Choosing the right diet for your fur baby is essential

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope everyone is doing well and excited to start the warmer months. Other than celebrating the Mexican culture, many of us think about food when we think about Cinco de Mayo celebrations. So why not discuss food-related topics that are important for our dogs and cats?

With this column, I hope I can provide some guidelines for my pet lovers out there. I would like to point out that different veterinary professionals may have different opinions, but I am optimistic that these talking points can assist you in making the best decisions for your pups and kitties.

Please be aware that social media may show trendy diets or people’s opinions about certain types of foods, but many of those trends and opinions don’t have any scientific background or research associated with them. It is important to always consider your veterinary team’s opinions when choosing the right food for your baby.

A somewhat controversial topic in pet nutrition is whether to feed home-cooked meals or a raw diet, or, if feeding the traditional pet food, whether to feed dry or wet food. In my opinion, home-cooked meals can be a great option for some pet parents, but they tend to lack nutrients if not prepared correctly. Plus, they can be very time consuming, and they can lead to more accumulation of tartar on our babies’ teeth.

And while I am not the biggest fan of home-cooked meals, I do believe they are a much better option than most raw diets, as long as the home-cooked meals are well-balanced and handled correctly.

Raw diets may seem like a great option, but they can contain harmful bacteria if not handled correctly, and the nutrients in these diets may not be well balanced for dogs and cats. Bones added to these meals can lead to negative repercussions and even life-threatening complications. Many raw diets are typically high in protein as well, which is not ideal for some life stages or pets with certain diseases, like chronic kidney disease. Lastly, raw diets are usually more cost-prohibitive than the other options.

All of that being said, if the food is handled well from the source all the way to our home, and if the nutrients are well balanced, a raw diet may be a good option for some dog and cat parents. I personally do not recommend them, but some parents swear by them, and, if they work for their babies, then they work for them!

I recommend the traditional dog and cat dry food options, more specifically a few select brands, since there are plenty of brands on the market that are not good options. As long as they are high-quality brands, both dry and wet forms are usually excellent sources of nutrition for our babies.

I recommend you stay away from “All life stages” food products, because puppies/kittens, adults and seniors have different nutritional requirements. Something to keep in mind is that some cats and dogs may have certain diseases or conditions that may benefit from specific prescription diets, based on your doctor’s recommendations. Overall, I do not recommend high-protein diets unless you have a working dog — police dogs, for example.

Another controversial topic is grain-free diets. Pet parents have different reasons for feeding their pets grain-free diets, including the idea that grains are supposedly bad or used as fillers or to mimic what the wild counterparts of our pets would eat. While this seems to make sense, the fact is cats and dogs actually do benefit from grains in their diets. We just need to make sure that the grain comes from a high quality source and is present in the correct amounts.

The issues with diets containing grains come from the past when some food companies made pet food using grains from a low quality source and in excessive amounts as fillers. But diets these days are quite different from those diets of the past. And dogs and cats have evolved genetically from their wild counterparts, which means their nutritional requirements have changed over generations. Research on this issue continues, and until conclusive data is available, veterinarians are recommending against grain-free diets as there may be a correlation between grain-free diets and heart disease with some of our pets.

Did you know that allergies to chicken in pet foods are actually not that common at all? In fact, food allergies are one of the least-common types of allergies that we see with dogs and cats. They do exist, but when a dog or cat seems to have an issue with chicken, it is more likely their problems are caused by something other than chicken in their diet. And did you know that by-products in our babies’ foods are not necessarily bad? They just have to come from high-quality sources.

When it comes to food portions, each diet is different, but the food packaging will indicate how much to feed to your baby based on their weight. I also recommend having a specific feeding schedule — breakfast and dinner — to allow you to closely monitor their appetite. And picking up their food bowl after about an hour will help you closely monitor your pet’s appetite, as it can be hard to say how much they are eating when they graze throughout the day instead. This is a general recommendation, as each baby may have different requirements or situations that may merit a different feeding schedule, so please consult with your doctor.

As always, I truly hope this has been a learning experience that will translate into healthier and happier families. If you may have any questions or need help, you can find me in Addison. Thank you for reading my column and abrazos!

Dr. Josh owns Isla Veterinary Boutique Hospital, 14380 Marsh Lane, Ste. 110 in Addison. Call him at 972-738-1111 or visit IslaVet.com.