Dog Nutrition Counseling in Carmel

While dogs don’t need human food, many of us end up sharing small bites anyway. Some safe options in moderation include carrots, apples, bananas, and broccoli, but treats should never replace their main diet. Avoid toxic foods like raisins, onions, garlic, chocolate, and high-fat or sugary foods. If you’re unsure about a specific food, check our website or give us a call—we know those puppy dog eyes can be hard to resist!

The obvious signs right off the bat are if you’re noticing vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and/or just generally not acting themselves. Those would be the easily identifiable symptoms that you would notice if your pet isn’t handling the food that you’re feeding them correctly. 

There are plenty of dogs that handle transition just fine. However, we see an equal amount of dogs where, if you make the slightest change to their diet, you are going to upset their GI system terribly. For some pets, its best to find a diet and balance that works and sticking with it. I know as humans, we want to add that variety and share what we’re eating with them, but if it’s not good for your dog and/or it’s not healthy or a good option for any dog, it is best just to take the higher ground and not do it.

An elimination diet is generally a prescription diet that is a strict diet focused on taking out all of the high allergic triggers. These diets need to be followed to the T of veterinarian recommendations, making sure they’re not getting any other outside food sources into their system. This will allow us to monitor to see if any of the previously ill symptoms we were looking to get rid of start going away once they are on the elimination diet. From there, your veterinarian may decide to gradually introduce other foods to see which triggers those allergic responses again so we can take that out of the equation, or we have some pets that just right off the bat do so well that they stay on that allergenic specific diet.

The obvious symptoms you’ll look for are drooling, foaming, stumbling, lethargy, usually hanging their head down low, tucked tail, vomiting, and diarrhea. These are all signs that something good is not happening, so if you suspect in the slightest that your dog might have gotten into something poisonous, whether it be food, a chemical, or a substance, call your local emergency clinic, the poison helpline, or any of these options right away. 

Not necessarily. If you are choosing a food that is AAFCO certified and assured as a balanced diet, it doesn’t matter if you feed wet or dry food. They’re going to have the same nutritional value. The difference lies in preference and/or medical conditions that might contribute to choosing one or the other.