Don’t Forget Fido
By Pasadena Independent
Published: Thursday, March 26th, 2009
When it comes to nutrition, pets are people too.
“When I was a kid, we fed our dog scraps and he never went to the vet except for shots!” Well, when my grandfather was a kid, bloodletting was still considered advanced medical treatment.
Times have changed, in human and veterinary medicine. In fact, the tide seems to be turning in favor of our four-legged friends. Where previously they were used for research to help humans, the treatments once only afforded us are now available to dogs and cats. Newer and safer medications, MRI, CT scans, radiation oncology, total hip replacement, cruciate ligament repair, kidney transplantation, dialysis, open heart surgery, even brain surgery are now helping our furry companions live longer healthier lives.
There’s even one aspect of health care where we exceed human care… Nutrition. Through specially formulated, consistent diets, we can not only keep pets healthier, but even treat diseases. Arthritis, kidney failure, urinary tract disorders, diabetes, chronic ear infections, even a brain disorder similar to Alzheimer’s can be helped with special diets. Yes, there are still animals that you can throw any food at and it will live a long, relatively uncomplicated life. My neighbors had a car like that too… never changed the oil, just kept adding to it. Those pets and cars are the exceptions to the rule. Every day, veterinarians see loved pets who, through ignorance, finance, or marketing are not getting proper nutrition. Generally speaking, if you feed your pet high quality foods, you’ll have fewer medical problems throughout its life.
Supplements don’t make up for poor nutrition. Yes, supplements can be very beneficial when they are targeted at a specific need. They can also be worthless and a waste of money when they are not. As an example, I’m a great fan of Glucosamine and chondroitin for osteoarthritis of certain joints. Many well meaning people put their companions on various forms of these chemicals because they see stiffness, lameness, or difficulty rising. Too many times, in doing so without a diagnosis, they’re not only not helping, but prolonging the problem and depriving their pet of appropriate treatment. Take for example stiffness or limping in the rear legs. While there are a myriad of conditions that can cause this, the most common are arthritis of the spine, hips, and stifles [knees]. Spinal arthritis responds to little but anti-inflammatory pain relief. Hip arthritis, in its early stages, enerally does well with glucosamine and chondroitin supplementation. Stifle issues are usually secondary to injury of the cruciate ligament, and is a mechanical instability. While we use supplements to help in the recovery process, this condition requires surgical repair. Furthermore, all supplements are not created equal. You generally, though not always, “get what you pay for”. The number of milligrams may be the same from bottle to bottle, but the bioavailability, that is the amount the body can actually absorb and utilize can vary from 98% [best product] to as low as 20%.
Supplements can also be harmful. Used in excess, vitamins like A [liver issues] and C [urinary bladder stones] can be harmful.
Any use of specialized diets or supplements should only follow an accurate diagnosis by your veterinarian. Such diagnoses, as with us, often require radiographs (x-rays) and blood tests. The goal is not just quantity of life, but quality of life!
By Dr. Gary R. White, DVM
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