Ask the Veterinary Nutritionist (DVM + PhD)

Welcome to the ask the nutritionist section. Please use the filters below to search our database of Q and A's or submit a question.

Submit Question

hi, one of my rescue pugs has diabetes, on 6 units of insulin per day, and is on RC diabetic diet. he now is being operated on for urinary stones. this would now be a conflict in diets, one being for diabetes, one for crystals such as the RC SO. is there some kind of combination diet made or is one diet to be used over the other and maybe special supplements to be given to offset the conflict? thanks, toni
It depends on the composition of the stones removed. They should be cultured and analyzed before deciding on the diet and options.

Our dog Gus was diagnosed first with hypothyroidism, and is currently on Levothyroxine 0.3 mg. Gus was also diagnosed with hypocalcimia and further testing to determine treatment options is in progress. Meanwhile, I am trying to make sure treats do not contain calcium. Dog food labels do not seem to include information about calcium. He has been given Eukanuba and Beneful combination at meals (twice daily). Am I to assume the dog foods do not contain calcium if it is not showing on the label? Thanks for your help.
No .... every dog food product claiming to be complete and balanced contains calcium.

Hi. My 11.5yo Golden Retriever was just diagnosed with beginning stages of liver failure. She was put on 10mg of Enalapril, 18mg of a baby aspirin (shes 77lbs) and an Omega-3 capsule daily. My vet is also recommending a low protein diet and recommended Hills Science Prescription k/d. I have also been reading about other low protein diets like Royal Canin Renal Health. Do you recommend any specific foods over another? She is perfectly healthy otherwise and has no other signs of kidney issues (incontinence, thirst, edema etc).
Thanks for you help
There is no real difference in the canine renal diets in terms of nutrient profile (k/d, NF, MP) but there is a difference in ingredients used and so probably taste.
Most Ret will eat most anything, so I would not think taste differences would matter in your case at this point in the disease process. I would start with the renal diet most convenient for you to get ...

Hi...my husband and i have a labradoodle and he is 1 year and 1 month old. We initially had him on raw food diet and then switched to half raw/half kibble. How long would it take to ween him off the raw and get him on 100% kibble diet? thank you, Michele
It really depends on the ingredients used in the raw diet vs. the new kibble.
If there were no carbohydrates in the raw diet but there are present in the new kibble product, I would suggest changing the diet 25% once per week.

week 1 25% new food + 75% old food
week 2 50% / 50%
week 3 75% / 25%

I have a 8 year old Dachshund and he is allergic to several types of grasses,weeds, trees,molds, dust mites, flies, and wool. He is beginning allergy shots. He takes 2 Benedryl and 2 levothyroxine 0.3mg.a day.I feed him a diet of chicken. brown rice or barley and carrots. I will switch up the protein to lean pork or 93/7 lean hamburger with brown rice and carrots. is he getting all the nutrition he needs? Do you have suggestions for a healthy diet I can prepare at home? Thanks Debbie
Sorry no it does not appear that your homemade diet is nutritionally complete or balanced. We are most willing to formulate a HM diet for your pet. You may begin the consultation process yourself online at any time. If necessary, we can send you forms to complete and return to us instead. I will need more information about your particular pet, dietary history and current medical data to make specific suggestions. Diets for pets with a medical condition are done individually. We most often can incorporate current dietary recommendations and principles into one diet and complete that request within 10 business days of receiving all the necessary information.

We can, on paper, balance most any reasonable dietary request. The HM diet instructions are quite detailed yet give options and allow for substitutions if appropriate for the medical problem(s). Unique dietary requests for individual patients are what we do best. The HM formulations usually involve a cooked meat, cooked grain, +/- vegetables and a single, readily available specifically designed vitamin/mineral supplement. We give the daily food amounts in both grams and common kitchen measures for each patient.

Please go to the www.petdiets.com web site, click on the "Nutrition Consultation” - “for owners” (#2 top right hand box on the home page) and complete the information. We work as a specialty consultant to your veterinarian. Your primary care veterinarian is a vital partner in the care of your pet and must provide us with the most recent or relevant medical records (fax 800-649-2043, post or email petdiets@att.net).

We can in addition set up a phone consult time ($200/hr) after I have your completed request and a copy of the medical record so that I will be better informed on the case.

We will send our written letter of recommendations to your veterinarian via fax. You will be asked to provide this contact information. Our charge for a personalized Nutritional Consultation is $250 for your first pet, but then discounted ($100) for second pet or discounted further ($50) for the third pet in the same household IF different diet formulations are required. Most times, we can design a diet that accommodates more than one dog or cat in the household if needed.

This fee covers review of medical information, product research, and a diet formulation. It also covers all questions you may have about our diet recommendations. Please understand there is an additional charge of $100 to reformulate another diet if you should later request a major change in ingredients, foods or supplements that were not previously specified or if the pet should develop another medical condition.

Adding supplements to homemade diets for dogs or cats can be cumbersome and difficult to do properly. We primarily and most often suggest an all-in-one supplement designed specifically for dogs or cats fed a homemade diet. This line of supplements is called BalanceIT®. However, other supplement options are possible if appropriate. Our guarantee is that our dietary recommendations will be nutritionally complete and balanced for your pet’s medical condition.

Let me know if you have trouble ordering the consult online.
Thank you for your interest,

my one year old llewellin setter is so fussy and is not eating enough. I feed her a high quality kibble and supplement with various meats and offal and egg,.and vegetables today I gave her goats milk, a little in her food and she ate it today.
she is energetic but I am worried that she is not eating enough. should I give her brown rice. she is on a grain free kibble because she had allergies.
Appetite is not a good measure - the best measure is body weight and body condition. What does your vet think about her BW and BCS?

I have a 4month old french bulldog, Lincoln. We live in Los Angeles and every pet store RAVES about raw diet. When i first got him the breeder had him on a raw diet at 9weeks old! i don't like this, but also was concerned with commercial brand wet food/kibble. I opted to make his food at home. He gets raw veggies and either chicken or lean beef, lentils and quioa and warm water all added to the food processor to make an easy to eat mush. i avg about two cups (considering the water) twice a day. He's energetic and happy, but i can see his ribs.
I wonder if he's getting what he needs for proper French Bulldog puppy growth!
he's also started having bad breath and a little vomiting (to which he immediately swallows again and is fine)
Stools look ok, he's going often but suddenly not very much he's been treated for giardia (unless he got it AGAIN!) i also considered that fact that he got a deer shank from the pet store, a cube portion of it "broke off" it really just seemed like he ate all that connected the pieces together, nothing sharp... but he swallowed that about two weeks ago, i kinda hoped it was ok and his body would work it all out since it didn't seem to be blocking anything.
You could have the dog looked at by a local vet who could probably put your mind at ease about deer shank. I do not recommend feeding raw diets but you could do a homemade diet however I do puppies on an indivdiual basis because it involves proper growth rate.

If you are interested in a nutritionally complete and balanced hmd diet, please go back to the www.petdiets.com web site, click on the "Nutrition Consultation” - “for owners” and complete the information. We work as a specialty consultant to your veterinarian. Your primary care veterinarian is a vital partner in the care of your pet and must provide us with the most recent or relevant medical records (fax 800-649-2043, post or email petdiets@att.net).

Why does my dog eat dirt & grass? I feed her Purina One Beyond & add a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. She is about 2 yrs. old & we've had her 7 months. She was heavily infested with worms upon adoption, but now tests negative. We can't take our eyes off her when outdoors because of this problem.
Given the diet you are feeding her, it is not due to a nutritional deficiency or toxicity and may be behavioral.Some dogs eat grass and then vomit which has been associated with a gastritis.

What kind of a home cooked diet can I feed my cat? She has an over active thyroid.
We are still working on that option.

Hello, I have an 8 month old boxer bitch that has been eating Eukanuba and Iams. She does not seem to do too well on those, stools are too soft/loose, bad smell and has terrible gas. I have recently changed to a local brand and the problems are gone, she is doing great. However, I have read on the label that Calcium content is 2.1% - Is this too high? Should I change foods again?

Thank you very much for your time and expertise!
The max calcium allowed in 2.5% so yes it is high, but should not be a problem.