Pet Nutrition is a vital and important topic for all concerned pet owners because optimal nutrition underlies optimal health. There is no diet that suits every pet. Each animal is individual. It must be remembered that there is considerable variation between individuals. The bio-chemical differences viz.,

Difference in genetic make up

Environmental differences

Different levels of activity, exposure to pollutants, toxins, and emotional stresses and so on.

Protein and Amino Acids

Dietary proteins are necessary to provide those essential amino acids that are not manufactured in sufficient quantity in dogs. The ten essential amino acids required by the pet include,

Protein (or amino acid) deficiency signs are unfortunately non-specific. Deficiency signs include,

Protein (amino acid) deficiency should be considered when there is severe weight loss in dogs.

Fat

Dietary fat is a concentrated source of calories. There is no known fat requirement as such. however, linolenic acid is required primarily to maintain normal hair and skin condition. A marginal deficiency of linolenic acid will slow the rate of hair growth whereas severe deficiency results in skin lesions. Many vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, soyabean oil and corn oil are excellent sources of linolenic acid.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate is not required by dogs. Nevertheless, dry type canine diets frequently contain from 40 to 60% carbohydrate. For that reason carbohydrate is an important contributor of calories in dog foods.

Carbohydrates must be cooked prior to feeding. Insufficient cooking of carbohydrate results in insufficient digestion of carbohydrate and will cause digestive impairment.

Dietary Energy

Protein, fat and carbohydrate are necessary substitute for production of calories in the dog for metabolic reactions and to provide body heat.

- Metabolic energy (ME) which is total energy minus that energy lost in faeces and urine.

Calcium Phosphorus and Vitamin D

Calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D have key roles in bone formation in dogs.

Geriatric

Nutrition during geriatric stage (8 year plus) has been receiving a good deal of attention recently.

General recommendations :

25% protein 3,000 Kcal ME / kg diet (DMB)

General guidelines :

Changing Dog's food from Home-made food

Changing food or components of your dog's food should be done over a period of 3 weeks.

Week 1 - Feed your dog with 25% of new food & 75% of the old one.

Week 2 - Half the old food and half the new food can be fed (50:50)

Week 3 - The dog should eat 3/4th new food and 1/4th old food.

Week 4 - The dog should be comfortable with its new

Global state of the PETFOOD INDUSTRY

The global status of petfood industry is changing rapidly indicative of healthy growth. Pets are more and more considered as part of the family. Pet owners wants to give them the best they have. Over the year 2003-2008 period global sales of petfood and pet care products are forecast to grow by about US dollar 57 billion in 2008. According to the World for Pet Food and Petcare products, a recent study by Euromonitor International, trend that points well for the global petfood market include:

• The "humanization" of pets
• Product and packaging innovations
• Improvements in distribution
• Rising pet ownership in emerging markets
• Rising consumption levels of prepared petfood in developing markets
• Consumers trading upto premium & superpremium products

GENETICS CATS Vs. DOGS

Food preferences can be inborn or acquired. Even if food choices are genetically directed, they can also be powerfully influenced by habits acquired during weaning.

Cats eat several meals daily. They are very finicky and suspicious, avoiding bitter substances and therefore poisoning. They are strict carnivorous, like meat flavours and appear insensitive to sweet flavours.

Dogs on the other hand descended from animals that hunted in packs. Like there ancestors dogs are able to stuff themselves (group competition) and eat vegetables and fruits. Omnivorous they like meat and sweet flavours.

Need for Taurine CATS

What is "Taurine"?

Taurine is a colorless, crystaline compound which is found in the free form in invertebrates and in the bile of mammals. It promotes the intestinal absorption of lipids (fats) as cholesterol.

What does taurine do?

Taurine is an important part of the feline diet and is essential in preventing a disorder in cats called Dilated Cardiomyopathy (which is a failure of the heart muscle whereupon the heart tissue itself swells to try to meet the animal's circulatory needs), as well as being very significant in helping feline reproduction and prevention of a progressive retinal disease called "feline central retinal degeneration" (FCRD) which will cause blindness if left untreated. In queens that have taurine-deficient diets, we find more still births, fewer live kittens born, and ultimately fewer kittens that survive to the weaning stage.

Why is taurine deficiency such a big deal?

Should I be concerned about it?? In the wild, rodents formed a large part of the feline diet, and the rodents had significant levels of taurine in their brains. When we began to domesticate cats and feed them commerical cat foods instead of their wild diets, taurine deficiency started appearing. This was of great concern, especially in the 1970's, when it was proven that many commerical cat foods on the market at that time contained an inadequate amount of taurine. Cats are different from other animals in that they cannot make enough taurine internally to meet their needs, and they must have enough taurine supplied to them in their food.