Pet Nutrition Solutions

30/09/2024

Recall information regarding Answers pet food.

FDA is cautioning pet owners that samples of certain Answers Pet Food tested positive for Salmonella (2), Listeria monocytogenes (1), & Salmonella + L. mono (1)

28/09/2024

Morning reading. As CBD products become more prominent with humans, we have to recognize their use in pets as well. The problem is there is not a lot of research (or legality) regarding its use in pets but products are available and growing in popularity. Is it safe? Is it effective? In veterinary medicine we need to know and we need to know what to do if our patients become sick as a result.

30/05/2024

New Recall information on some bags of Pedigree. Please be aware if you feed this food:

Mars Petcare US is voluntarily recalling 315 bags of PEDIGREE® Adult Complete Nutrition Grilled Steak & Vegetable Flavor Dry Dog Food in the 44 lb. bag size only, due to the potential presence of loose metal pieces in the bag. The affected products have a Best By Date of March 4, 2025 and Lot Code ...

29/05/2024

Helpful reminder.

You CANNOT judge a pet food by its ingredient list alone and anyone who tells you they can, does not know enough about nutrition for you to listen to their advice.

A pet food ingredient list tells you nothing about;

🐶 The formulation of that diet - is it suitable for your pet, their lifestyle and nutritional needs?

🐱The digestibility of the diet - how much of the nutrition in the food is actually digested by your pet and used by their body

🐶 The skill of the person who made the recipe - do they know what they are doing? Do they know how to balance meals for the health of your pet and how the ingredients work with each other and with the body? What are their qualifications?

🐱 The quality control and batch testing the company does - how are they ensuring their diets are safe and actually contain the nutrition they claim?

🐶 The research behind the diet - this is particularly relevant for therapeutic diets designed to treat and support medical conditions like kidney failure, IBD or allergies

All of these things are far more important for your pet's health and nutrition than a simple list on the back of the bag.

So how can you tell if a food is any good? It isn't actually that easy!

Sometimes the answers to these questions are on the bag but not often, sometimes they are on the companies website and sometimes they are nowhere to be seen - which always makes me highly suspicious and unlikely to want to feed the meals to my pets or recommend them to my clients.

I could go on about this for hours but the fact remains - you cannot judge how 'good' or 'bad' a pet food by it's ingredient list, no matter how bougie or how budget it seems!

If you are interested in finding out more about this subject, I can recommend;

https://nutritionrvn.com/2020/12/19/investigating-ingredients/

https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Frequently-Asked-Questions-and-Myths.pdf

https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/06/why-you-shouldnt-judge-a-pet-food-by-its-ingredient-list/

https://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/pet-food-ingredient-and-label-guide

18/11/2023

The FDA reports a voluntary recall of dog and cat foods from the following brands:
- Star Pro
- Farm Dog/Farm Cat
- Lone Star
- Hill Country Fare
- HEB Texas Pets
- Member's Mark
- Red Flannel
- Exclusive Signature
- Retriever
- EconoMax
- Multi-Cat
- Feline Medley
- Paws & Claws

TFP Nutrition is expanding their voluntary recall that was initiated to include all dry dog, dry cat, and catfish formulas manufactured in their Nacogdoches, Texas, facility. The recall of these production codes is being conducted due to the potential for Salmonella contamination.

07/11/2023

Be aware of a recent recall on some lines of Victor.

Mid America Pet Food, Mount Pleasant, Texas, is voluntarily recalling three lots of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula produced at its Mount Pleasant, Texas production facility because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

24/08/2023

In line with owners underestimating the contamination risks of feeding raw, we now have additional information about risks to humans with resistant strains of Salmonella.

Avian flu caused an uptick in discussion about health risks associated with feeding dogs and cats raw meat, based on the possible (and still pretty

18/08/2023

If you feed certain varieties of Darwin, please be aware.

FDA is cautioning owners not to feed pets certain lots of Darwin’s Natural Pet Products raw cat + dog food, after FDA samples tested positive for Salmonella.

31/05/2023

New data sourced from the FDA on cases of Diet Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Data compiled as a result of the Freedom of Information Act request for information after the FDA has become silent on the subject.

NEW DCM Case Report Numbers from the FDA

With the help of documents from Freedom of Information Act Requests (namely, one obtained by The Canine Review), updated DCM case report information from the FDA is now available.

You can find links to the documents as well as the compiled numbers in the full article here: https://www.alltradesdvm.com/topics/diet-associated-dcm/dcm-articles/dcm-fda-data-update-2023

29/05/2023

Enjoying a lovely morning reading research on aging and companion animal nutrition. 😊

20/05/2023

Concerned about decreased appetite? Don't jump right to treats, toppers, or a new food to coax eating. Here's why:

It's been awhile since I've introduced a case file and a recent patient we had made me think of a scenario that comes up a lot in in pet fo...

10/02/2023

Update on Diet Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy from the veterinary nutritionists at Tuft's University.

A new FDA update provides more information on diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). While the specific cause is not yet known, the problem hasn’t gone away

22/12/2022

Recall information. Please see the notice if you feed HEB Texas Pets dry cat food:
https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/tfp-nutrition-initiated-voluntary-recall-16-lb-bags-heb-texas-pets-indoor-complete-dry-cat-food?fbclid=IwAR3gm8s1vwhdpRGPc-_uYuDHDTEHNRsb6cdBC3hOk8SeOzBSArK_viMzLT0

TFP Nutrition announced today that it is issuing a voluntary recall of a dry cat food formulation manufactured on November 13, 2022, at its Nacogdoches, Texas facility.

02/11/2022

Research assistant.

19/10/2022

Check out this new research if you are considering a raw meat based diet:

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/18/2395?fbclid=IwAR1G0TSdFIOjdpJC-lyupY7d6ioPIMoxO6vVIK698kTaD0Y5PhV1rUmF-OI

Raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) are widely used as unconventional diets for dogs and cats at different life stages, despite concerns regarding nutritional adequacy and microbial contamination. The aim of this study was to evaluate both the nutritional and hygiene quality profile of RMBDs purchased in G...

09/08/2022

How does your pet’s food stack up to the food selection criteria from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association? Compare here:

https://petnutritionalliance.org/site/pnatool/dare-to-ask-we-did/

  Choosing the right pet food can be difficult. With so much information on the internet and millions of dollars spent annually on advertising, it can be difficult to select what is truly best for a pet. The Pet Nutrition Alliance heard the frustration of veterinary professionals loud and clear and...

02/08/2022

Is adding nutrition necessary?
https://petnutritionsolutions.blogspot.com/2022/01/supplements-and-toppers-adding-nutrition.html

03/07/2022

A bit of myth busting.

While we love to see public posts bringing awareness to this disease, several myths still seem very prevalent, even among veterinary professionals.

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are welcome to join our professionals group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninedcmvets

Everyone is welcome in our main group:
Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Dogs