Well, the numbers are in for 2016 and the pet obesity epidemic shows no signs of abating. The pet obesity survey, conducted by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention back in October 2016, has concluded that 54% of all dogs and 59% of all cats are overweight or obese. These numbers are at all time highs and translate
In my continuing myths series check out part 3 of “What is THAT in my pet food?” Myth: The problem with many of these foods is that the corn and/or wheat is used as a less expensive and inferior substitute for high quality animal protein. Dogs were meant to eat animal protein, not protein derived from corn and wheat. Another
Myth: Currently there is, for example, no way to find out if manufacturer A’s “chicken byproducts” are of a better quality or than manufacturer B’s. All you see is generally “chicken byproducts” on the ingredients list without any explanation of what is actually in them, whether they have been bought from a rendering company, or rendered by the
The Internet is amazing! I certainly can’t imagine my life without having so much information available immediately at any given time. However, the Internet also brings with it a lot of misinformation and it can be challenging to weed through what is true and what is crazy talk. I thought it would be fun to pull some common
Corn, it has somehow become the enemy of pet food and pet nutrition. I’m not quite sure where it started but now many dog and cat foods proudly state “No Corn!” Pet owners have been led to believe that corn is a cheap filler without any nutritional value and that pet foods containing corn are of lesser quality.
We have discussed what my dogs have been eating, now lets move on to pet nutrition for my cats. I have two senior kitties, Furla and Vegas. They are in the same life stage and don’t have any underlying diseases (yet) that require a prescription diet so I am able to feed them the same food. They split
About twice a year I like to reevaluate what I am feeding my pets to make sure I am providing them with the best possible pet nutrition and dietary supplements for their current health status and life stages. After my trip to Orlando for the North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) I decided to make a few changes. Frank
The NAVC (North American Veterinary Community) conference was 5 days of learning and fun with a bonus trip to the Magic Kingdom. Overall I feel like there was a big focus on new pet supplements out on the market that can help support a healthy lifestyle for our pets. In general, pets fed a commercial pet food do not need
In the last few weeks I have stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy weight for your pet and that pet obesity can lead to several healthy issues. One of the most common of these obesity related diseases is arthritis, which can affect both dogs and cats. Arthritis is difficult to diagnose and often overlooked in our cat population
If you’re concerned that your pet may have food allergies and think you would like to try your pet on a new diet to address a medical condition like itchy ears or soft stool there are a few options in regards to which hypoallergenic diet you can choose. First consider if you need a prescription diet or if you