Pete the vet – Keep your pet healthy and happy

FEEDING animals is one of the biggest responsibilities that we humans have towards creatures under our care. Wild animals can choose their own diet, whereas pet or captive animals are forced to eat whatever humans decide to offer. Unfortunately, humans often get it wrong, and animals often develop dietary problems directly caused by human error. There are two important aspects to a proper diet and they are quality and quantity. In the wild, animals have an innate ability to choose diets that are balanced, and they instinctively eat the correct amount to maintain their ideal body weight. Sometimes wild animals are too thin because they cannot find enough food, but obesity is not a problem. Pets, on the other hand, cannot choose food for themselves, and they must eat whatever is  placed in front of them. In the past, most pet dogs and cats were simply offered scraps from the human kitchen. Working dogs were thrown a bowl of porridge and cats were given bacon rinds and bones. Nowadays there is an abundance of choice. There are many different types of pet food available, from a variety of sources, and it can be very confusing for owners, with no training in animal nutrition. There are broadly three ways to feed a pet animal. You can give it home-cooked food, either as scraps from the table, or as specially prepared 'human' type meals, and this is often the first choice. This method of feeding can be fine, as long as the resulting diet is balanced, with the correct combination of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. It can be difficult to ensure that the best balance is attained, which is why most people choose to feed their pet commercial pet foods, which are guaranteed to provide all the necessary nutrients. Moist pet food, in tins or packets, fed with mixer biscuits and often bought from the local supermarket, is also popular. While this is perfectly adequate, it is not necessarily the best quality, most convenient or most economical diet. Complete dry biscuits are the third main way of feeding pets. These are a combination of meat and biscuit rolled into one. Like everything in life, you get what you pay for. Pets may not enjoy the taste of the most basic, cheapest dry diets, whereas if you try the more expensive, 'premium' quality dry foods, your pet is more likely to enjoy the taste. Premium foods are often made from a higher quality of ingredients and this not only means that they tend to be tastier, but pets are also more likely to enjoy better health than if they're fed on bargain-basement dried food. Furthermore, you're likely to find that your pet produces less 'poop' for you to scoop, because premium food is so much more digestible, containing a lower level of indigestible ingredients that just pass straight through the digestive system. All dried foods are convenient: a big bag might last a month or more, which is much easier than filling supermarket shopping bags with numerous tins every week. Dry food has the additional advantage that chewing the biscuits can help to keep teeth and gums healthy. Many vets and nutrition experts now feel that a good quality dry food is the best choice for most pets. There are individual cases where dried food may not be appropriate (some diseases necessitate a high level of water intake), so if you're unsure, you should talk to your vet before changing the diet. Choose your pet's diet carefully. Just like ourselves, pets are what they eat. It's important to get it right.