Expert pet nutrition advice

Your pet needs the right diet for the life stage they’re currently in. Nutrition is particularly important for your new kitten or puppy. During your visit, we’ll be looking at your pet’s lifestyle and eating habits.

Nutritional diseases can happen in cats and dogs, and if you need support, we can work with you to create individual plans for any special dietary requirements.

NUTRITION RESOURCES

A healthy diet for your cat or dog

We recommend the guidelines of The World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s Global Nutrition Committee for selecting pet food. Making sure your cat or dog isn’t overweight can be a big part of preventing certain diseases. A balanced diet for your pet should include protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and the right kind of fats.

Questions to ask of the pet food company include:

• Do you have a full-time veterinary nutritionist on staff?
• Who formulates your food and what are their credentials?
• Do you perform feeding trials based on AAFCO guidelines or formulated to meet AAFCO guidelines? (feeding trials are preferred)
• Where are your foods manufactured and processed?
• What specific quality control measures do you use to ensure the consistency of the product with each batch?
• Can you provide a complete nutritional analysis for each food? (not just the guaranteed analysis, which is a minimum/maximum)
• What kind of product research has been conducted? Is this published in a peer-reviewed journal?

Additional diet resources from trusted expert veterinarians:

• WSAVA Guide to deciphering pet food labels
• WSAVA Nutrition FAQs and Myths
• The Savvy Cat Owner’s Guide to Nutrition
• The Savvy Dog Owner’s Guide to Nutrition
• In Defense of Grains – Lisa P. Weeth, DVM, MRCVS, DACVN
• Pet Nutrition Resources – CVCA (Cardiac Care for Pets)
• FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy
• A broken heart: Risk of heart disease in boutique or grain-free diets and ingredients – Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN
• It’s Not Just Grain Free: An Update on Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy – Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN

In addition to the resources listed above, we recommended reading out our kittens & cats and puppies & dog pages for more information.