Insights

Types of Diets Explained

Commercial food, cooked food, or raw food, which should I choose?

Any type of diet can meet a pet's nutritional needs if offered correctly, but each has its own pros and cons, so let's better understand them.

Commercial food: dry or wet commercial food is normally the easiest, and the cheapest type of diet a pet owner can choose. Whether it is a standard, premium, or superpremium commercial pet food, it is formulated to meet all the minimum nutritional requirements of the pet's diet. The difference between these categories lies in the quality and variety of the ingredients, in a way they can meet more than just the minimum requirements, as well as being better digested and absorbed.

And should I choose dry or wet commercial food?

It depends on your pet's preferences, your budget, and your and your pet's routine. Dry food is usually cheaper and easier to store and serve. Conversely, wet food is generally more palatable, therefore being more interesting for selective pets.

What about cooked or raw food?

Cooked food: offers better control of the ingredients, thus it is very suitable for pets with specific illnesses, selective pets, or just when the owners want to make sure of what their pets are eating. Also, cooked food is easier to digest and its nutrients are better absorbed.

Raw food: a trend nowadays. It offers similar benefits to cooked food and is easy to prepare and serve to the pet, however, it has several disadvantages. Raw food offers a high risk of bacterial contamination to the human handling it, as well as these bacteria, can spread to the surroundings during the pet's feeding time. Furthermore, dealing with the bone offerings can be very tricky, as they need to undergo profilatic freezing, have an appropriate size for the pet, and always be offered under supervision. Lastly, the digestion and absorption of raw food are smaller than cooked food.

If you want to know more about which diet to choose for your pet don't hesitate to book your appointment.

Cats & Dogs Characteristics

Dogs descend from wolves, and cats descend from wild cats. The feeding habits passed down from their ancestors, in addition to how soon they were domesticated influence the recent feeding habits of dogs and cats.

In the wild, wolves hunt in packs, and have large infrequent meals, when there is even competition between the pack members. For this reason, the wolves eat as much as they can, as fast as they can, on the rare occasions they have food. Furthermore, the history of wolf domestication is long, possibly from 100.000 years ago, hence their feeding habits drastically changed to the life with humans. On the other hand, wild cats are solitary territorial predators, that kill several small prey during the day and have been domesticated more recently than wolves.

Dogs are facultative carnivores, or can even be considered omnivores, once they adapted to eat practically everything, and can well digest carbohydrates to use as a metabolical energy source. Inversely, cats are obligate carnivores, even though they can digest carbohydrates, their main energy source is protein, so they need much higher levels than dogs.

Knowing all this we can understand why dogs usually eat very fast, once or twice a day, large portions of food, and, on the contrary cats eat several times a day small portions of food.

Body Score Overview

Do you know if your pet is underweight, has an ideal weight, or is overweight?

To answer this question we need to look for more than just the pet's weight shown on the scale, we need to analyze its body structure.

A healthy animal should have a waistline, meaning you can distinguish its waist when viewed from above. Additionally, the ribs should be palpable but not visible, and there should be a visible tuck in the abdomen when viewed from the side.

If your pet is under or overweight do not hesitate to book your appointment for healthy weight management.

Gut Health Importance

A healthy animal must have a well-developed intestinal microbiota, which means to have its gut normal and good bacteria, fungi, and viruses in correct amounts. The gut microbiota is responsible for offering nutrients via metabolic pathways, nurturing the intestinal epithelia, and maintaining local and systemic immunology.

When there's an imbalance in intestinal microorganisms, it's called Dysbiosis. Its main symptoms are diarrhea and bloating, which can be associated with diseases or can be caused by diet changes, an unbalanced diet, or stress.

Therefore, it is fundamental to always observe the pet's poop. Stools should be well-formed (with a defined shape), slightly moist, and not leave a residue when picked up.

If you feel your pet could benefit from an intestinal modulation to have a healthier gut, do not hesitate to book your appointment.

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