Best maintenance dog food
When determining what an animal should be fed, the first consideration generally is the number of calories, or energy requirement for that animal. We can
calculate the basal energy requirement for animals by the mathematical calculation (weight [kg])0.75.
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This is the energy necessary for basic life function, such
as breathing and brain and enzyme activity, and assumes the animal is completely motionless. In humans, just being awake, even if you are lying perfectly
still, increases your energy requirement. Obviously the more useful value is the
maintenance energy requirement, or the amount of calories required for basic
function plus a normal level of activity.
This is calculated as (weight [kg])0.75 .
Animals fed this amount should be able to maintain their body weight
with normal activity. This calculation assumes the animal is not growing and
does not have the lower metabolic rate associated with older age and is therefore most useful for animals ranging in age from 3 to 7 years.
Smaller-breed
dogs can be maintained with a lower number of calories earlier in life than can
large- or giant-breed dogs because they complete growth earlier in life. Protein
content in a maintenance diet generally is about 13% to 19%. Calories from the
protein are calculated, and the diet is balanced with fat and carbohydrates to
meet the energy requirements; generally carbohydrates provide 40% to 50% of
the total energy in the ration.
The foodstuffs used to provide the protein, fats,
and carbohydrates are analyzed to determine the vitamin and mineral content,
and compounds are added as necessary to balance the diet. Calcium and phosphorus are balanced in a ratio from 0.8:1 to 1.5:1.
Feeding trials are then performed to ensure that the animals eat the food well, maintain weight and body
condition, and digest the food properly.
Different individuals have different metabolic rates.
The best way to know
whether a dog is getting the appropriate amount of a diet is to monitor the animal’s body condition.
Body condition score is assessed by evaluating how easily the ribs are palpated and how evident the waist and abdominal tuck are in a standing animal. It has been demonstrated that those animals
maintained slightly thin had a later onset of chronic diseases, less severe osteoarthritis when aged, and longer median life span than did dogs maintained
with a higher body condition score.
PREGNANCY, LACTATION, AND PERFORMANCE
Animals that are pregnant or nursing, or active performance animals (e.g., racing, mushing, agility) have different energy requirements than animals on a
maintenance plan.
1. Pregnancy The following recommendations are for pregnant animals
1.Nutrition
• Increase energy gradually—Energy requirements do not vary from maintenance for the first 4 to 5 weeks of gestation. Calories should be increased
gradually, beginning at about midgestation (30 days postbreeding) such that
the bitch is receiving about 130% to 160% of her maintenance requirement
by the time of whelping.
At whelping, the bitch should weigh 5% to 10%
more than she did before breeding. Do not let her become obese; obesity is
associated with difficulty whelping. This discussion assumes, of course, that the bitch was at the correct body condition before
breeding. Too thin body condition is associated with conception failure,
abortion, and birth of low-weight pups.
Too heavy body condition is associated with increased incidence of birth defects in the neonates, stillbirths, and
difficulty whelping.
• Increase protein gradually—As with energy, protein needs increase gradually
late in gestation. Protein should be increased by 140% to 170% in the latter
half of gestation; for most bitches, this works out to about 22% to 25% protein in the diet by the time of whelping.
• Fatty acids—Because energy needs are increased, the amount of dietary
fat often is increased. Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, derived primarily from fish oils, may be beneficial for development of the fetuses and
placentas.
• Calcium-phosphorus—Although calcium needs are increased in the pregnant bitch as she mineralizes the fetuses, supplementation with calcium and
phosphorus is not recommended. Feed a balanced diet! Provision of too
much dietary calcium may cause the bitch to stop production of parathormone, the hormone responsible for drawing calcium stores from bone. If the
bitch is not making adequate amounts of parathormone at the time of
whelping, she will be much more likely to suffer from hypocalcemia during
lactation because she will be unable to take in enough calcium to allow milk
production and her own calcium supply will be depleted to a dangerous extent .
• Carbohydrates—Generally, carbohydrates are not a concern. If a bitch carrying a large litter stops eating, however, this sudden deficiency in carbohydrate
intake may precipitate pregnancy toxemia.
2. Lactation
Energy needs may reach as high as 250% to 300% of prepregnancy needs during peak lactation, which generally occurs in the second or third week after
whelping.
Protein needs also are increased; it has been demonstrated that inadequate dietary protein for the bitch is associated with poor milk production
and slow growth and development of immune function of pups.
Calcium and
phosphorus intake must be increased to support milk production. Provision of
a dietary supplement of calcium, with vitamin D to promote calcium uptake
from the intestinal tract, is safer during lactation than during pregnancy and is
recommended for small-breed dogs nursing large litters or for any bitch with a
history of eclampsia.
So what diet is best for pregnant or lactating dogs?
No one diet is best.
Abrupt switches in diet may cause diarrhea or vomiting or make a pregnant
dog refuse to eat, predisposing her to pregnancy toxemia. Often the best advice
is to switch the bitch gradually to a growth or performance variety of the food
she is fed at maintenance. The switch should be made at midgestation.
3. Performance
Performance dogs should be fed either a specific performance diet or a maintenance diet at a higher rate.
It is very important to monitor body condition
in working dogs, especially because many dogs that enjoy working do not eat
well while they are working.
All dogs require extra calories for maintenance of
body temperature when they are housed exclusively outside; sled dogs require
extra calories for maintenance of body temperature and activity and must be
fed accordingly.
C. ORPHAN PUPPIES
Ideally orphan puppies should be put on a lactating bitch whenever possible.
No other product resembles bitch’s milk in nutrient content, and bitch milk
contains compounds that cannot be mimicked, such as enzymes, hormones,
and antibodies specific to that environment.
Weigh the pups at birth and continue to weigh them once daily.
Do not
weigh more than once daily; the normal variation in weight due to feeding, urination, and defecation makes it difficult to recognize actual trends in weight
gain or loss. Puppies should maintain weight or gain daily and should double
their birth weight by 7 to 10 days of age.
Often monitoring for weight loss is
the best indicator of adequacy of calorie intake or onset of illness in puppies.
Pups will have to be supplemented if the bitch cannot or will not allow them
to nurse. Commercial milk replacers are preferred to goat’s milk or cow’s milk,
neither of which approximates bitch’s milk in composition .
In an
emergency, a milk replacement can be made by combining 1
⁄
2 cup whole milk, 1
⁄
2 cup water, 1 egg yolk, 2 Tums, and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. With any milk
replacer, small cataracts may develop; these generally resolve after weaning.
Hand-raised pups grow more slowly than nursing pups but have been demonstrated to achieve the same size as littermates that were allowed to nurse by several months of age.
Puppies require about 110 calories per pound (7 calories/oz, 242
calories/kg) daily, split into 4 to 12 feedings.
The emergency formula contains
about 0.75 calorie in every milliliter. An 8-oz pup would require 56 calories, or
74 mL, split over 4 to 12 feedings.
If you feed the pups every 3 hours, or 8 feedings per day, that is about 9 mL at each feeding. The stomach of puppies can
hold about 18 mL per pound (40 mL/kg), so for an 8-oz (0.5 lb) pup, 9 mL
would be stomach capacity.
Calorie content of commercial formulas is printed
on the label. Feeding frequency can be decreased to 3 times daily after the pup
is 2 weeks of age, and weaning can begin anytime after 3 to 4 weeks of age. Contact
your veterinarian for assistance with calculations for the amount to be fed.
Commercial formulas may be purchased premixed or as concentrate or
powder that is diluted with water. All these variations are nutritionally adequate.
If puppies develop either constipation or diarrhea while being fed a
commercial milk replacer, the formula should be slightly diluted with water.
Severely constipated puppies can be given an enema using a narrow-diameter
red rubber tube as is used for feeding and warm water containing one drop of
dish soap.
Warm the formula to 95 to 100 degrees F (35 to 38° C).
The animal can be
fed with a spoon, bottle, or feeding tube.
Spoon feeding is messy and the animal may aspirate (breathe in) the milk, causing pneumonia, so spoon feeding
is not recommended.
Bottle feeding is best in that the animal is less likely to aspirate formula and
suckling on the bottle decreases the amount of suckling the neonate may do on
its littermates. Bottle feeding is time consuming. Make sure the hole in the nipple is just large enough to allow milk to drip slowly from the nipple when the
bottle is tipped, and never squeeze the bottle to hurry the feeding.
Tube feeding is quick. A soft red rubber tube is passed into the pup’s stomach. Use the largest diameter red rubber tube that the pup can tolerate.
Measure from the tip of the pup’s nose to its last rib externally, and mark the
tube at about 3
⁄
4 that length; this ensures that you will place the tube to the
proper length. Hold the pup on the palm of one hand with the pup lying on its
tummy. Pass the tube over the tongue, and gently push it down the throat. If
the pup is crying, you are in the right spot. You do not want to pass the tube
into the lungs; if the tube was in the trachea (windpipe), the pup would not be
able to make a sound. Formula is passed slowly down the tube with a syringe,
and the tube is withdrawn .
.The pup’s tummy should feel distended. Recheck the length of the tube weekly to allow for growth of the pup.
Always remember to stimulate orphan pups to urinate and defecate after
feeding by rubbing their genitalia with a cotton ball or soft cloth moistened
with warm water.
It is normal for puppy feces to be soft and yellow.
Some people like to supplement orphan pups with yogurt, baby-food gruel,
or goat’s milk while the pup is receiving milk replacer. Anything you feed the
pups will alter the overall composition of their diet and may push the diet out
of balance.
Be aware that if you add other things to the diet, the milk replacer
must be the primary component of the diet to ensure that it is balanced and
complete.
WEANING
Weaning can be begun as early as 3 to 4 weeks of age. Offer puppy food soaked
in hot water and mashed to a gruel twice or three times daily.
Removing the
pups from the bitch for an hour or two before offering the solid food may increase the pups’ hunger and make them more likely to take in food. Gradually
add less water to the diet until the pups are eating dry puppy food. Have fresh
water available for the pups at all times.
FEEDING PUPPIES
Once puppies are weaned, they should be meal fed, not offered food at all
times. Food should be presented to the pups twice daily for 20 minutes each
time.
This is especially important for large- and giant-breed pups, who may
grow extremely quickly if offered excess calories.
Puppies should be fed a
puppy or growth diet until 10 to 12 months of age, perhaps as long as 18
months of age for large- or giant-breed pups. It is important to feed the correct diet in the correct amount.
The following factors are associated with the
development and increased severity of skeletal disease in large-breed pups:
• Excessive dietary calcium and phosphorus
• Excessive dietary calories
• Free-choice feeding, leading to rapid growth rate and increased mechanical
load on bone and cartilage
Further detail about feeding of growing dogs is beyond the scope of this text.
SUPPLEMENTS
Many dietary supplements are commercially available . These are
classified by the FDA as neutraceuticals, products that are administered by
mouth and are not drugs. Most are herbal compounds.
Herbal therapies, although traditionally used in humans in many parts of the world, are poorly
understood in veterinary medicine.
Few studies defining the effect of herbal
supplements or other neutraceuticals have been published.
With any supplement, concerns include the following:
• Product quality: How pure is the product, and what standards are used to ensure appropriate dose of the product?
• Efficacy: Does the product do what the company claims?
• Tolerance: Are there any negative side effects for the animal?
• Safety: What are the toxic effects, if any, and what is the toxic dose?
Other dietary supplements commonly given to dogs by their owners include
liver, eggs, cottage cheese, other human foods used as bait for training or showing, brewer’s yeast, kelp—the list goes on and on.
Remember that any food you
give your animal becomes part of its overall diet and may alter the balance of
the primary food you are feeding that animal.
Dog foods are formulated to be
complete and balanced with the understanding that no other dietary products
will be provided to that animal.
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