The Whole Pet
News and Tips from Beverly Animal Natural Health Center
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We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah. We wish you all happiness and health in the New Year! This is our new crew, Jed (front) and Lily, recently adopted from Northeast Animal Shelter. Dr Ricketts has returned! She is doing well with her twins and has been keeping in touch with the clinic updates and patients. She will be back this month once weekly then back to her regular schedule of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays come January. Thank you for your patience over the last three months as we have tried to accommodate everyone! |  |
I hope to have information about nutrition with each newsletter to help make the most out of your pet’s diet. Here is this month’s advice:
What should I eat?
We ask pet owners what they feed their pet with every examination. Why? The reason is because it is so important to the health of the patient. The old saying “you are what you eat” still holds true. We are fortunate in many ways for all the choices that we have in regards to availability and selection of food and food sources. Too many choices and the marketing of food can really make this a challenge for many. Fresh, local whole foods are definitely the best choices for nutritional value. With pet foods, what does this mean?
For economic reasons, most commercially available foods are mass produced in USA or other countries then placed on the local store shelf. Many ingredients come from many sources, potentially from all over the world. In regards to whole foods, what that means is the ingredients are whole foods such a chicken, cranberries, barley vs. meat by product, animal digest, vegetable flavoring. The less the food has been altered, the better it should be in regards to nutritional value. Avoid by-products and chemicals. Adding fruits and vegetables to your pets diet for their rich anti-oxidant benefits is great! Just remember no grapes, raisins or onions.
Stay tuned for more nutrition tips and come talk about nutrition and your pet at your next appointment.
I recently attended the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine “Timely Topics In Internal Medicine”. The topics were about Feline Liver Disease, Antibiotic use and Misuse as well as updates on Canine Cushing’s disease. These CE lectures as well as our monthly Veterinary Associate Of the North Shore lectures help us be up to date on disease research as well as new treatment therapies for our patients.