Top Reasons Why Your Dog’s Diet Matters
In the past, most dog owners bought a bag or tin of dog food from their neighborhood pet store, believing that anything labeled dog food was nutritious, natural, and balanced. However, studies have shown that dog diseases over the past five decades have increased by 80% due to poor diet. Making the right food decisions for your dog is crucial to ensure they get the right nutrients. Your dog’s diet impacts their health, happiness, and behavior. This article highlights the top reasons why your dog’s diet matters.
- Weight management
The diet you put your dog on is essential as it affects their weight. Feeding your dog with more fat and protein is important for it to gain desirable weight. Fat and protein are essential for puppies to grow and develop properly and enter adulthood healthily. Even though these foods sometimes cost more than typical dog food, every bite is worthwhile. Your dog can gain weight safely by eating foods high in protein and fat; you should see an increase in weight in just a few weeks. Likewise, you should try to buy or prepare healthy food for your pet if you want them to lose some extra weight. This way, they can live longer and have a higher quality of life. Consider how you might alter your dog’s diet to achieve your purpose.
- Your dog’s nutrition matters
Feeding your dog the right nutrients in the right proportions is crucial. To maintain proper body functions, animals require a specific ratio of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water daily. Pet food manufacturers nowadays work hard to identify the precise formula that goes into their products so that they supply everything your dog needs daily. In addition to providing hypoallergic nutrition, certain diets are made for specific phases, such as those for puppies or older dogs. In contrast, other formulations are made to treat certain diseases like heart disease and kidney illness.
Every nutrient in your dog’s food serves a specific function. Your dog would struggle to grow and repair muscles, maintain muscle tone, teeth, and bone, and go about daily business easily or fight off infection without them. Proteins are a source of energy and support the growth and function of muscles. Fats give the dogs energy and maintain their hair. The fast energy carbohydrates provide enables your dog to be active and energized. In addition to preventing diseases, vitamins and minerals are essential for nerve conduction and muscle contraction, so keep this in mind.
- Digestive Health
Your dog’s digestion and intestinal flora may be impacted by the food you feed them. A diversified food can put undue stress on your dog’s digestive system and result in gut issues. Their meals must be highly digestible and contain readily assimilable nutrients. Protein is a nutrient frequently obtained from animal sources like chicken and beef. You should also note that high-quality manufactured foods will contain more readily digested proteins and are less likely to cause digestive issues. A balanced diet of probiotics and fiber is crucial for promoting healthy dog gut health, so feel free to consider this. While fiber is a crucial component of their meals, it must be balanced. If your dog has digestive sensitivity, fiber can assist in regulating movement in their large intestine and improve stools. It can help your furry companion feel satisfied after meals and maintain healthy gastrointestinal function. Prebiotics, a form of fiber, can promote the growth and health of good bacteria in your dog’s digestive system.
- Health of hair coat and skin
Everyone knows a dog with a thick, lustrous hair coat is probably healthy. This is because dogs that consume the right ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids will have healthy skin, resulting in hair that has a good sheen. On the other hand, dry skin will cause hair to split, break, and fall out more frequently. You should note that Omega-3-rich foods have an anti-inflammatory impact that lessens itchiness and other irritations brought on by allergies or environmental factors such as low humidity.
- Immunity and disease prevention
Every bag of dog food contains vitamins and minerals that work together to maintain your dog’s healthy immune system and metabolic rate. Vitamins lessen the daily harm done to your dog’s body cells. The right functioning of the cells that support health is encouraged by minerals. A good diet contains vitamins and minerals from plant and animal sources. Your pet would eventually get sick without enough vitamins and minerals.
- Dental health
In contradiction to the popular assumption that kibble helps maintain good dental health, the truth is that this snack is what crackers can do to your teeth, they can only be successful in removing some of the plaque on your dog’s teeth but will be ineffective in removing the buildup on the gumline. Periodontal diseases in dogs are caused by a number of factors, including improper diet, lack of proper dental hygiene, and old age. However, the primary cause of such is an improper diet. Starches and carbs, utilized to bind components to create the kibble shape, are the main components.
Dogs’ mouth bacteria feed on these sugars and carbs because they lack the salivary enzyme amylase that breaks down starch, dogs who eat kibble have more dental problems than those who eat raw food and bones because this causes quick tartar and plaque buildup. Your pet’s immune system reacts by combatting the bacteria buildup that causes inflammation or gingivitis. Periodontal disease has begun in this case. Tartar will continue accumulating and pulling the gum line away from the teeth if left untreated. This makes crevices where more germs can grow. Your pet loses teeth due to this tissue-bone degradation caused by this.
Your dog’s diet is much more than filling their tummies, it should be able to keep them healthy. The responsibility to feed them well falls on you as their owner. Hopefully, these reasons will motivate you to stay on top of your furry friend’s nutrition.
This is a great post with helpful information!