We know what we eat has a huge impact on our health and how we feel, and it’s no different for our dogs either. Feeding them a premium diet can actually increase their life expectancy by nearly 2 years!
At Sugarland Animal Hospital we recommend a premium diet like Hills or Royal Canin, because they have been developed to meet strict guidelines to ensure they provide the essential nutrients our dogs need.
Supermarket Dog Foods – why they might not be the best option for your pet or your wallet
Supermarket pet food brands are great at marketing their products to appeal to owners, but the truth is many foods available at supermarkets and pet stores are low quality and full of useless filler ingredients.
So while they may fill your dog up, they are not actually providing the required nutrients for optimal health, which can lead to issues in the long run. Think of it like us eating take-out every day, it may fill us up but it doesn’t have much nutritional value and would not make us feel good long-term.
Supermarket foods may also seem appealing for their lower price tag, but you do need to feed a larger quantity of food, so premium diets are often just as cost-effective as you will go through less. Premium food can also reduce the occurrence of health issues for your pet and in turn, reduce your vet bills over the life of your pet – so it’s a win/win!
Home cooked food – you may be doing more harm than good
Some owners put a lot of effort into making home cooked meals for their pets, like chicken, veggies and rice or various minces. However all this effort may actually be doing more harm than good because our pets need very specifically balanced diets including vitamins and nutrients and it’s almost impossible to create a home cooked meal that meets these requirements.
Premium pet foods have to pass strict assessments to ensure they meet these requirements to provide a balanced diet for our pets, avoiding health conditions and deficiencies.
So while it’s fine to provide variety with your pets meals here and there through home cooking, your pet does need to eat a balanced diet that will meet their specific nutritional requirements. If preparing your pets food at home is important to you, we can arrange a referral for a consult with a veterinary nutritionist who can help ensure you preparing a fully balanced diet.
Formulated with veterinarians to meet all nutritional requirements
You can feed a lower volume of food as it has less fillers, making it more cost-effective
Premium pet food often improves your pets stool, reducing the size and smell and improving consistency
Formulated to address 5 common health concerns including oral health, weight management, digestion, skin & coat as well as mobility
Pets on premium pet food diets often have less health concerns in the long term, reducing vet bills for illness and disease
We can order the food in for you either on an automatic schedule or as required and call when it’s ready for collection, so you simply need to pop in and collect and leave the rest up to us
HELPFUL TIPS TO TRANSITION TO A PREMIUM DIET
Mix increasing amounts of your pets new food with decreasing amounts of the old food over a 7-day period.
Your pets new premium diet may mean you can feed less, so ask your vet to help calculate your pets ideal feeding amount
Your pets’ nutritional needs may change as they age. Discuss your pets food with your vet at every health check and they can advise if it is still the best option for your pet at that point in time
Adjust feeding amounts as necessary to maintain optimal weight. If you are unsure, ask your veterinarian.
