Eight Notes on Caring for Your Pet
- Give your pet a massage! It feels great, you can check for lumps, bumps, and problem skin, and a regular rubdown allows you to know if your pet is gaining or losing weight.
- The following houseplants are poisonous to cats: Azalea, Common or Cherry Laurel, Dumb Cane, Elephant’s Ear, Mistletoe, Oleander, Philodendron, True Ivy, Winter or False Jerusalem.
- Feline urinary health: All Nutram cat formulas are preventative diets for urinary tract health. They have reduced ash content, cranberry extract, and balanced minerals to prevent the formation of crystals. They also contain urinary acidifying ingredients such as methionine, phosphoric acid, and corn gluten meal to maintain a lower pH in the urine. However, these are not the same as dissolution diets that should be fed if the crystals are already present. Once a cat has been treated for crystals, any Nutram diet is a good choice for maintaining urinary health. A special urinary care formula is now available from Nutram. Feeding your pet plenty of water is also a good way to prevent urinary crystals.
- Supplements: Generally, one cannot over-supplement a dog. However, there is some concern about dogs with diabetes and excessive intake of glucosamine. Nutram diets all contain glucosamine. Most foods contain about 50mg per cup of glucosamine, and 50mg per cup of chondroitin. The recommended dosage for dogs is up to 1000mg when used with equal amounts of chondroitin for a 50-100lb dog. Multiply the number of cups fed per day by 50 to get the amount of dietary glucosamine, and adjust the supplements accordingly.
- Pet odor can be a result of many different things. A change in diet may have an impact on breath and fecal odor, but skin odor has several different causes. Over-production of oils can accumulate and begin to smell rancid, which can be treated with a good shampoo, and by avoiding a high fat diet. It may also be caused by a bacterial or fungal infection of the skin, which can be picked up from swimming in a pond, a problem that must be diagnosed and treated by the vet.
- Pig ears are a prime source for Salmonella infection, as the processing and microbiological testing on these products are poorly regulated. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association does not recommend them for these reasons, as well as because they can cause digestive issues and obesity. Ice cubes and carrots make great treats for dogs, and they are healthy.
- Allergies in dogs can manifest as either dermatological (skin and coat) or gastrointestinal (vomiting and diarrhea), and don’t always develop on first exposure. Sometimes stress can trigger behaviors like garbage eating, and it puts the immune system on high alert, possibly worsening the symptoms.
- Raw diets: A pre-made raw food can work well for some pets if purchased from a reputable company. It is not recommended to make it at home, as it is very easy to miss some essential nutrients and cause a diet imbalance without knowing it.
This information was obtained from e-mail contact with nutritionist Melanie Sippel of Nutram Pet Products.
Corn:
The Facts…
Corn, as an ingredient in premium pet food, is often misunderstood and taken for granted (many spouses complain of the same thing).  We want to set the record straight by providing you with the following facts.
MYTH: Corn is used as a cheap, filler ingredient.
FACT:    Nutram is formulated with premium quality, Canadian grown corn that plays an important role in the careful balance of nutrients that make our diets complete. Its primary role is to provide carbohydrates, used for energy during growth, or for everyday activity. Adequate carbohydrates are very important in order to allow pets to use protein and fat for other necessary functions. Corn also provides essential fatty acids that are important for healthy skin and coat.
“Corn is a nutritionally superior grain compared with others used in pet foods because it contains a balance of nutrients not found in other grains. Corn provides a highly available source of complex carbohydrates and substantial quantities of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid important for healthy skin. Corn also provides essential amino acids and fiber.â€(Cowell et al., in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition. 2000)
MYTH: Corn causes allergies.
FACT:   It has rarely been reported in scientific literature that corn is an allergen. A summary of the cases reported in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand found that in dogs, corn was responsible for very few confirmed cases of food allergens. In fact, reviews of over 200 cases of food allergies, only 3 were caused by corn, the same number that was attributed to rice! (Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, Fourth Edition. 2000. Hand, Thatcher, Remillard and Roudebush.)
MYTH: Corn is poorly digested by dogs and cats.
FACT:   Whole, uncooked corn kernels are not well digested by animals. However, the corn used in Nutram Pet Products is finely ground before being mixed with other ingredients. The mixture is then cooked, which breaks down the starch fraction of the food, improving availability to the animal’s digestive system. The total digestibility of the important carbohydrates within corn is greater than 98%. This is also the case with rice and oats.
MYTH: Corn contains toxins, which are harmful to animals.
FACT:    Poor quality ingredients can contain a wide variety of potentially harmful substances. At Nutram Pet Products we test all incoming ingredients including our corn for both quality and safety, and conduct inspections of products and the vehicles they are transported on. Part of our company HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) program requires us to adhere to strict standards for quality: ingredients that don’t meet these standards never make it into our plant! Our raw ingredients are tested at Federally Certified Labs, prior to the manufacture of the Nutram diets, to ensure these raw ingredients meets our rigid quality standards. Corn is no exception. We test incoming shipments of corn to verify that toxins are non-existent and that the nutrient levels meet our high expectations. Our corn is purchased entirely in Ontario, Canada–it is truly a 100% premium quality, Canadian ingredient.
Allergies
Visit Family Vet.com for useful information on pet allergies. If you have a question about possible allergies and pet diets, Nutram’s on-staff nutritionist may be able to help… for free! Contact us for more information.
How to Choose the Right Pet Food
By: Petcurean Pet Products – Read more at www.petcurean.com
Consider your dog’s activity level and weight
Although many foods on the market today are “all life stageâ€, you may need to choose a food that is designed to meet specific requirements. As an example, an overweight dog may need a food with fewer calories, particularly if lessening the existing food is not an option. In this case, you may feed the same volume, but your dog will be getting less calories.
Select a protein source
Lamb. Chicken, Fish, which one do you choose???? Although lamb has gained popularity as a “hypoallergenic†diet, dogs acquire allergies based on exposure. In choosing a food that is suitable for allergies, choose a protein source that the dog has not eaten before. If you are not sure, go with something obscure, such as salmon. Any protein source for the non allergic dog is suitable, provided it is a meat-based protein source, such as chicken. Below we discuss the quality of proteins based on their “biological valueâ€.
Look at the ingredients
Goverment certified ingredients are essential for a healthy food. Some economy brands of dog food are made from inexpensive ingredients that are not easily digested. They do not provide the best nutrition. While they may technically meet the legal specifications for percentages of protein, fat, carbohydrates, etc., these foods have lower energy values and lower-grade proteins. Because of this, many health-building nutrients may pass right through your dog’s system without being absorbed. It also means that you have to feed larger amounts of that lower quality food to provide your pet with the same nutrition as a smaller amount of premium food. When you compare the cost of these foods on a per-serving basis, and realize how quickly you go through a bag, economy foods may actually cost more in the long run.
When you are looking for a healthy food for your dog, reviewing the list of ingredients on the back of the bag is a good place to start. By law, pet food labels must list their ingredients by weight. Look for a species specific meat or meal as the first ingredient, ie turkey, duck, chicken meal, salmon meal. Species specific meats or meals all have a high biological value, which means they have a high percentage of protein in the form of digestible, usable amino acids.
Extras to look for
Always choose a food that has a balanced Omega 3/6 ratio. Look under the guaranteed analysis for this information, or on the packaging. Some examples of great Omega 3 sources are Salmon Oil, Flax Oil, and Canola Oil.
There are many ways to preserve a food naturally. Look for a natural preservative such as Vitamin E.