Diet
Just like in people, a healthy diet plays a large role in ensuring our pets are healthy overall. Poor quality food can lead a number of health issues including obesity, diabetes, poor coat and nail quality, dental disease and general gastrointestinal issues like soft faeces or diarrhoea.
We recommend high quality pet foods like the Royal Canin range or the Hill’s Science Diet range. These foods are formulated to provide your pets with the right balance of nutrients, proteins and carbohydrates.
For further information on the best foods for your pet, or if they need special foods for a medical condition, then please phone our friendly nurses.
Gut health in our pets
As the largest immune organ (more than 80% of the immune system reside in the gut), the gastrointestinal tract is responsible for preventing toxins and undesirable bacteria from entering the bloodstream, as well as making sure your pet digests and absorbs valuable nutrients from the food that they eat. So, just like in humans, your pet’s gut is the foundation of their health.
GUT MICROBIOME
The gut couldn’t function properly without the trillions of microbes living and working there. This ecosystem of bacteria, called the gut microbiome, provide a vast range of life-supporting functions that can help your pet live their healthiest life. The microbiome is important for digestion, it shapes your dog’s immune system, it affects your pets risk of diseases, and also has been linked to mental health.
In addition to supporting immune function, a healthy gut microbiome helps support your pet’s bone and joint health, helps maintain their energy levels, helps ease stress, can help sooth tummy troubles, and help to support a healthy weight.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE GUT MICROBIOME
Your pet’s microbiome can become out of balance due to factors like illness, antibiotics, stress, changes in diet, inappropriate foods, the aging process and dietary indiscretion (hello, rubbish bin!) When your pet’s gut bacteria are out of balance, they can develop disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and show symptoms such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, lethargy, behavioural problems and poor coat quality to name a few.
SUPPORTING GUT HEALTH IN OUR PETS
The best way to support your pets gut health is to feed them appropriate foods. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they must eat meat to stay healthy. Dogs thrive on a meat-based diet but can also digest other types of food. It can be very difficult to provide a safe and appropriate raw food diet, not to mention expensive. A high quality premium dry dog or cat food that is specifically formulated for your pet’s stage in life will effectively provide all the nutrition both your pet and its gut microbiome need.
Probiotics are good bacteria that form part of the gut microbiome. Supplementing your pet’s diet with probiotics during times of stress, when they are recovering from an illness or after antibiotic therapy will help to quickly restore a healthy gut microbiome.
Our pets give us so much joy and unconditional love and helping them to maintain a healthy gut flora can help them live longer healthier happy lives! If you have any questions regarding the proper diet or probiotic supplementation for your pet, please do not hesitate to contact our helpful staff.