Unless a dog is still a puppy, most veterinary visits tend to include little to no discussion about diet. Sometimes, however, what a dog eats becomes of paramount importance, perhaps because she has put on excess weight that could compromise her health, mobility, and even her lifespan. Or maybe she has developed an allergy that the vet suspects might be a food allergy, and it needs to be determined which ingredient could be causing the allergic reaction.
A dog’s health can be affected by her diet in many other ways, too. The board-certified veterinary nutritionists at the Tufts Clinical Nutrition Service have seen such such things as the following:
- Dogs with nutrient imbalances so severe they have resulted in bone fractures.
- Dogs with nutrient imbalances so severe they have caused seizures.
- Dog with heart disease whose symptoms were exacerbated by high-sodium diets believed to be lower in sodium than they actually were.
- Dogs with kidney disease whose illnesses were worsened by foods containing ingredients they shouldn’t have.
It can be hard to work backwards to identify the dietary culprit because people often remember the actual dog food they feed but not all the treats and other items their pets are given on the side. Even the dog food itself may be mentioned with gaps in information. Here are the 8 pieces of information that you need to include should your dog’s vet prompt you to give a dietary history.
8 critical pieces of information in a diet history
1. The brand, yes, but also the particular product and flavor. Different flavors from the same line of food can have differences in both ingredients and nutrient levels. The vet has to be able to look up the nutrients in the exact food you’re feeding. Copy the full name from the label, or take a photo and bring it to the appointment. And be prepared to say how much of the food you feed each day. (“A bowl’s worth” is a very imprecise answer. Going by weight is the best bet.)
2. What, exactly, goes into a homemade diet. If you don’t buy your dog’s meals in bags or cans but prepare them yourself in your own kitchen, you have to give the recipe with enough specificity that the vet could prepare the meals in her own kitchen. “Two chicken wings” won’t cut it. Skin on or skin off? And what is the weight of the ingredient (which is how you should be thinking of a recipe if you prepare your dog’s meals yourself)?
3. Treats. Dog treats may make up more of your dog’s calories than you think. A lot of commercial treats are quite high in calories. As with meals, the vet will require the brand and the exact product and flavor (and, of course, the amount).
4. Table food. This one’s tricky, of course, because if you give your dog table scraps, she’s not going to get the same one — or the same amount — every day. To the best of your ability, write down all the people food you give your pet and also how much and how often. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a log for a week.
5. Rawhides, hooves, ears, and bully sticks. These items can pack quite a caloric wallop. Plain rawhide contains about 80 calories an ounce — up to 10 percent of the calories that a 40- to 50-pound dog should consume in a day.
6. Dental chews. They may be an oral hygiene product, but they’re not without calories. A large DentaLife Chew by Purina contains 100.
7. Dietary supplements. This is less a calorie issue and more a nutrient imbalance issue, perhaps a nutrient toxicity issue. In other words, sometimes the problem is not how many calories a dog ingests but how much of which vitamins, minerals, and other compounds.
8. Pill pockets and other foods that help the medicine go down. If you wrap your dog’s daily pill or capsule in cheese, cold cuts, apple sauce, or a pill pocket, you are adding daily calories and nutrients that could potentially be getting in the way of her health. Consider that if your pet is taking a pill for heart disease but that pill is wrapped in a high-sodium treat, the “wrap” could be working against the drug.
