Are we feeding our dogs to death ?

Paul | blog | November 16, 2011

Doing some research recently re diets for dogs with diabetes I came across the following statement

“It has been my observation that the prescription diets for diabetic animals, sold by vets , are generally very low protein, which means they are very high in carbohydrates, or carb based food. Research shows us now that carbohydrates, especially poor quality carbs are the last thing you want in a diabetic diet, due to the glycemic index, or the way the body utilizes carbohydrates. Plus a lower protein diet means loss of muscle mass, and the largest muscle in the body is the heart”

The author also went on to say that in her experience “Vets have little or no training in nutrition ”

This sounds quiet absurd, as the saying goes, “you are what you eat” , so therefore our dogs are what they eat.

You would imagine alongside exercise, grooming & veterinary care that your dogs diet and therefore nutrition should play a major role in your dogs general well-being.

Since discovering that one of our dogs was diabetic earlier this year, we have experimented, as you have to do, with a lot of different diets, and the results have been quite drastic, but a lot of dog owners are of the mindset that if it isn’t broke then don’t fix it, and continue to feed their dog or dogs the same food for the duration of the dogs life, with little or no variation.

That is all fine and dandy, but if your dog develops a condition such as diabetes or renal failure a change of diet is almost a certainty, and most people undoubtedly turn to their veterinarian for professional advice, and in most cases are switched to a prescription diet, which not only cost a lot more, but if you are to believe the statement above, can do more harm than the original diet.

This on top of the theory that some people believe that it is some commercial dog food diets that contribute in a large way to increases in diseases like diabetes, you would have to stop and wonder why nutrition doesn’t play a much larger role in a vets initial and ongoing training.

Comments please…..