Better Dog Care - Sabine Contreras

17/01/2025

This is a PSA from the FDA in regards to commercial pet food.

FDA has determined that it is necessary for manufacturers of cat and dog foods to reanalyze their food safety plans to include HPAI virus (H5N1).

23/02/2024

Claim: “If your dog needs to lose weight, simply replace half of her food with the same amount of green beans.”

This is not good advice. Yes, replacing part of your dog’s food with green beans will reduce calories and the increased fiber will likely leave the dog satisfied with the portion size, but please keep in mind that as you’re cutting down on their food, you’re also reducing intake of all important nutrients. Your dog will only get half the amount of protein, fat, essential vitamins, and minerals. Among others, the important amino acid taurine is of special concern here.

This is not a big deal for just a few days, but long term it can lead to nutrient deficiencies, especially in older dogs whose metabolism isn’t as efficient anymore.

For healthy weight loss, it’s much better to choose a base diet that is overall lower in calories (which does not automatically mean high in carbs!), but more nutrient dense – this way a sufficient supply is guaranteed. You’ll also want to keep protein intake up, so the body has enough resources to maintain and repair itself.

In my custom-tailored weight loss programs I make sure that your dog doesn’t feel deprived, and can still enjoy treats and snacks in addition to satisfying meals.

22/02/2024

Claim: “To determine the amount of carbohydrates in a particular pet food, use this equation: 100% - (% crude protein + % fat + % crude fiber) = % carbohydrates.”

False. First of all this formulation does not take the moisture content of the food into consideration at all, and moisture affects the concentration of all nutrients. Canned food typically ranges around 70-80% moisture, dry food around 6-12%, and fresh food around 65-70%. So you would have to subtract that much from your starting 100% because those percentage points are not carbs.

Second, another big factor in the analysis of a food is its ash content, which has been entirely left out here as well. Ash isn’t some nefarious ingredient added by pet food companies, it is what’s left over after a specific amount of it is incinerated in a laboratory, and represents the amount of minerals present. So for example a food that contains ground bone, bone-in meat, “meat and bone meal”or bone meal will be higher in ash content than something that contains boneless meat only. Overall, any food with a higher meat content, especially from concentrated sources like meat meal made from bone-in meats, will have a higher ash content. Products with a lower meat content, or with plant-based protein sources like corn gluten, will be lower in ash overall.

So a more correct formula to determine carb content would be
100% - (% moisture + % crude protein + % fat + % ash) = % carbohydrates.

So what happened to fiber? Well, fiber is a type of carbohydrate. Fiber can’t be digested by the body, but it has an important function for gut health and certain fiber types also serve as food for the beneficial gut bacteria.

So for the sake of determining the “digestible” portion of carbs in a dog food, you can subtract the amount of fiber from the total derived from the formula, and you’ll have the content of the other two types of carbs: sugars and starches.

Sugars are simple carbohydrates and come for example from food sources like ripe fruit, sweet veggies like sweet potatoes or carrots, or in the form of lactose in dairy products.

Starches are “complex” carbs and come from sources like starchy vegetables and legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts.

Need more help deciphering pet food labels? Take a look here:

This article will give you a quick overview about what the labels on a pet food tell you - and more important what they don't tell you. It is based on the FDA consumer information provided by the Center for Veterinary Medicine (parts are quoted in the grey boxes) and has my own comments added below....

21/02/2024

Claim: “Puppies need every bite of nutrition to be balanced as their bodies have very specific needs.”

False. It’s unrealistic to think that “every bite” needs to be “balanced”. That’s neither how the body, nor the digestive system works. It’s an artificial construct promoted by the commercial pet food industry, to guilt people into buying so called “complete and balanced” diets.

It is true that nutrient needs must be met on a regular basis, to provide the body with the building blocks for growing a puppy’s skeleton, teeth, and body tissues. It is also true that this can be accomplished by feeding whole, fresh, “real” foods – people have done this successfully for thousands of years before store-bought food even entered the picture. Case in point, we know that ancient peoples kept and bred dogs for very specific purposes, including as companions.

Granted, today we have much better, scientific knowledge about what it takes to support our dogs’ life- and health-span, and we have modern medicine to alleviate many conditions that would have led to a dog being euthanized even just 50 years ago.

That doesn’t mean we can’t give them the foods that are minimally processed and highly nutritious in place of industrially manufactured mass market feed.

What is important is to pay attention to meeting nutritional targets on a regular basis, and for that you’ll need to know the nutrient profile of the items you feed.

Turkey meat is not the same as duck, and duck is not the same as lamb.

A piece of beef liver is very different from chicken liver. A chicken liver is very different from chicken heart.

What’s the main source of calcium in your dog’s diet?

Is he getting enough vitamin D?

What food items are even safe to feed? (Hint: there are fewer unsuitable ones than you’d think!)

Interested in a personalized feeding plan? Contact me!

Consultations, Personalized Programs, Seminars: Canine Nutrition, Wellness, Fitness, Healthy Weight Loss, and More Your dog is very special to you. You want to provide the best care and do everything you can to keep him or her healthy. In today’s consumer culture, making the best choices for our p...

13/02/2024

Just want a better kibble?
* A basic assessment of your dog’s nutritional needs via online questionnaire.
* Kibble recommendations from different categories.
* Suggestions for enhancing nutritional supplements.
* Brief email follow-up: ask questions or get help making decisions.

https://www.betterdogcare.com/sabines-services/better-kibble/

21/01/2024

There seems to be another storyline emerging that is reminiscent of how the big melamine scandal of 2007 unfolded. Apparently dogs getting sick with bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and lethargy from commercial foods of different brands, made by different manufacturers, with no obvious link to each other. This includes “WSAVA Approved” products touted by certain vets in the aftermath of the DCM scare. I’m not going to name names here, mainly because I don’t have any first-hand reports, but I urge everyone who is feeding commercial pet food to be vigilant and not dismiss even small signs of something unusual or amiss. If your pet suddenly refuses previously well-accepted food, do not try to make them eat it by adding tasty extras etc.

If you think your pet is affected, file a report with the FDA here:
https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/report-problem/how-report-pet-food-complaint
You should also report the issue to your vet and the pet food company in question, but if they ask that you send them the affected product, send them only a small amount and keep the rest of it for yourself and store it in your freezer in its original packaging. You want to hold onto the original packaging with its UPC code, lot number, expiration date etc. - do not relinquish this.

Keep an eye on recalls here, although be aware that updates may not be timely:
https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals