We’ve rounded up some of the best pet experts in metro Atlanta. Look for your answers every Monday. Today’s advice comes from Dr. Susan Wynn, a nationally known holistic veterinarian and pet nutritionist. Click here to see all the AJCpets experts. And feel free to submit questions in the form of a comment today.
Q: I am getting an English Mastiff puppy and I have some questions about what to feed him. I have read online a lot that english mastiffs should not be fed puppy food after eight weeks because it makes them grow to fast before their joints are ready to bear that much weight. Any suggestions about what to feed him would be greatly appreciated.
A: A large breed puppy grows extremely rapidly. Your average golden retriever, for instance, grows from 14 ounces to more than 65 lbs within one year – a 70-fold increase in size. Human beings take 18 years to accomplish the same thing! This rapid growth leaves large breed puppies vulnerable to tissue abnormalities during development, even while increased weight stresses these weakened bones and joints.
Over 30 years ago, researchers investigated the link between a puppy’s diet and the developmental orthopedic diseases that were becoming so common – “wobbler” disease, hip and elbow dysplasia, hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD), and osteochondrosis dessicans (OCD). While protein did not seem to be a factor, excessive calories and unbalanced or excessive calcium levels were proven to negatively effect skeletal development in puppies.
We now know that puppies should grow slowly. While the rate of growth can be controlled with diet, the final adult size is controlled by genetics unless severe dietary deficiencies (usually from homemade diets) occur in the first year of age. As a basic rule of thumb, your puppy shouldn’t look round or fat. Previously, some breeders addressed this problem by feeding adult foods to large breed puppies. Maintenance diets can vary widely in their calorie contents and nutrient profiles, to the extent that some can mimic regular puppy diets and others will be nutritionally inadequate for puppies.
Some have undergone actual feeding trials according to standards of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), but others have not, making them particularly dangerous for growing bodies. In general, we are looking for these characteristics in the best large breed puppy diets: Protein should be at least 27 percent on a dry matter basis (minimum 22 percent.)Fat should be restricted to 14 percent or less.
The ratio of calcium to phosphorus should be 1:1 up to 1.3:1, and should constitute about 1 percent of the diet on a dry matter basis. Most will contain fiber, which limits the amount of calories that can be included.
The best ways to control rapid growth in large breed puppies are:
1. Feed a complete and balanced diet especially designed for them, (having fewer calories and appropriate calcium levels), until the puppy has reached at least 80 percent of the expected adult weight.
2. Feed in meals only – never allow a puppy to free feed.
3. Learn how to do a Body Condition Score (BCS) and keep the puppy’s score around 4/9.
4. Do not add dietary supplements such as vitamins, calcium, or other minerals.
5. Exercise should be regular and moderate.
Q: I have a 3 year old long hair chihuahua and I currently feed him the Nutro Ultra holistic food for small breeds. Is this a good dog food?
A: Evaluating a pet food is simple if you stick to a few basic rules. Those rules, however, tell you only whether that food has the potential for causing nutritional deficiencies for the nutrients we know about. The rules don’t address the quality of the company, whether the food is right for you, or whether it provides the kind of nutrition you prefer for your dog.
Are you ready? To know whether a food fulfills the basic expectation that it will provide the basic nutrients to sustain life, it should have an AAFCO feeding statement on the label. (AAFCO is the American Association of Feed Control Officials). That statement should say that the food is formulated to meet nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Nutrition profiles for a specific life stage – growth, reproduction, lactation or maintenance. There is controversy over the methodology by which the food can make an AAFCO statement (by feeding trial or simple computer analysis) but we won’t delve into that here. If there is no AAFCO feeding statement, the company has failed to do even basic due diligence to prevent nutritional deficiencies.
So if the AAFCO feeding statement gives us such limited information about whether a food is ‘good’ or not, how else can we judge it? The question is complicated because we need to decide what a ‘good’ food is. Here are the answers I would need to address that question:
1. Does the company employ a veterinary nutritionist? If they simply use consultants as needed, I question their dedication to keeping up with new knowledge in animal nutrition.
2. Has the company a decent track record or are they only a few years old?
3. Do the ads or company representatives make absurd claims, unsubstantiated by clinical trials?
4. Does the company provide clear contact information on the bag or can so that you can easily call them if there is a potential problem?
5. Does the company add to our knowledge of nutrition by conducting ethical research in veterinary nutrition?
6. Is this food appropriate to my pet’s flavor preferences, life stage, lifestyle and environment?
7. Can I provide this food consistently (i.e. am I grossed out by the odor, or is the product consistently available, or is it too much trouble to open cans, etc)?
If the company adheres to all of the rules above and it’s a food that is appropriate for your pet and you, it’s probably a good food!
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About our AJCpets Expert: Susan G. Wynn