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Ultimately if your pet likes
their food, has consistently
firm faeces throughout
the day and is in good
body condition then the
diet is suiting them. If not,
you should be prepared to
consider alternatives but
always consider your vet’s
advice in finding a diet
that you are happy with,
can afford and most
importantly is BALANCED
for your pet.
The best thing you
want to achieve for your
pet’s health and nutrition
is a balanced diet
“
”
Home-cooked diets
It is possible to achieve a
balanced home cooked diet
but only with the help of your
vet, or a veterinary nutritionist.
The correct balance of
carbohydrate, protein and
fats can be difficult to achieve
if not accurately calculated
which can lead to long term
health problems. Obtaining
the ingredients and the
appropriate supplements from
reliable sources is critical.
Raw Meat
While there is no doubt that a
raw meat and bones diet works
well for some pets, the reality is
that today’s domestic dog is not
the active wolf of generations
ago who had a gut adapted to
living in the wild. Raw meat has
significantly higher bacteria
levels, particularly harmful
bacteria such as salmonella and
listeria, which not only can
cause significant disease in
your pet (puppies and
immunosuppressed adults
are most at risk) but also
pose a risk to in-contact
humans. There are also
potential hazards of bones
causing life threatening injuries,
whilst simply omitting bones
can lead to imbalanced vitamin
and mineral ratios.
Commercial pet foods
The reason vets favour and
trust these, as scientists, is that
they have all been through
safety testing, adhere to quality
guidelines, and have had many
hours of scientific research into
developing a product that is
entirely balanced for all your
pet’s nutritional requirements.
They do however vary with the
ingredients used and the quality
of those ingredients. While cost
of the diet tends to reflect
better quality ingredients, do
not be put off by things such as
‘meat meal’ or ‘by-products’.
All prepared diets still have to
meet the same minimum
quality guidelines. Additionally,
with the explosion of food
allergies in our pets, the best
food for them may not be the
most expensive but rather
the food that gives your pet
regular stools and a good
body condition.
What are my options
?
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