Q: How do I transition my dog or cat to a new food?

A: Most pets require 7-10 days to adjust to a new food because their intestinal tracts contain unique bacteria and enzymes that need to adapt to the proper digestion of a new food. It is recommended that dogs and cats eat a combination of dry and canned food every day. Their bodies are made of 75% water and they rarely drink enough water to support excellent hydration and organ function. I recommend that 25 to 50% of their daily calories come from canned food. You can feed it all at one time during the day or break it up into 2 meals…whatever is easiest for you.

Follow these guidelines for either dry, canned or preferably a combination of Halo food*:

Click here to read complete article.

Q: Is Halo Puppy food ok for large breed dogs? I was told to get puppy food catered for large breeds and to try to stick to a fish diet for the coat.

A: Halo puppy food is perfect for large breed dogs. Work with your veterinarian to determine the amount of calories your dog should eat each day to avoid excessive growth spurts–which can be detrimental to bone development in very large breed dogs. It is not necessary to stick to just a fish-based diet for the health of your dogs coat. A high quality natural diet that contains no artificial colors, preservatives or additives and includes beneficial additives such as omega fatty acids will keep your pets coat healthy for years! You should also include an essential fatty acid supplement (like Halo, Dream Coat) to achieve optimal coat and skin health.

Hope that helps.
Dr. Donna Spector

Q: My dog is obsessed with sniffing other dogs. Its become such a problem that we have a hard time taking him to the dog park or beaches, which he loves. How can I break him of this behavior? Thanks!

A: Often what starts as friendly sniffing can turn obsessive when a dog owner has a strong negative reaction. Many dogs start this behavior as an “attention-getter”. Although the attention they get from their owner is negative, it is attention none the less. As hard as it is, the best tool here is to ignore the behavior and the dog often starts performing the behavior less frequently as it is not getting the desired affect from you. Tough it out…if you get angry with him and reprimand him…the vicious cycle will start all over again. Also take a large assortment of play items with you to the parks and beaches–distract his attention from other dogs if the behavior starts up.

Good luck.
Dr. Donna Spector

Q: Interesting article on digestive health! I have a Snowshoe Siamese X (10yrs) that just went through major abdominal surgery. Turned out she had gallstones which blocked her bile duct. She also had a pretty good bacterial infection that got into her liver. Her final diagnosis was Bacterial Cholangiohepatitis, including Actinomyces and Obstructive Cholelithiasis. She’s home now and on numerous meds including two different antibiotics. One is long term (8 months) and the other is for two months. What I can gather from the digestive health article is that the pre and probiotics would be a good addition for her. She is currently being tube fed 4 x daily with a Prescription gastro diet and supplemented with Halo Sensitive formula-Seafood Medley. I have just picked this up trying to encourage her to eat on her own. The more she eats on her the less tube feedings I need to do. She seems to be really enjoying the food. Is there any other supplements I could give to augment what she is getting in the food?
Thank you
Terri

A: Hi Terri, Thanks for sharing the story of your Snowshoe Siamese X. I am glad to hear she is recovering well from her extensive surgery and infection. The bacterial cholangiohepatitis often occurs due to movement of bacteria out of the intestine and into the liver. As such, I agree that a source of pre- and pro-biotics would be a good long term choice for her to keep a healthy balance of good intestinal bacteria. Halo cat foods contain the pre and probiotics only in the dry food–you will need to ask your veterinarian if it is okay that she eat dry food at this time. If not, you can supplement these additives in a paste form that your veterinarian can recommend. The other supplements I would recommend for a cat with this type of liver problem are ursodiol and SAMe–these nutraceuticals help make bile less toxic and improve overall function of the liver with anti-oxidant support. If she is not on these supplements, ask your veterinarian to consider adding them to her regimen. Hope this helps.

Good Luck and keep us posted on her progress.
Dr. Donna Spector

Q: I have a miniature Dachshund that has several issues:

1. He is overweight and I am hoping to help him lose weight. He is on a “weight control” dry food now and has been for some time. I actually feed him less than the recommended amount for him to lose weight and he hasn’t lost an ounce. Please advise.

2. This summer he has really had issues with his skin breaking out in hot spots in the “armpit” and groin regions. What could be causing this?

3. Even though he is short-haired, he sheds terribly bad. I use an oil supplement now but he still sheds excessively. Why?

Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing your suggestions on what items Halo has that may help with these issues.

A: Thanks for your questions!

1. I am so happy to hear you are making a plan to get the excess weight off your dog. The health risks of obesity are real and he will feel so much better at a more trim weight! Although you are “feeding less than the recommended amount for him to lose weight”, he needs a weight loss plan specifically tailored to him:

• The first thing you must do is determine his IDEAL body weight. Your veterinarian can help you with this determination if you aren’t sure. Be warned, most people over-estimate how much their pet should weigh…you may be surprised by the number of pounds he needs to lose. In general (breed standard) Dachshunds should weigh less than 16 pounds. Remember, there are also medical conditions that can contribute to obesity (such as hypothyroidism and Cushings Disease–both very common in this breed) and your pet should be fully evaluated before beginning a weight loss program.

• Once the ideal weight has been established, the best weight loss plan is one that provides approximately 75%-80% of the calories your pet would require at that ideal weight. For example, if your dog should weigh 15 pounds (6.82kg), his daily needs to lose that weight are approximately 275 calories (although it can range from 205 to 300 calories depending on his metabolism).

• In general, he should lose about 1 to 2% of his body weight each week. You should weigh him at least every two weeks for adequate monitoring. If he is losing too quickly or not quickly enough, the daily calories must be adjusted. When the goal weight is achieved, a new plan for food intake must be made with your vet.

2. The skin condition you are describing sounds like pyoderma–a skin infection which commonly occurs in the skin fold areas. Obesity definitely contributes to this problem. The skin folds are warm and moist environments ideal for bacterial growth. Once the actual infection is taken care of your veterinarian may be able to recommend some basic maintenance tips for keeping the skin folds clean and dry as possible. There are some baby wipes or medicated wipes which can prevent the terrible breakouts.

3. As far as the shedding, make sure the oil supplement you are using is “broad-spectrum”. Don’t just include fish oils…there are many essential oils that have been proven to be beneficial for hair and skin health. Halo Dream Coat is a blend of 6 virgin oils which provides multiple essential oils (including fish oils). Again, the Dachshund breed is also very prone to endocrine problems which manifest themselves as shedding/hair loss, obesity, etc. These include hypothyroidism, Cushings disease and others. Given your dogs issues with the skin and obesity, make sure you get a vet visit to ensure he is not dealing with something like that.

Hope this helps.
Dr. Donna J. Spector

Q: My little munchkin, Mister Kitty, was just diagnosed with Diabetes. He is 14, and overweight. I have recently been enlightened about what pets are eating in most commercial foods, and had started to slowly shift their diet. (I have two cats). They started looking better—improved coat, muscle tone, energy and all.

Two weeks ago, Mister started drinking more water and urinating more. By the time I got him to the vet, (a week later, my vet said to wait because it could have been the heat), he had already lost one pound (17lbs to 16 lbs–he’s also large framed). She thought he looked so good physically that he could just really be drinking too much water because of the heat. But we did a full physical and bloodwork, and he was positive for diabetes. She prescribed injections of Lantus (glargine insulin) twice a day.

My vet is really busy, (but seems knowledgable), so hasn’t really talked to me much about the situation. Her assistant told me to not feed him your brand because of the carrots, peas and sweet potatoes in it. However, he is already looking so much better and losing weight, my hunches tell to stick to your program and get his weight down but I don’t want to do anything wrong and hurt him.

Is Halo okay for him? Is it okay to give him dry food throughout the day? The vet told me to leave just a little hard food down for him to graze on.

Sorry for being long-winded, but my vet just hasn’t had time to answer any of my questions. She is good, I like her, she’s just busy at this time of the year. Thank you very very much for your help, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

A: Thank you for your questions about Diabetes in cats. Hopefully Mister Kitty gets on the road to recovery with Halo right away!

Cats are very similar to people in that Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease. This means that they are still able to secrete insulin but their body is just not responding the way it should. The most common reasons for this “insulin resistance” are: obesity, inactivity, other diseases (such as bladder infections, pancreatitis, etc), medication usage (such as steroids) and DRY FOOD DIETS. Cats are carnivores and really should be eating a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Most dry food diets are moderately to very high in carbohydrates and it is felt that the long term feeding of these foods often lead to problems with obesity and the development of diabetes.

All recent diabetic research in cats indicates that the very best thing you can do for Mister Kitty is put him on a COMPLETELY CANNED FOOD diet. This canned food should be high in protein and low in carbohydrates—the Halo canned Chicken and Salmon varieties are best. The carbohydrates it does have should come from fiber-rich vegetables and not things like corn and white rice. The fiber-rich vegetables are complex carbohydrates and do not immediately turn into sugar. Dry food should not be left down for him to graze on–this counteracts the beneficial things you are trying to do. NO DRY FOOD!

The remission rate is very high for cats once they switch to all canned food–the majority of cats will revert back to being “non-diabetic” in the first 4 months after this switch…and many of them do it in just a few weeks. It is critical that you watch his blood sugar carefully during this time to avoid episodes of hypoglycemia (which can be fatal if undetected) from too much insulin. The best way to monitor this is with at-home blood sugar checks. Ask your veterinarian how to do this. Don’t be surprised if his requirements for lantus (glargine) insulin start decreasing right away.

I know your veterinarian is busy, but you have every right to her time as any other client. Your cat has a serious condition and one that can be REVERSED if managed appropriately. Be an advocate for him to get the best care possible.

Hope this information helps. You can also see my article Feline Diabetes: A New Look at an Old Disease

Good Luck
Dr. Donna J. Spector