Category Archives: Diet

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most common disorders of cats and a common cause of mortality in older cats. Veterinarians don’t know what causes chronic kidney disease, but we know feeding a special diet helps cats with CKD maintain quality of life. In cats with CKD, kidney diets have been shown to be superior to regular adult cat food in limiting episodes of illness and death related to chronic kidney disease. Today’s blogpost will focus on the benefits of feeding your cat a kidney diet when they have a CKD diagnosis.

Puppy owners are overwhelmed by food choices available for their new family member, according to a recent survey. This feeling might be in part because dog owners have to make all the food decisions alone: dogs lack the ability to order their own food on UberEats or communicate their preferences in a helpful way! Several recent research publications highlight factors impacting dietary choices for dogs. I’ll discuss those findings in the blogpost below.

For decades, the marketing of Wonder Bread, with its added vitamins and minerals, claimed to build bodies eight ways: muscles, bones and teeth, body cells, blood, appetite, growth, brain, and energy. Pet food contains many of the same vitamins and minerals as Wonder Bread to build your pet’s body eight ways. This blogpost will focus on why minerals are so important in your pet’s diet.

In both humans and pets, weight gain occurs when too many calories are consumed and/or not enough are burned. This sounds simple, but the equation gets complicated by factors intrinsic to the pet, owner feeding practices, and/or a lack of exercise. This blogpost will focus on some of the drivers of canine obesity with a focus on new information on obesity in Labrador retrievers.

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.