Can Tou Have a 3 Month Old Puppy With Baby Kittens

Baby nutrient: When puppies and kittens need a therapeutic diet

February 20, 2018

in Petfoodology Blog, Pets with Health Atmospheric condition

Puppies and kittens take very special nutritional requirements compared to adults, including college levels of protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Therefore, puppies and kittens require a diet that meets growth requirements until they are 1 year of age (18 months in giant-brood dogs). While adult dogs and cats often can tolerate some nutritional deficiencies for a surprisingly long time, puppies and kittens are very sensitive to dietary imbalances and an inappropriate diet can cause serious problems quickly.

Our previous Petfoodology posts have fabricated recommendations for feeding good for you puppies and kittens. Simply what happens when your growing pet has a health consequence that requires a special diet? This tin can arrive very hard to detect a diet that not merely helps manage the disease but also meets all her nutritional requirements. I'm particularly sensitive to this issue because one of my ain dogs was born with a liver shunt that requires medication and a therapeutic nutrition to assistance manage the affliction. But the therapeutic diets available did not meet all of his nutritional requirements during this sensitive catamenia of growth.

About puppies and kittens, fortunately, are healthy but they can be built-in with medical problems (congenital diseases) such equally heart, kidney, or liver affliction. Fifty-fifty if they're born healthy, they tin swallow something toxic that amercement their kidneys or other problems can arise, like diarrhea.

Diet tin help in the direction of these diseases (for example, a low sodium diet for a kitten with congenital centre illness or a reduced phosphorus diet for a puppy with congenital kidney illness). Only, in trying to help manage their diseases nutritionally, we have to be certain we still meet the unique needs of the growing animal.

For example, nosotros often recommend a reduced fat, easily digestible therapeutic nutrition for puppies or kittens who have repeated bouts of diarrhea (in one case parasites and other common causes of diarrhea are addressed). Some of the reduced fat, easily digestible therapeutic diets run across the nutritional requirements for growth, simply others don't.

How tin you tell? If you lot've read our previous posts, you lot know that the nutritional adequacy statement is the most useful piece of information on the pet food label – yes, mode more of import than the ingredient list!

• If the nutritional adequacy argument on a therapeutic nutrition says that it is formulated to run into the nutritional profiles for adults (or has undergone feeding trials for adults), that diet should non exist fed to a puppy or kitten. The closer the pet gets to i year of age, the lower the risk (I'm less worried virtually feeding a therapeutic diet that meets adult requirements to a 10-month old kitten than to a iv-month old kitten).
• If the statement says that the diet is for "intermittent or supplement use," it's non nutritionally complete and counterbalanced for adults or growing animals. This is ok for an adult cat with kidney disease, for example, considering we want some of the nutrients to be lower to aid manage the disease. Nevertheless, you lot should avoid feeding a diet of this type to a puppy or kitten unless the plan has been carefully reviewed past a veterinary nutritionist.
• If the statement says that the nutrition meets the nutritional profiles for growth or all life stages, it'due south fine to feed to kittens and puppies.
• If the statement says that the diet has undergone feeding trials for growth or all life stages, it should be ok for kittens and most modest- and medium-sized puppies. Merely feeding trials are not usually conducted in large-breed dogs, and then if your puppy is expected to mature at more than 60 pounds and particularly if she's a giant breed (for case, Irish Wolfhounds, Swell Danes, St Bernards), that diet may or may not provide all the diet your puppy needs while growing and os abnormalities or other serious medical problems tin can develop quickly from nutritional deficiencies or excesses. For more information, see our post on feeding large- and giant-breed puppies.

Top tips for feeding a puppy or kitten with medical problems:

• Nutrition can play a very important role in the management of diseases in puppies and kittens, and then exist sure to talk to your veterinarian about the all-time diet for your pet to go on him salubrious and to help manage any medical problems he might develop.
• Feeding an unbalanced nutrition (for example, cooked chicken and rice or a therapeutic diet that does non meet growth requirements) for iii or 4 days is unlikely to injure even a growing puppy or kitten. Just they tin develop problems apace! And then if your growing pet needs a special nutrition for longer than a few days, talk to your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist to ensure y'all're meeting your growing pet'southward special needs.
• Don't come up with a plan on your ain. Even for a veterinary nutritionist, developing a dietary plan that helps manage the disease and meets the growing brute'due south nutritional needs is not easy. I spent many hours determining the optimal therapeutic diet for my puppy and calculating all the supplements (seven!) that were needed in order to meet his nutritional requirements above what was in the diet.
• Don't feed a bootleg diet to your puppy or kitten (whether they're sick or healthy) unless it'south been carefully formulated by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Fifty-fifty if yous think you've come up upwards with a bully recipe or plant one online or from a friend, I tin can most guarantee you it's not nutritionally balanced. And in a growing fauna, this can cause permanent damage or tin even exist deadly. In fact, we strongly recommend you don't feed a home-cooked diets to any growing puppy or kitten considering of the risks.
• Don't but feed a therapeutic diet designed for adults and assume it will exist ok. Read the nutritional capability argument carefully.
• If you lot take a big- or behemothic-breed puppy, even therapeutic diets that accept undergone feeding trials for growth may not exist ideal. If your large- or giant-breed puppy needs a therapeutic diet, I encourage you lot or your veterinarian to talk to a veterinary nutritionist.

So, the bottom line is that if your kitten or puppy has a medical effect, be certain to ask your veterinarian if you lot should be feeding a therapeutic nutrition. Therapeutic diets made by manufacturers with nutritional knowledge and rigorous quality control can work wonders and can be an integral function of the medical intendance for these young animals, but for animals that are still growing, special attention is needed to observe the right therapeutic nutrition (and, in some cases, additional supplements) to ensure your pet gets the benefits without the risks.

Lisa Thousand. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (Nutrition)

Dr. Freeman is a veterinarian nutritionist and a professor at Cummings Schoolhouse of Veterinarian Medicine at Tufts University. She is on the cut-edge of science, with hundreds of articles in prestigious journals, speaking engagements at national and international conferences, and awards for her scientific achievements. However, she also is passionate about providing objective and authentic data on pet nutrition to veterinarians, pet owners, and other animal enthusiasts.

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Source: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/02/baby-food-when-puppies-and-kittens-need-a-therapeutic-diet/

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