One of the most frequent questions that are addressed to the veterinarian concerns the choice between a home or industrial diet, as in wet or dry foods. Let’s see the pros and cons of each of these food choices.

Over the years, there has been a great spread of the pet food industry. Croquettes and tins are now part of the daily diet of our animals. In fact, few people prefer to give the dog and cat leftovers from their meals or in some cases “home-made” food cooked especially for them.

All of this has been boosted above all by the growth of food information, starting from veterinarians, up to the commercials that pass before our eyes continuously on television, in newspapers and on the internet.

On the one hand, the spread of pet food has made it possible to prevent and treat some serious problems, which were simply not mentioned before. For example, food allergies now-a-days are one of the most accepted hypotheses underlying many conditions and health problems of our animals. This is why more and more owners are choosing specific foods.

At the same time, especially the owners of a higher age group, the supporters of the home diet or simply those who deal with stray dogs and cats, choose to integrate or completely replace industrial food with homemade food.

We start from a fundamental assumption, which owners do often not take into consideration. Dogs and cats are very different from us. It would seem obvious, but it is often important to reiterate it.

Their digestive system, although broadly similar to ours, has substantial differences.

Without going into details, we must take into account the distinction between omnivores and carnivores.

We are omnivorous, so we can eat animal and vegetable origin foods without distinction.

The dog and cat, on the other hand, are carnivores, so their feeding must be based on the consumption of meat and fish. In fact, this restriction currently applies more than anything to cats, which over the centuries have remained faithful to their category of carnivores in the strictest sense.

Dogs, on the other hand, who have always been a man’s best friends, have fed on the owners’ leftovers for so long that their palate and digestive system have gradually changed to adapt. For this reason, we don’t classify them as omnivores, nor as carnivores, but we say that they represent a category between the two.

Therefore, regardless of which diet you choose, you need to consider these important aspects.

Homemade diet

When we talk about home diet, we must pay close attention to the meaning of this type of diet.

“Homemade”, in fact, is not simply everything you boil in a pot or collect from the leftovers of our table. Those who choose a diet of this type do it with great awareness, which is, that dogs and cats have specific and different nutritional needs than ours.

If we ate unseasoned pasta every day, for example, we would face serious nutritional deficiencies, with strong consequences on our health.

The same thing also applies to our animals.

As for the dog, we must be able to guarantee all the nutrients he needs, through a balanced and well-studied diet. Therefore, we must be able to combine animal proteins, such as meat, fish and eggs, with all the other nutrients such as vegetables and cereals.

In essence, a nice plate of pasta with meat and vegetables can be fine, as long as it is nicely cooked, to encourage the digestion of starches, and unseasoned, at most with a drizzle of raw olive oil after the preparation.

For cats, the situation is more complex, because their diet must be based mainly on meat and fish, possibly supplementing it with cereals or vegetables, (if cat finds them appealing).

The fundamental aspect of all this is that dogs and cats need an appropriate integration of vitamins, mineral salts and amino acids. In cats, this is much more evident, because they are unable to extract vitamin A from food and need constant doses of taurine, an amino acid essential for feline health.

We should also remember that we must absolutely avoid foods that are dangerous for our dog and those that are harmful to our cat.

If we are unable or simply do not have the patience to dose supplements and food rations, we will probably have to rely on pet food.

Pet food

“I would never give my dog ​​any croquettes! Are you not aware that they only contain waste? “. This phrase is typical for home diet supporters.

In reality, those who say it, probably limit themselves to choosing cheap products only, and therefore of very low quality.

It is true that many industrial foods are by no means “rich in meat”, as reported on the packaging, and that instead of that “prestigious” meat they talk about it is  slaughterhouse waste. It is also true, however, that if we want a quality product, we will have to pay more.

Some industrial feeds, in fact, are specially designed for all the nutritional needs of dogs and cats. A good or high quality feed actually contains meat or fish, in well balanced doses.

In addition, the croquettes and tins also have the right integration of vitamins, mineral salts and amino acids that must never be lacking in the nutrition of the cat, as well as the dog.

Indeed, pet food advocates focus on animal health. A food that can provide everything the dog or cat needs during the day is comfortable for the owners and healthy for the animal.

In addition to this important point, we must also consider the wide range of products on the market. Food for puppies, adults, the elderly, pregnant, sterilized, long-haired, short-haired and obese are up to date and there is no need to even search among the most expensive brands.

If we add the fact that feeds are now also studied to help animals with health problems, the benefits increase. This is how we can offer the right nutritional support to our friend with diabetes, food allergies, kidney problems, intestinal disorders and many other conditions and diseases.

In conclusion, for any diet you decide to go for, it is good to choose with awareness, always keeping into consideration the fact that health is always based on the well-being of the intestine first.

 

Food intolerances and allergies are one of the most common diagnosis in our animal. Let’s further investigate what are they, how they show up and what are the remedies.

What are allergies and intolerances?

In our animals, as well as for us, unwanted reactions from the body against certain substances contained in the foods we eat every day can occur.

Until a few years ago, this problem was poorly understood and clinically overlooked as a potential cause of certain conditions and health problems. Only recently, doctors and veterinarians have become aware of the real risk posed by food intolerances.

Let’s try to understand what it is.

When we talk about food allergies, we must have a clear definition. Allergies are nothing more than an incorrect or disproportionate reaction of the immune system towards a practically harmless substance.

At the base, there is an “error” of our organism in cataloguing between “good” and “bad” substances. This is how some foods can be confused with something potentially harmful to our body, and as such must be eliminated.

The immune system cells then activate and begin to bombard the food particles, causing a strong inflammatory reaction. In some cases, this reaction can become so strong to cause the so-called “anaphylactic shock”, with serious consequences for the animal.

Food intolerances, on the other hand, are a complex problem, which makes even a possible definition difficult. Let’s start from a classic example, which involves both humans and animals: lactose intolerance.

When we drink milk, enzymes, called “lactases” are released into the intestine, which divide the main milk sugar, lactose, into two much smaller sugars. It is precisely in this small form that these sugars can pass through the cells of the intestine, until they reach the blood.

If lactases are not produced in sufficient quantities, the larger sugar is no longer able to pass through the intestinal cells as it is not broken down into smaller sugars; therefore, it remains within the digestive system. In this way, it will start to draw water from the surrounding areas and to ferment, just as it happens during the production of wine. In this way, the typical symptoms appear such as diarrhoea and flatulence.

In addition to enzyme deficiency intolerance, we also find other forms.

Among these, the main one is the so-called Food Residue Syndrome. In fact, in most of the foods we eat, there can be residues of substances used for breeding and agriculture.

In particular, these substances include antibiotics, hormones and supplements, which are administered to slaughter animals.

All these residues can induce reactions in the intestine and later in the whole body of the animal, especially in the most sensitive dogs and cats.

In both cases, the consequence is a strong localized inflammation, therefore only in the intestine, or spread throughout the body.

Both food allergies and intolerances are grouped within the category of Adverse Reactions to Food, which entail very similar symptoms.

What are the symptoms?

Animals suffering from food allergies or intolerances may exhibit symptoms that are not specific. This means that before reaching the right diagnosis, it can take a few months, because often a symptom is confused with other conditions and pathologies.

In general, we can group the manifestation into three main groups:

• Dermatological: the animal has a lot of itching, it often scratches itself until it causes bruises and crusts, the skin is red and dandruff can appear;
• Gastrointestinal: mainly include vomiting and diarrhoea, but also rapid and excessive weight loss, bloating and abdominal pain and flatulence;
• General disorders: inflammations can affect the whole organism of the animal, so symptoms such as cystitis, otitis, conjunctivitis, sneezing may appear.

If the animal continues to exhibit one or more of the symptoms listed above, despite specific therapies, it is very likely that it is an allergy or food intolerance.

The most “incriminating” foods

In general, we can say that the problem is not always identifiable in a specific food, but mostly in the presence of chemical and pharmaceutical residues in meat or fish.

For this reason, it is often sufficient to resort to an organic food, without necessarily having to replace the nutrient source.

For some animals, however, the process of eliminating the current food may be necessary. We must exclude the most “incriminating” or dangerous ingredients, which are more exposed to the risk of chemical contamination.

Foods that we might want to eliminate due to higher chemical contamination risk are listed below:

• Turkey
• Chicken
• Cattle
• Eggs
• Dairy product
• soy
• Cereal

These ingredients are usually the main content of store bought food for our animals. Therefore, the chances that your animal might have developed an intolerance or allergy from these is pretty high.

What do I do?

If your dog or cat exhibits the typical symptoms of an allergy or intolerance, you should first talk to your vet, who will be able to determine whether it is appropriate to suspect such a problem or not.

The main therapeutic process involves the replacement of the current food with a mono protein or nutraceutical type, equally effective.

The Mono protein foods contains only a single protein source, strictly biological. The main mono protein foods are based on “alternative” proteins, such as fish, quail, rabbit or pork.

Nutraceuticals, on the other hand, in addition to the single-protein formulation, also include the integration of some essential nutrients and herbal remedies, useful for alleviating inflammation caused by intolerances and allergies.

It proceeds through an elimination diet.

For at least 3-6 weeks, the new food must be fed to the animal. After the necessary period, two results can be obtained:

• the animals will show signs of improvement;
• The animals will still have the same symptoms.                                                                                                                                                        In the first case, it will be necessary to confirm the reaction towards the usual food, suspending the mono protein one and returning to the previous one. For example, if the dog has always eaten a food based on chicken, rice and vegetables, we will test each of these ingredients individually, for at least two weeks.

  So let’s start with chicken. We will give the dog an exclusively chicken based diet. If the symptoms stop, we move on to rice, and later onto vegetables. The ingredient that will make the symptoms reappear will be the one the animal is intolerant or allergic to, so we will be able eliminate it.

  If, on the other hand, there have been no improvements, most likely it is not an intolerance or allergy problem, so other hypotheses will have to be followed.