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“What’s for dinner?”

Breakfast lunch or dinner the question is a common one dealt with in daily human life. Choosing a restaurant we ask what type of cuisine are we in the mood for, and then there is the menu where the meal choice gets specific. When going to the grocery store, with or without a list, there are meats, cheeses, vegetables, fruits, canned, frozen and fresh food choices. Some people don’t eat meat or dairy products, some people just eat meat, or mostly. For some people the choice to eat vegetarian meals loaded with kale and spinach for example is a preference while for other people there may be a very necessary medical reason for a specific diet.

Now, as a veterinarian and the writer of this post I need to set aside my own hunger cravings, stay out of the refrigerator for a bit longer and ask this question again…

“What is your pet eating today?”

The diet nutrition conversation with clients – the pet owners will either begin with me asking some version of this question or the client asking me: “Dr Weiner what do you recommend I feed my ‘dog/cat’ ?“ My usual reply being — “Great question…let’s talk about it —tell me first what are you feeding your ‘cat/dog’ now?” “Do you have more than one pet? What is the age difference in your pets? Do you feed continuous or do you meal feed? Who is primarily responsible for feeding your pet or pets? What does your pet like to eat? Canned or dry food? Where do you usually get your pet foods?”

Then there is the medical history of the dog or cat to consider: Is pet a cat or a dog? What is the age—a puppy/kitten, active or sedentary adult, or an aging senior pet? Does the cat go outside and hunt or just lounge around inside? Medical issues also factor in diabetes, heart health, body weight, kidney health and arthritis all impacting the question ‘what should I feed my pet?’

And my answer is?

It depends.

It depends on the needs of the individual pet, the individual dog, the individual cat.

Enough for now I’m getting hungry and haven’t had my morning coffee yet, I promise we will this topic soon here on The HomePageNetwork. So be on the look for more Creature Care posts where we will explore “The nutritional needs of our pets”.