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Should our dogs be taking vitamins as they age? Healthy pets who are eating pre-made food, meaning dry kibble or wet food, with a label on the bag that says the food meets AAFCO standards, do not require vitamins as their diets are pre-balanced with the essential amino acids and vitamins.  However, as pets do age, they may benefit from other supportive products including joint supplements and skin supplements.  Pets with underlying health issues such as allergies may benefit from other dietary supplements as well.

How do I know what’s a good food and what isn’t?

Great question!  There are several considerations for picking out an appropriate food for your pet.  Let’s break it down into pieces:

Ingredient quality – What are the first three ingredients?  Do they include by-products?

AAFCO statement – AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials, puts a label or statement on foods that have passed their testing to be considered balanced for essential nutrients.

Does the food meet your pet’s health needs? For example, there are diets available that are specially formulated for pets with diseases such as urinary, kidney, or thyroid disease.  Additionally, some foods contain additional supplements that may decrease signs associated with arthritis or skin disease.

What is your pet’s lifestyle?  Some diets are specially formulated to be higher in carbohydrate, fat, and protein levels to supplement increased activity levels.  Dogs who are candidates for these diets include working dogs and sled dogs.  The average dog who is active for 1-2 hours per day does not usually require the extra calories.

We put our dog Abbey on a grain and chicken free diet, which seemed to help with her allergies. Now I am seeing that grain free diets may possibly be leading to heart disease. Now I’m not sure what we should feed her????

Recent investigations have found a possible correlation between grain-free diets and heart disease in dogs.  Currently, there is little evidence that grain actually causes allergy symptoms.  Often by switching dogs to a grain-free diet, the overall ingredient quality of the diet is improved and this contributes to better health.  As new research is released, we are committed to keeping clients updated.  In the meantime, we don’t generally recommend grain free diets.  For pets who are stable on a grain free diet, we recommend supplementing taurine (the amino acid that contributes to heart disease), available in pill supplements, and more frequent wellness checks (for example every 6 months) with chest x-rays when possible to detect heart disease as early as possible.

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Veterinary scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that, like humans, obese dogs can experience metabolic syndrome, a condition that describes multiple health issues that occur in the body at the same time. 

The condition occurs when a number of health problems, such as increased blood glucose and increased cholesterol levels, develop together, with the potential to increase the risk of other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Although canine obesity is known to cause insulin resistance, mild hypertension, and high blood cholesterol levels, it has not, until now, been investigated for links to metabolic syndrome, which is common in obese humans.

In a study involving 35 obese dogs, 20% were found to have metabolic syndrome. Similar to humans with the condition, obese dogs had increased blood insulin, suggested that the pancreas is working harder than normal to control blood glucose. Blood adiponectin, a protein produced by fat cells that helps control sugars and fats, was also at lower levels than normal. It is yet to be determined, however, what the exact health impacts of these issues are on dogs, and if they are similar to the diseases that metabolic syndrome can cause in humans.

The team demonstrated, however, that the metabolic abnormalities identified in obese dogs, improved when they successfully lost weight.

Dr Alex German, from the University’s Department of Obesity and Endocrinology, said: “It is estimated that one third to a half of the UK dog population is overweight. A previous study that we conducted showed that a dog’s quality of life improved with weight loss, resulting in better vitality and reduced emotional distress.

“This new research creates a lot of new questions for us. It suggests that dogs develop metabolic syndrome, similar to humans with obesity-related health problems. We now need to investigate, however, what health consequences this may have for dogs. The key point for us is that the problem can be resolved with successful weight loss, and this must be a priority for pet owners with obese dogs.”

The study is published in the BMC Veterinary Research.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Liverpool.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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