nutrition

Re: nutrition

Katie B — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:09:17 GMT

[quote user="sarah collins"]

[quote user="Katie B"]

All I know is that when my pup was around 9 months old, he was put on Chappie as he was overweight. He was neuteured too and didn't help with his weight. He is now on Pets At Home Diet dog food which is great for maintaining his weight. Science Plan make it. My vet nurse called Chappie to make sure he would be ok with it though.

[/quote]I'm pretty sure that Hill's (who make science plan) do not make Pets at Home own brand food! Unfortunately, I have come across quite a few customers who have been told by staff at Pets at Home that their own brand is made by different premium pet food companies, and this is just not true. The premium brand companies only manufacture their own products, and not anyone elses. I don't suppose Hill's would be very happy to hear that!

[/quote]

Very cheeky, it was the pets at home staff who said it to me. They need their hands slapped!

Re: nutrition

sarah collins — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:02:58 GMT

[quote user="Katie B"]

Re: nutrition

Katie B — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:10:06 GMT

Ice cube, hmm will have to try him on that!

Re: nutrition

Phrin Vernon RVN — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:55:07 GMT

I would follow your Vet Nurses' advice, and just use veg as a filler - my pooch is prone to putting on a bit of weight, but loves a bit of carrot or an ice cube as a treat!

Re: nutrition

Katie B — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:40:47 GMT

Yeah I have realised that, as his weight has gone up, so will switch back to Pets At Home but if his weight hasn't gone down by his next weight check I am going to put him on prescription diet. He has short legs so I worry about joint problems. Heard about the veg thing but Dustys vet nurse doesn't agree and said he will miss out on essential vitamins and minerals, which not sure I understand.

Re: nutrition

Phrin Vernon RVN — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:58:48 GMT

Hey Katie

I am the first to admit that my nutrition knowledge is erm... minimum! But Pedigree Chum will be doing your lab no good! How old is he?

If a weight reducing diet isn't an option, maybe try a large breed light diet, and supplement with veg etc.

There are lots of good food brands out there! Despite what you see in practice, it's not all about Hills and RCW!

I'm not well up on nutrition (did I say that already lol), but lots of people on here are!

Re: nutrition

Katie B — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:24:20 GMT

[quote user="Juliet Drummond DAVN (med) RVN"]

i have 3 dogs which are all trained for flyball.

my practice is a 'hills practice'

do i feed my lot hills- no.

the branding of food is not my big thing, i feel it is more imprortant ot feed what an animal wil eat rather than what we are told to sell.

my young collie x lurcher started on hills ve puppy, she is very hyperactive. she did well on this diet, but after she was neutered (and fully recovered) i changed her to an adult food, currently burns but the brand is academic to me, she was a bit less mental on lower protein food.

i prefer to use a lower protein food for weight loss/ regulation (18-22%)

i truly feel that diets based on age of pet are musleading to clients, and i think that a body score is the only way to assess weight regulation (i have seen too many fat lab pups on puppy food because of their age).

my adult dogs are feed moderate protein levels while at work (racing over the intense summer period) and lower protein in winter, when less active.

hope this helps?

[/quote]

This may be a stupid question but do you mean you feed your dogs protein like chicken or can you get a dog food that is high in protein, as I think that is a great idea. My lab has to lose 3KG to be at his goal weight. He is on Pedigree Chum diet at the moment which has made him gain weight. Would love some suggestions as everything you put makes sense to me.

Re: nutrition

Juliet Drummond DAVN (med) RVN D32/33 — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:30:53 GMT

i have 3 dogs which are all trained for flyball.

my practice is a 'hills practice'

do i feed my lot hills- no.

the branding of food is not my big thing, i feel it is more imprortant ot feed what an animal wil eat rather than what we are told to sell.

i prefer to use a lower protein food for weight loss/ regulation (18-22%)

my adult dogs are feed moderate protein levels while at work (racing over the intense summer period) and lower protein in winter, when less active.

hope this helps?

Re: nutrition

Katie B — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:11:59 GMT

Re: nutrition

Susan Jackson — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:52:47 GMT

[quote user="Laura Moss"]

I need a little advise about different diets available and what we all reccomend. We promote hills vet essentials range which i think is a good diet but always get asked about what diets are good on the market? any suggestions apart form the norm james welbeloved.

Also i had a case recently which was a 9month old dog starting to become overweight and was neutered 3months ago. It had gained 3kg in weight in 3months and i do understand that obviously neutering does gain weight and a proportion of this extra weight would be growth but what diet would you recommend. Would you stick with a puppy food or go to a adult diet? i know that royal canin do a neutered junior range but what would everyone generally do in this case?

Also what age you you put a neutered kitten on adult food?

Thanks

[/quote]

Dogs and cats will put on weight after the spay/castration when they're fed puppy food. One because we lower their food requirements by spaying and castrating them. The second is because they grow the most between 0-6months after that they naturally require less food as they don't grow at the same rate. Owners sometimes remark even in entire cats and dogs that they aren't as hungry.

I like the neutered diets because you don't wait till they're 1 year you change straight away after operation. If your dog's a large breed they still have some growing to go so neutered would be an option, otherwise you're stuck on the puppy for now. Good portion control is key - Feed for weight he/she should be not the weight he/she is.

I would put a neutered cat on neutered food straight after op but if don't like these diets then should stay on till 1 year. In the past when neutered cat food wasn't available and had podgy cats changed them early to adult light.

For all the other foods that don't have neutered range use the light brands and change at the times they say on packet 1yr to 18months (large breeds). Again just adjusting the portions and not increasing food too much after 6 months.

Re: nutrition

Vicky RVN — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:23:58 GMT

[quote user="Bizzy McClure"]

I know a lot of VN's who feed their dogs Burns.

[/quote]

I do, Jack does really well on it.

Re: nutrition

Goldilocks E — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:35:27 GMT

I advise clients to stay clear of butchers, bakers, supermarket own brand, and anything that ingredients are listed under "meat and animal derivatives" or "cereals". These "cheaper" foods use whatever is avaliable cheapest at time of manufacture and the quality of the meat is fairly poor. They also bulk their diets out with "cereals" which provide low quality protein.

We advise the following brand: Royal Canin, Hills science plan, JWV, Beta, Eutkanuba, Wainwrights, Nature's Harvest, Iams and sometimes Pets at home own brand (the one in the silver / grey packaging - they have fairly good ingredients. I always educate owners to check the ingredients labels and make sure that everything in the diet is clearly stated individually and it is free from artificial additives, colourings and sugar.

Re: nutrition

Shelly vn — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:00:47 GMT

I feed my dogs Beta as its not too expensive and i have been telling clients that don't have much money to give it a go. Obviously if money was no object i'd be feeding mine Royal Canin!

Re: nutrition

Honeybadger — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:19:03 GMT

I know a lot of VN's who feed their dogs Burns.

Re: nutrition

Jeniflower — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:48:05 GMT

I'd probably agree with Steph here. I would maybe pop him on a light version of adult food to enable those excess 3kg to drop off- although even just getting the owners to cut out treats for a while may just do it. Then switch onto an adult maint diet indefinately.

Re: nutrition

Steph Worsley — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:25:55 GMT

I may be unpopular with some people when I say I dont go in for the whole neutered diet thing.

I would say if it was an average size breed (ie not a giant breed) I would have put it on adult food after neutering

I put my kittens onto adult food also when they were neutered

As for decent brands out there, i recommend pro-plan, JWB, RC, hills (although personally my cats are on pro-plan and will not touch hills!)