Not only is diet important to your pet’s health but also their dental hygiene is essential. Poor dental care and disease is also linked to a higher rate of heart disease. Many owners leave it until it’s a problem. Let’s look at prevention instead shall we? Dry food isn’t something that pet’s naturally graze on with grating action. They nominally chew or crunch the dry food and down the hatch it goes. Once chewed and wet, it’s like any other food, it collects around the teeth and contributes to plaque build-up that leads to hardened tartar. Dental problems and issues are within the top 10 complaints seen by vets in 2019 but here at MPN we have some great tips to help prevent this from happening. Raw feeding (although for some is controversial) boasts great dental hygiene and whiter, cleaner teeth. Feeding bones is also a socially and mental stimulation that namely dogs require. The bare bones of it! My Pet Nutritionist have a strong working relationship with veterinarians but have to tread carefully on how we approach dental care as many vets are ardently against feeding raw bones unless they lean towards raw feeding and holistic care. Bones are perfectly fine but there are hard and fast rules and we would always recommend monitoring at all times (as a duty of care). Vets see mostly dogs coming in with fractured teeth and raw bone due to a lack of knowledge. Both are serious and expensive so please read on. Do not feed cooked or smoked bones. They are dry, hard and would most likely splinter due to indigestible materials. Raw chicken bones are nutritious but can be awkward to consume and they are too soft to warrant cleaning. It’s the grating and consistent gnawing action that tends to clean the gums and teeth, alongside the natural enzyme action, helping to destroy bacteria in the mouth. Medium sized animals such as lamb and goat are probably the most effective and safest bones to serve your dog and ones I generally recommend. If the prey is hard for the dog (or cat) to tackle naturally, then the bones will be too large and hard for your pet to gnaw in reality. Larger animals and bones such as beef are too hard and will more than likely cause dental fractures (think beef knuckle) if left to chew for too long and without supervision. We recommend avoiding beef, bull and bison. Raw dental bones are best fed as a treat approximately twice a week to keep teeth clean. It’s important to note that recreational bones are not to be completely consumed and that any bone should always be fed under supervision. Other options Oral chews have been shown to be beneficial, of course the type is important. plain meat chews, braids and non hides can he very useful. Avoiding dental chews such as dental sticks are highly advised due to poor ingredients. Findings here There are certain supplements on the market and one of which is based on a seaweed that does have a couple of randomised clinical studies to show it helps with the build-up of plaque. The seaweed is called ‘Ascophyllum Nodosum’ and the well-known and registered food supplement product for dogs is called Plaque Off. As part of a regime I have found this useful but great care must be taken with cats as hyperthyroidism can be expressed when taking anything with a high iodine content. This can be added to food or simply added to a homemade treat. Keep sugar containing foods (this includes dry food) to a minimum and even fresh foods naturally containing sugars should be given with care. We are not keen on companies who dehydrate fruits and vegetables such as pumpkin, carrots and papaya and sell them as dental chews. These are highly concentrated sugar chews and for gnawing action aren’t recommended for good oral hygiene, rather an odd treat. Brushing teeth doesn’t have to happen if you feed the correct raw food and bones but generally we need to consider keeping up with a good regime. Brushing teeth with a natural toothpaste and bamboo toothbrush is preferable. Alternatively, you can use a tooth cleaner and the polish from Lintbells. Make sure you don’t use human grade toothpaste with sweeteners added such as xylitol. This is dangerous to dogs. Please remember disease is complicated and our services offer an 8 elements approach to health, looking at nutrition, genetics and the environment. A complex jigsaw to piece together but one we are fully acquainted with and have great success! We look forward to helping you in the future. MPN Team x
Alison has majored her career in new product development for both the health and pet food industry. Although she develops pet foods, she adores NPD of supplements, as it really tickles her fancy for science and creativity. She loves bio chemistry but there’s also innovation and an artistry to formulating good and effective supplements. Here My Pet Nutritionist shares pointers as to how to choose the right supplements for your pets. You’ll sometimes get professionals and non-professionals saying supplements are a waste of money and not worthwhile. This is true if you 1. you don’t know what the issue is and blindly choose something to help the problem or 2. buy something that hasn’t been formulated well or contains inferior ingredients. For a supplement to work there has to be fine tuning to a product. We follow a principle called the 8 element system which is a naturopathic approach at looking at several body systems to consider what happens in its entirety and not looking at masking a problem. Like pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals can just mask an issue, if all aspects of health are not looked at. When formulating a product, we consider energy, immunity, digestion, detoxification, structure, neurological, hormonal and stress levels (including inflammation). We always develop synergistic blends that work in perfect harmony to establish nourishment, balance and restoration no matter what the situation. As you can imagine diet alone cannot often achieve this, especially if symptoms or disease are showing. Supplements help to modulate systems and food alone often cannot do this (although food is also incredibly important). The main criteria for choosing a good supplement · Know what your pet requires; problem specific or nutritional deficiencies for example · Check the source of ingredients; provenance of herbs, extraction or types of minerals · Clinically tested for absorbability; no point in taking it if your pet can’t absorb it · Clinically tested for pureness and safety · Manufactured by a legit R&D company · Well-priced for what you are getting 1. Know what your pet requires (problem specific or nutritional deficiencies for example) It’s important to know what is going on for your pet before purchasing a/several supplements for them. There are some wonderful tests to check mineral status for pets that can be used to establish any nutritional deficiencies in your pet. Don’t allow for blood tests they are inconclusive due to the blood leaching minerals from other parts of the body to try and obtain equilibrium, thus creating an unclear picture of health. If you have been to the vet and received a diagnosis such as arthritis or a nutritional deficiency, then you can get looking for your ideal supplement. If you are at a loss and there are lots of things going on for your pet, this is when coming to see someone like myself can help. 2. Check the source of ingredients; provenance of herbs, extraction or types of minerals used and so forth The source of any ingredient is important. If it’s a herb, it’s good to know it’s provenance, purity, extraction method and also how it is delivered. We love herbs and they have a beautiful nutritive and supportive role for so many systems in the body. Herbs can be adaptogenic so can up or down regulate a process in the body. This is clever and intuitive and unlike any pharmaceuticals we know of, however the purity, extraction and delivery method is important to how effective it may be. For example, we would choose organic for those herbs that are commonly used and extensively farmed. Echinacea is one of the most abundant and commonly used herbs in the industry but a mass farmed batch from China is probably less nutritive and clean than an organic echinacea grown in the Swiss Alps at high altitudes. Every herb and every ingredient has a story. Look to see what companies write about their ingredients used and why they have selected them. Give the brand a call and put them to the test. The type of substrates (binders) in minerals are also important. Different forms of mineral perform different mechanisms but may not be as bioavailable as another. Calcium and magnesium are great examples of this. Calcium carbonate is the cheapest calcium option on the market and the most wildly researched calcium in the pet industry. However, we know from research that calcium carbonate harder to absorb even though it’s around 40% pure calcium. Calcium citrate is probably second in line for expense but much better absorbed and around 20% pure calcium. Therefore we tend to choose better absorbed options such as citrate. 3. Clinically tested for absorbability; no point in taking it if your pet can’t absorb it I sometimes use registered ingredients that can claim and supply clinical data to support the product and gives sound piece of mind as to how effective it is. An example of this is with curcumin. Curcumin is an active extract and effective curcuminoid compound found in turmeric. Turmeric is something everyone seems to be talking about at the moment, whether buying a supplement or just reaching into the kitchen cupboard. And rightly so, this is an awesome and effective ingredient for many health related issues. However, we don’t use regular turmeric or curcumin as it’s hard to assimilate in the body. We therefore use and look out for certain patented curcumins such as Ultrasol® or Curcuwin® that have proven increased bioavailability by making them water soluble or liposomal without having to use added ingredients such as Bioperine®. Bioperine® a pepper extract is well researched for increasing other ingredients bioavailability by interfering with a process called glucuronidation in the liver. It slows down the metabolism and excretion of curcumin thus extending it’s life. MPN prefer to work with ingredients that solely enhance processes within the body and not dampen them down and so avoid ingredients like Bioperine®. Research does show that curcumin is also better absorbed with the whole turmeric that contains a number of curcuminoids. Therefore we like to see a plain
If you, like me are looking forward to a bit of pumpkin carving and a spooky dress up, then you can put the extras to good use and make some treats.
The Royal Society Open Science has decided to document microbial findings and supposed linked articles/research to explore and implode the concerns about raw feeding for cats and dogs. We had to comment so hopefully we don’t bore you too much. We’re not the most avid raw feeder you’ll ever find. We find merit in different ways of feeding cats and dogs but we are a big raw fan and in all our years of practicing pet nutrition, we have not found anything negative (only positive) linked to raw food feeding. Royal Society: “Raw pet food has become increasingly popular among dog owners seeking to feed their pets on what is perceived as a natural and healthy diet. Health claims include benefits to canine vitality, the digestive tract and the immune system, but currently lack scientific evaluation [1].” Alison: Evaluation of the efficacy of raw food for our pets has been difficult as many pet food companies run these scientific based studies for their own financial gain. There is however a movement on non-biased research that has positive outcomes with regards to feeding a raw diet. In Finland at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Helsinki University, they found negative health markers of homocysteine (linked to many disease states) from blood and urine samples in dry food verses raw fed dogs. Here’s a brief video on the findings as opposed to putting up a research paper to wade through. Video Here Royal Society: “Raw meat-based diets (RMBDs), also known as biologically appropriate raw food (BARF), consist mainly of raw muscle meats, organ meats and meaty bones. Some diets additionally contain vegetables, fruits or grain. Like conventional pet food, most RMBDs are based on the by-products of animals slaughtered for human consumption; however, they do not contain additives and supplements such as preservatives, stabilisers, gelling agents, sweeteners,flavours or vitamins and minerals, potentially posing the risk of nutritional imbalances and deficiencies such as skin and thyroid problems [1,2].” Alison : Firstly, I am not sure how sweeteners, preservatives, gelling agents and stabilisers promote your pet’s health? I agree that if fed a home prepared diet that hasn’t been thoroughly considered and balanced this can be a risk overtime. However, I have worked with many raw food companies who absolutely add in supplementation based on the raw food analysis and to ensure the cat’s and dog’s nutritional needs and requirements are met. Please ask your raw food company what they add in terms of vitamins and minerals and indeed for analysis for your piece of mind. Arguably if we are focusing on imbalance of supplementation added to food and possible health risks, here are some stats based on research carried out in 2017 for mineral content of complete pet food (wet and dry) in the EU. I believe there were some 177 different brands. Here, mineral composition of complete wet (n = 97) and dry (n = 80) canine and feline pet food sold in the UK was measured to assess compliance with EU guidelines. A majority of foods complied with ≥8 of 11 guidelines (99% and 83% for dry and wet food, respectively), but many failed to provide nutritional minimum (e.g.Cu, 20% of wet food) or exceeded nutritional maximum (e.g. Se, 76% of wet food). Only 6% (6/97) of wet and 38% (30/80) of dry food were fully compliant.Some foods (20–30% of all analysed) had mineral imbalance, such as not having the recommended ratio of Ca:P (between 1:1 to 2:1). Foods with high fish content had high levels of undesirable metal elements such as arsenic. This study highlights broad non-compliance of a range of popular pet foods sold in the UK with EU guidelines (94% and 61% of wet and dry foods, respectively). If fed exclusively and over an extended period, a number of these pet foods could impact the general health of companion animals. Findings here Royal Society: “Furthermore, although the production of raw pet food is subjected to strict microbiological hygiene criteria (the EU animal by-products regulations 1069/2009 and 142/2011), pasteurisation is by nature not undertaken, raising questions regarding bacterial contamination [3–5].” “RMBDs have also been shown to be a significant source of Salmonella in healthy dogs and cats that consequently shed the organism at higher rates than animals fed conventional diets [10,12], with implications concerning public health. Case reports of human illness associated with pathogens in RMBDs are still scarce,and illnesses are probably under-reported [12]. However, four cases of an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella Reading in the USA were linked to raw pet food [13].” Alison: Let’s focus on dry food contamination findings that far out weigh any raw food findings. The detection of Salmonella during routine tests on dry dog food uncovered an outbreak linked to a rare strain that had been known to sicken 14 people in nine states,the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was due to dry pet food contamination proven to be in Diamond Pet Foods (a recall was issued). Also an outbreak, which started in 2006, marks the first time that dry dog food has been confirmed as a source of the bacterial infection in people. The dog food had been traced to a Mars Pet care U.S. plant in Everson, Pa and the company announced a recall of approximately 23,109 tons of dry dog and cat food sold under 105 brand names. This was a time that prompted owners to look at other options. This became an epidemic around the world and the first time around 2007 that consumers started to question dry and commercial companies as their only option to feed their pets. Royal Society: “and recently, an outbreak due to Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 in the UK was attributed to exposure to contaminated raw pet food [14].” Alison: The outbreak argued due to Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 in the UK being attributed to exposure to contaminated raw pet food is irrelevant due to the fact that the source of infection in the first case was not identified and so pet food
Oh my goodness this is an exceptional question and one food does not fit all. However there are lots of things to consider and hopefully we will be able to point you in the right direction. First a little about some basics to get you searching. In short we find the fresher the food the better. We are not a fan of the highly processed foods that you mostly find on the supermarket and veterinary shelves! Rule of thumb is, if you don’t recognise the ingredient on the pack, don’t buy it! If you are feeding dry food, no matter how good the ingredients are, we strongly suggest you ditch the bag and look for an alternative, if you can afford to. Even if it is grain free it contains a lot of starch to help the composition and structure of the dry food. Starch equals sugar and as we know sugar is bad for us, and our pets’ do not have a high requirement for carbohydrates in their diet. Deceptively some of the dry food can contain almost 40-50% carbohydrates and the worst thing is, it doesn’t have to be stated on the pack. So there you are, feeding your grain free superfood blend thinking you are ‘rocking it’ only to find you are non-the wiser to it’s awful health implications. Yes your cat or dog might seem ok now but what about in the future.. nutrition is investment in your health right? So it’s incredibly important what you feed to your pet as to what they may suffer later down the line. Part of the reason of wanting to consult in a different way and try and prevent issues is because we see many, many sick pets coming through our doors and we don’t always think it’s necessary. There’s plenty that comes into play with our health and our pets. Genetics has a huge part to play but these genetics are majorly influenced with how we and our pets interface with the world. This includes nutrition, the environment, vaccinations, flea and worm treatments, physiological stress and so on. But if you get the baseline of nutrition right, then you are giving your pet a better chance at good health. With consistent toxins and technology exposure we need to consider supporting detoxification too. My specialty is how nutrition can interplay with genetics,switching genes on and off. Using diet and supplements to help ward off issues but also to help manage them when they have arisen. So far so good? Here are some of the foods we recommend. This is very broad and dependent on each pet but as a rule of thumb, we like these types of foods and the brands mentioned as a starting point. Raw food/BARF We started off as an avid die hard raw foodies! As time has gone on, we realised that this doesn’t suit all and to promote this being done at home, even well, is a risk as food alone does not give your pet everything he or she requires. That doesn’t excuse us from the raw food gathering and revolution. We often suggest raw as a commercial food, from a reputable company who do it well. There are no nutritional shortfalls and an overall balance is offered. We might upset some raw foodies here but on average even those cats and dogs who come to me home raw food and ‘well considered’, a good 50% of them have nutritional deficiencies. Home cooked food This is a wonderful alternative to raw feeding. It’s fresh and lightly cooked and we offer recipes to follow if you wish to DIY. We love home cooked meals delivered to the door also. You can get this for your pet too. Raw and dehydrated food This is a great solution if you don’t have a freezer or much freezer space, going on holiday or even keep something in the cupboard as a back up. This is often raw or lightly cooked, fresh food that has been air dried, dehydrated or freeze dried. All processes are slightly different and freeze dried is the least processed but the most expensive. Canned and Dry food We avoid dry food and canned food if possible. Often canned food is irradiated whilst in the aluminium tin. This is rather dangerous longterm and offers dead nutrition! If you are going to buy tinned food I urge you to ask the company how they process at the final stages. Our Ultimate Raw Feeding Guide and Ultimate Puppy Guide provide balanced recipes raw and a list of brands we recommend. MPN Team x
Many dog owners ask My Pet Nutritionist, why their dog is eating grass. The truth is, eating things that are not deemed a food, is rather common among dogs and often not a concern and referred to as pica. However, there are certain health related reasons why pets can be prone to eating grass. It’s known as an emetic and helps to purge and rid the body of unwanted substances such as foods. Here are some reasons why your dog may be dining out on grass! Grass is an emetic Most of you may be well aware that dogs will sometimes eat large amounts of grass in an attempt to make themselves throw up. After they consume a large amount of grass, they’ll often display some nauseous behaviour and then they’ll vomit. It’s completely normal for your dog to vomit occasionally but if this is a general occurrence then this must be looked into. Dogs are intuitive and selective and know what’s for them best in terms of intentionally ridding their system of something that could be toxic, or making them poorly. In short, a dog may be eating grass due to illness or eating something unsuitable. Dogs may eat grass to fulfil a nutritional requirement. This could be to enrich their diet with fibre. On a natural and raw diet, vegetation can add so much fibre, prebiotic and nutritional diversity. This is essential for a good functioning gut and nutritional status. We know that grass contains an abundant source of fibre and since grass is a living green food it contains phytonutrients. It’s high in potassium and also contains chlorophyll that helps aid in cleansing the body. It could be a way of easing nausea, gas or digestive issues and disease. Grass has soothing properties that can aid digestive comfort. If you suspect it could be digestive issues and grass eating is also accompanied by other symptoms such as diarrhoea or constipation then get this checked out. I always consider a natural enriched diet that is appropriate for dogs. They may be suffering from parasites such as intestinal worms. Plant material may increase intestinal motility and help to eliminate intestinal parasites. Being an emetic this may help expulsion of unwanted parasites via vomiting also. Its instinctive and enjoyable. Some dogs consider this pastime fun and may eat grass to occupy themselves. Please note vomiting grass and food on a weekly basis is not within the normal remit. Always consider the quality of the food your feeding and mental stimulation you are providing your dog. To ensure a happy and healthy dog my recommendation is always to look at natural, home cooking (researched and balanced), raw diets and better commercial home style diets, raw diets and raw dehydrated. Probiotics and prebiotics help repopulate and fortify the beneficial bacteria in your dog’s gut, while digestive enzymes provide what the entrails or the guts of their prey species would provide. These enzymes provide a rich source of amylase, lipase and protease, which can help your pets process food much more successfully. Chlorophyll in liquid form can help reduce grass eating and provide a slight detoxifying effect that your dog may require. It is full of trace vitamins and minerals and very much mimics the nutrition offered from grass. Wheatgrass is also a wonderful thing to grow in your garden or apartment, for your dog to graze on and obtain the pleasure and benefit from a nibble here and there. We hope you found this beneficial. MPN Team x
