Dog Food

02/26/2013

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Your Dog’s Health.

Food and Diet. Introduction.

My dog receives a varied diet of processed dog food, dog treats and chews and table scrap tit-bits. I also make food especially for her. She is currently in optimum health. However, we have had dogs in the past that have been recommended for special diets due to health problems. Many of these diets have been expensive, highly processed tinned food diets.

My past experience, as a nutritionist and dog breeder, a veterinary nurse and a seeing eye dog trainer, tells me there is a better way of trying to restore health to an animal than by feeding them commercially processed food. 

Certainly dogs with allergies, pancreatitis, weakened kidneys, heart and liver disease and hunting, breeding and show dogs will dogs have their own special nutrient requirements. 

None of the suggestions I make are to be taken as veterinary advice for your dog. It is purely meant as an aid to preparing the diet in a natural less processed way. Talk this over with your dog’s medical provider, and follow their medical advice where your dog’s health is concerned.

I will be continuing this blog about dog health and dog nutrition in further posts.

The Guide Dog organizations will usually give excellent advise about dog nutrition.

 
 
Summer is coming in Australia and the warnings are that the ticks season this year will be a terrible one for dogs.  Please watch your pet and keep them out of long grass when walking thim in the East coast of Australia or other regions where the deadly paralysis tick is found.   Summer isn't the best of times to allow a dog free runs in the grass as there is a risk from snakes and grass seed as well.  Dog are safer on short watered lawns and paved areas and pathways without long grassy overhangs.

If you need to remove a tick, here is the latest advice on how to do it:
Ticks do attach themselves to grass and wait for a host to walk past so they can drop on to them and ‘burrow in’ to attach. Hasty removal can sometimes leave their head in place. There is no chance that the head, devoid of body, will continue to burrow into your pet. It will scab over and fall off in its own good time. Secondly, there is no right or wrong way to remove a tick. Simply use a ‘tick twister’ or a pair of tweezers and lift. You can rotate instead of lifting if this makes you feel more comfortable, but it is not going to reduce your chances of leaving the head in place, nor is it going to increase or decrease the amount of toxin injected into your pet.

It is horrible, finding a tick on your pet. Indigo got one when we were in north western Australia and although it wasn't a paralysis tick and might not have affected a larger dog or one with some built up immunity it made Indigo ill, the effects taking about 10 days to start then another 10 days to wear off.
 

Sleep.

12/20/2010

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'Indigo thinks sleep time is the most important part of a dog's life.' 


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Noddy enjoying his 2010, tour.
Cannot believe how bad the march flies  were this year in various locations. Reg and I experienced them in the Grampians, and Indigo could not stand them. As soon as they appeared, she would ask to go inside the caravan.  This has been the first time she has wanted to sit inside the caravan by herself instead of outside with us.

On his way to Western Australia, at the Border Crossing Roadhouse, indigo’s travel friend, Noddy, another seasoned traveler, was also surrounded, by March flies but had a little deterrent help.  Last, trip Noddy’s owners bought a product for Noddy from the vet called Buzz Off. They had only used it once on that trip, but have found it terrific on this trip. Just put a bit of the cream on the back of the ears to keep the flies from biting them, they told me.
 
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Fatty Acids May Improve Mobility In Osteoarthritic Dogs
Topeka, Kansas

A series of recently published scientific papers have indicated that diets rich in fatty acids may reduce symptoms of osteoarthritis in dogs.

Three papers published in the January and March editions of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association investigated the effects of feeding a diet supplemented with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on dogs with osteoarthritis, and all three papers concluded that the results were positive.

In a paper titled "A multicenter study of the effect of dietary supplementation with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on carprofen dosage in dogs with osteoarthritis", a team from Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc's Pet Nutrition Center studied whether dogs with supplementation ended up receiving less of the anti-inflammatory drug carprofen. The dosage of carpofen was decided based on investigators' assessments of 5 clinical signs and owner assessments of 15 signs of osteoarthritis. In dogs with supplemented diets, the dosage of carprofen they received decreased significantly faster over the 12-week study period that in the control group. The team concluded that where dogs are receiving carprofen to reduce pain, a diet with increased omega-3 fatty acids will decrease the carprofen dosage required for alleviation of symptoms.

In another paper, titled "Multicenter veterinary practice assessment of the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on osteoarthritis in dogs" and supported by Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc, researchers investigated the effect of food containing high concentrations of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids and a low omega-6–omega-3 fatty acid ratio on the clinical signs of osteoarthritis in dogs. According to the owners of dogs on a supplemented diet, their dogs had a significantly improved ability to rise from a resting position and play at 6 weeks and improved ability to walk at 12 and 24 weeks after starting feeding.

In the third paper, titled "Evaluation of the effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on weight bearing in dogs with osteoarthritis", also supported by Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc, researchers investigated the effects of a food supplemented with fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on weight bearing in dogs with osteoarthritis. The team concluded that dogs eating the supplemented food had improved weight bearing.

All three papers appear to show that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids can bring a range of benefits, at least in the short-term, to dogs suffering from osteoarthritis. Dog owners can expect to see increased mobility, weight-bearing and more playful behavior in a relatively short period after beginning to feed a diet rich in fish oil omega-3 fatty acids.

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Original Source: http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/resources/news/dogs/fatty-acids-improve-mobility-in-osteoarthritic-dogs.htm