Category Archives: Diet

The Surprising Science Behind Your Cat’s Tuna Obsession

A cat with a can of tunafish
Some pets are picky eaters. I know cats who will refuse a can of their favorite food because the company has made the flavor “new and improved.” Likewise, I know dogs who will refuse the last few stale kibbles at the bottom of the bag. In both cases, taste is the issue, not an illness causing the pet to turn up his or her nose at breakfast. Taste is one of the five senses, but it is often overlooked, especially with our animal companions. Today’s blogpost will focus on taste buds.

The Dangers of Homecooked and Raw Diets for Pets

A dog with a bowl of raw food
A recent study investigated the diets of pets with a cancer diagnosis. The results were interesting. 71% of dogs seen by board-certified oncologists ate commercially prepared pet food, compared to about 90% of randomly surveyed healthy pets. Instead of eating commercially prepared food, 11% of dogs with cancer were fed homecooked or raw homemade diets. These numbers beg the question, “Are homecooked diets safe for pets?”

Canine Liver Disease and Elevated Copper Levels: What Dog Owners Need to Know

A Bedlington Terrier
There’s been a connection between canine liver disease and elevated levels of copper seen in a liver biopsy since the late 1970’s when veterinarians from the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, in collaboration with researchers from Albert Einstein School of Medicine, identified copper storage disease in Bedlington terrriers. Twenty-eight years later, researchers identified a gene mutation in COMMD1, a gene controlling copper metabolism, as the cause of the copper storage disease in Bedlington terriers. However, the link between copper and liver disease in dogs extends beyond this gene mutation, and veterinary researchers continue to study the connection. The image below shows a graphic representation of a National Library of Medicine database search for publications that meet the search criteria “canine AND copper hepatopathy”. (Hepatopathy is the medical term for liver disease.) Several of the publication peaks seen here can help explain the linkage between liver disease and copper.

What Happens When Your Dog’s Calcium is Too High or Too Low

A dog in AMC's Emergency and Critical Care Service
Calcium is an important mineral in the bodies of humans and animals alike. It is a critical component of bones and teeth. Without calcium, your bones couldn’t support your weight and your dog’s teeth couldn’t chomp on his favorite chew toy. Veterinarians at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center care for patients who are suffering from low calcium and high calcium. Today, I am going to write about one dog with each condition.