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Dogs and
Cats
Types of diet
Commercially available diets include -
- Complete diets - Tinned meat or dry
kibble. Such diets are very well researched and carefully formulated to provide the optimum daily
amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals for your pet.
- Tinned meat and Cereal diet - Such diets
rely on a combination of tinned food mixed with a biscuit based cereal
component to produce a 'complete' end product.
- Supplementary foods - chews, biscuits etc.
Not nutritionally balanced and should not make up a large proportion of the
diet.
Which is best?
If feeding guides are followed, both complete and meat/cereal diets can provide all the requirements for
a healthy diet, however for ease a complete food has everything worked out in
advance for you. Dry Complete foods have several additional practical advantages
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- Most economical - you are not paying for
the water in tinned foods
- No need to refrigerate once opened
- Not smelly or messy, waste much reduced
- Convenient to buy in bulk
Can I feed a home-made diet?
Yes, provided it is balanced for the species, lifestyle and age of your pet -
and this is where the difficulty arises. It is very difficult to be sure of
achieving the ideal quantities of carbohydrate, protein, fats, vitamins and
minerals at home.
Can the same diet be fed throughout life?
Many complete diet manufacturers test their food on a 'lifecycle' basis - the
diet is fed exclusively to a breeding colony of dogs for several generations and
the animals checked for health and nutritional deficiencies. Thus complete diets
are OK for use at all ages. However this is not to say that added health
benefits cannot be gained by the use of recently developed age- and
breed-specific diets -
Rabbits
Severe tooth problems are extremely common in pet
rabbits as a result of inappropriate nutrition. These problems are very
difficult to treat, frequently resulting in abscesses, fly strike (through
inability to groom), tear duct blockage and death.
A rabbit's diet should include three main components -
commercial rabbit food, hay and greens.
Commercial Rabbit Foods
Tooth problems can occur because rabbits prefer to eat certain parts of their
mix and leave the pellets which contain most vitamins and minerals. It
may be worth trying feeding less food in the hope that the rabbit will eat all
of it. Alternatively, certain commercial rabbit foods such as Supa
Rabbit Excel (Burgess) contain all the ingredients in a normal
mix combined into a standardised kibble, thus making selective eating
impossible. Feed according to the manufacturer's instructions as overfeeding can
lead to obesity.
Hay
Hay is an important part of the diet. It provides fibre which is
important in the prevention of dietary upsets and promotes normal gut motility.
Hay is also an important source of vitamin D and provides dental exercise which
is important for normal wear of the continually
growing teeth. Hay should always be available and is good for bedding as well as
food.
Alfalfa is a good source of both fibre and calcium, it
is not as tasty as hay therefore some rabbits will not eat it.
Greens
Greens and vegetables should be given to rabbits. Some rabbits may develop a
mild transient diarrhoea on the introduction of a new food, so greens should be
given in moderation. It is advisable to offer a wide range of greens to rabbits
including weeds such as dandelions, groundsel, grass, brambles, and tree leaves.
They also enjoy stripping the bark off branches.
Exercise
Rabbits should be allowed daily exercise if possible. The opportunity to bask in
sun allows them to synthesise vitamin D. Access to grass and other plants will
provide a varied diet and fibre.
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