By Vet Nurse Ayesha Watson
Nutrition is the foundation of health, influencing everything from energy levels to long-term disease risk. A well-balanced diet is essential to support growth, strong immunity, optimal weight and overall quality of life. As we step into the new year, it’s an ideal time for pet owners to reassess feeding routines, diet age range and portion sizes to ensure dogs and cats are receiving the nutrition to thrive at every life stage.
Nutritional needs change significantly throughout life. Puppies and kittens require higher levels of protein, fat and key minerals to support rapid growth and development, while adult pets benefit from balanced diets that maintain lean muscle, healthy weight, and sustained energy. As pets enter their senior years, targeted nutrition can help support joint health, digestion, cognitive function promoting comfort and vitality as they age.
When assessing your pet's diet, I would first look at your pets age to ensure your pet is getting the correct required nutrition to be healthy but to also help reduce the risk of future health concerns and diseases. High quality complete balanced diet is important. A bag of pet food should also state if it is a complete dog food.
Another consideration would be your pet’s weight. Maintaining your pet's weight at their ideal weight can increase your pet’s life expectancy. Obesity is a medical disease that needs to be prevented from an early stage in your pet’s life. Once a fat cell is grown it will never go, only shrinks, therefore making them more prone to weight gain. Making sure your pet is on the right food and is being fed the right amount as a puppy onwards is important to prevent this. Getting into good habits like weighing the food out and being mindful when giving treats will help as your pet starts to get older and their metabolism starts to slow down. Neutering can also slow down their metabolism however there are specific diets out there to help maintain body weight after the procedure. Being a healthy weight will take pressure off the animal’s organs and joints therefore reducing the risk of medical conditions like arthritis.
Just like us animals have a set daily maintenance energy requirement (MER) to make sure their weight is stable. If you are unsure on your pet's maintenance energy requirement or what balanced diet to be on, please get in touch with your vet to discuss nutrition further.