, including the heart in your dog’s body.

A specially formulated fibre rich, calorie reduced diet is essential to help prevent obesity in some dogs. Some breeds are genetically predisposed to becoming overweight, and some neutered animals are also at risk from becoming obese.

Feeding an appropriate ‘light’ diet will help your dog to feel full and satisfied and reduce the intake of calories at the same time, this will keep your dog, happy and healthy and stop you from feeding guilty about reducing the quantity of foods given. The other benefit is it also maintains all of the other essential nutrients required by an adult dog.

The active or nervous dog

Active working or nervous dogs need a diet rich in energy giving fats to keep them at the peek of fitness. A diet that provides a balance of all of the other nutrients for an adult dog whilst increasing the intake of calories is also useful for the nervous and finicky eater who may only eat a small amount.

The senior or older dog

As dogs get older, the kidney function often declines. An excessive intake of phosphorus can lead to further kidney damage, and too much salt can contribute to higher blood pressure, which may make heart or kidney problems worse. A carefully controlled diet in all of these nutrients is required for the older dog, to help keep your companion as long as possible.

How many times a day should a dog be fed?

Most people feed adult dogs either once or twice a day. Both have advantages and possible disadvantages depending on the owner, dog and domestic situation. Every dog is different but most dogs have sufficient appetite toeat enough in one meal to provide enough energy for the day.

Once a day feeding:

• More controllable, it can usually be sufficient in size to satiate appetite.
• Under or over feeding is less likely to happen
• It can be easily fitted into your household routine.
You should avoid late evening meals as dogs may need to excrete faeces or urinate within the following few hours and this may be inconvenient in the middle of the night.

Twice (or three times) a day feeding

• It is common to feed twice or three times a day along with/after the family meals, suiting some household routines better.
• Smaller more frequent meals may increase basal metabolism. Useful for dogs who need to lose weight.
• However, the daily food ration must be divided between these meals to avoid overfeeding.
It is desirable to establish a feeding routine and stick with it. Dogs become accustomed to feeding at particular times/time in the day, along with being fed at the same place. If dogs have poor appetites or are unwell, or are very old, they may benefit from twice a day feeding with smaller meals.

Choosing a Dog Food

There are many decisions to make when choosing a food for your dog.

• Dry vs. canned
• Palatability
• Availability
• Make of food

Some people find dry food more convenient than canned. It can be difficult to carry many tins of dog food, especially if you have a large breed dog!! There is also a lot of waste from tins compared to the packaging of a bag of dried food. However some dogs prefer canned to dry and owners may find it difficult to get such a dog on to a dry diet.
It’s difficult not to be ruled by your dog’s taste-buds. Very fussy dogs can often dictate to their owners what food they want to receive by simply refusing something they don’t fancy. The next offering is invariably much tastier so they quickly learn to hold out for the best! Having said that some dogs just don’t seem to like certain foods and this can often be a major factor when deciding which pet food to choose.
With so many to choose to from the final decision can be down to something as simple as reputation or word of mouth. Fancy packaging may appeal to some, as may slick advertising campaigns and clever marketing. The cuteness of the dogs on the packaging does not directly relate to the quality of the food!!!

When switching your dog to any new food, gradually introduce it over a 5-day period. Mix it with your dog’s former food, gradually increasing the proportion until only the new food is being fed.
You can tell if your dog is the ideal weight when you can feel, but not see his ribs. To be sure of his ideal weight consult your Veterinary Surgery.

Keep fresh water available at all times.

If you are switching from a canned food to a dry food, expect your pet to drink a lot more water, most commercially produced tinned food is made up of over 80%, which provides a large amount of drinking water for your dog.

Your dog’s activity level, life-stage and temperament can affect how much and what he need to eat, your Veterinary Surgery will advise you on the most appropriate diet for your dog.

The best way to measure the quality of a pet food is to measure what goes in compared to what is passed out. Many inexpensive pet food, provide a lot of fillers which may make it look good value, but a lot of the food is not utilised by the animal and there is more to clean up afterwards.
If your pet refuses to eat for more than 48 hours, discuss the problem with your Veterinary Surgeon immediately.

If you are feeding a premium or commercially prepared pet food, it is not necessary to give any additional supplements; in fact this may do more harm than good.

Most feeding guides on pet foods are to be used as a guide only. Your veterinary surgeon will advise on the most appropriate amount for your dog. 
 

This pet health article is for reference only.