The Conscious Nutrition Era, or With Science Era, Now in Dogs and Cats

A brief scientific point of view about veterinarian nutrition in dogs and cats

Science can be the evil in many stories. However, it allowed us to enjoy long years of joy and company close to our dogs and cats.

The furry friend era requires a real and ethical commitment from science to provide all the support and great knowledge to their needs. Do not we hope they live a longer, quality, and plenty life?

Ranges of knowledge are deeper and deeper, necessary, and useful. But we still have a huge unexplored field since there are no possibilities for organ transplantation, diagnosis, and treatment of many diseases.

In my personal and professional experience, I was lucky to explore a field in constant growth: dog and cat nutrition, or the conscious nutrition era as I call it. Even so, it is not free from myths and false truths that pet owners have on hand. We should recognize that this field is still taking shape, so it is necessary to provide information and experiences based on scientific evidence, and that is the goal for those who want to give a 'nice meal' to each animal.

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Science has helped to understand the functioning of the metabolism, diseases and treatments, and animal behavior. It also allowed us to know the relationship and genetic changes between dogs and wolfs, and domestic and wild cats. We cannot deny what we introduced, so our effort is mandatory to fulfill their needs. Dogs and cats, carnivorous animals that have adapted their digestive system to other nutritional sources, still present a big challenge to find an ideal food diet, even more so when they present health problems.

Understanding digestive physiology is a nice beginning to see which nutrients adapt the most to that functioning. We must not forget that animals are a whole; it is important to consider the changes and behavioral modifications since they influence them when indicating a diet or eating habits.

In Argentina, at least 40-60% of the canine and feline population live with obesity, a pathology that has no positive effects on pets' health. Obesity treatment requires understanding the following concepts: nutritional requirements, nutrients, genetic contributions, eating habits, digestive disorders or similar, as well as behavioral habits, such as gluttony and sedentary lifestyle, among others. Only science could provide this information.

On the other hand, in the last issue, we talked about the importance of the three Rs principle, ethics, and animal well-being, associated with research. Nowadays, we focus on results and the impact of science in veterinary medicine and the environment; we hope that it continues growing to provide powerful tools when saving or improving pets' lives and the planet at the same time.

Here are some scientific clippings with information about each species to consider:

1. Science revealed that cats found the perfect evolution scale. 'They have fixed this in a good way that they simply vary in size. That is why they are perfect in evolution. They do not need variations'.
    
2. Curiosities about dogs: they can understand up to 250 words; they are sensitive to sounds because they hear four times as much as humans; their sweat glands are in their paws, and their fingerprints are in the nose.
    
3. Science confirmed that their companion boosts people's mood and health.

Science advances and provides information and useful data that allow us to improve their life, or that is why I use science.

By: Candela M. Bonaura

Source: All Pet Food Magazine