Lewis
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Readers Ask: Give a Dog a Bone?
<address class="byline author vcard">By THE NEW YORK TIMES</address>
Are bones good or bad for dogs? Is it important to vary what your cat or dog eats? Do foods cause those fatty lumps that appear on the sides of our pets?
C. A. Tony Buffington, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Readers of the Well blog had lots of questions about pet health and nutrition in response to the recent Business Day article “‘For the Dogs’ Has a Whole New Meaning.†We asked Dr. Tony Buffington, professor of veterinary nutrition at Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center, to respond to reader questions.
Q.
I was told never to give dogs real bones. Then I was told not to give them cooked bones. But when I gave my dogs rawhide bones, they choked on them and got sick. - Elephant lover, New Mexico
A.
This is a tricky subject, because while many dogs handle uncooked bones just fine, some don’t, and I don’t know of any way to predict this beforehand. Cooked bones are not recommended because they are generally more brittle and can break into sharp pieces that can damage the intestinal tract.
I’m sorry that rawhide bones caused problems for your dogs. I recommend to clients that they offer such things to their pets only under direct supervision, at least at first, to try to avoid such outcomes, but there are no “sure things.â€
Q.
It has always been my understanding that cats and dogs neither need nor desire variation in their food, and that doing so can cause intestinal problems. Can you respond? - Clyde Wynant, Pittsburgh
A.
There is a big difference between “need†and “desire,†both among animals and among owners for their animals. Animals technically “need†nutrients rather than food. What they desire is quite individual, probably based on a variety of factors like genetics, early experience and environment. One concern related to feeding the same diet over long periods of time is the potential risk for adverse effects of subtle nutrient deficiencies that would not be observed in animals that received some variety. Although uncommon, this has occurred in pets in the past.
Although it is true that abrupt changes in diet can cause generally transient intestinal problems for pets (just as they can for humans and other species), it has been my experience with healthy animals that this is not common, particularly when the diet is introduced as a choice — that is, at feeding time in a separate container.
Q.
I am feeding Orijin and Arcana, both from Canada, because the protein percentage is high, and meat, not meal, is the first ingredient. Now my supplier is pushing me toward other “high quality brands†because her cost has gone up. I think she just has an opportunity to make a better profit off the other foods, but there is no place to get a truly objective comparison. Can you shed any light on this? Am I being fanatic in my support of this one dog food that has given me such a great result? Is there a trustworthy comparison tool? - Chatoyant, Orlando
A.
I can’t comment on your supplier’s motivations, and I think it is fine to support products that give you the results you want based on your experience with them. But there’s also no reason to presume that you couldn’t achieve equivalent results, in terms of the health and happiness of your pet, with many other foods of differing composition. With regard to a trustworthy comparison tool, I’m not aware of one that provides unbiased comparisons of outcomes in animals fed different diets.
Q.
My Belgian has lots of fatty tumors. My Aussie did too. What causes these? My vet said nothing to worry about, but why don’t all animals get these? I had a chow that lived to be 16, and she was fed the exact same diet. Could I be feeding something to prevent this? - Donna, Mineral Wells, W.Va.
A.
Based on your description, I imagine that these tumors are called lipomas, the cause of which is not completely known. That not all animals get lipomas suggests differences in vulnerability, which could be for many reasons, including genetics and environment. As far as I am aware, no diet has ever been associated with an increased risk for lipomas, although an association between lipomas and obesity in dogs has been suggested.
Pets should be fed whatever amount of food is necessary to maintain them in a moderate body condition score. (Click on the link for a body condition score chart.) Because the amount of food to sustain this outcome varies so much — from 30 to 50 percent — among individual animals, pet food label recommendations are population-based estimates that should only be used as a starting point. Depending on your pet’s needs, adjust the amount up or down to avoid weight loss or gain, respectively.
<address class="byline author vcard">By THE NEW YORK TIMES</address>
Are bones good or bad for dogs? Is it important to vary what your cat or dog eats? Do foods cause those fatty lumps that appear on the sides of our pets?
Readers of the Well blog had lots of questions about pet health and nutrition in response to the recent Business Day article “‘For the Dogs’ Has a Whole New Meaning.†We asked Dr. Tony Buffington, professor of veterinary nutrition at Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center, to respond to reader questions.
Q.
I was told never to give dogs real bones. Then I was told not to give them cooked bones. But when I gave my dogs rawhide bones, they choked on them and got sick. - Elephant lover, New Mexico
A.
This is a tricky subject, because while many dogs handle uncooked bones just fine, some don’t, and I don’t know of any way to predict this beforehand. Cooked bones are not recommended because they are generally more brittle and can break into sharp pieces that can damage the intestinal tract.
I’m sorry that rawhide bones caused problems for your dogs. I recommend to clients that they offer such things to their pets only under direct supervision, at least at first, to try to avoid such outcomes, but there are no “sure things.â€
Q.
It has always been my understanding that cats and dogs neither need nor desire variation in their food, and that doing so can cause intestinal problems. Can you respond? - Clyde Wynant, Pittsburgh
A.
There is a big difference between “need†and “desire,†both among animals and among owners for their animals. Animals technically “need†nutrients rather than food. What they desire is quite individual, probably based on a variety of factors like genetics, early experience and environment. One concern related to feeding the same diet over long periods of time is the potential risk for adverse effects of subtle nutrient deficiencies that would not be observed in animals that received some variety. Although uncommon, this has occurred in pets in the past.
Although it is true that abrupt changes in diet can cause generally transient intestinal problems for pets (just as they can for humans and other species), it has been my experience with healthy animals that this is not common, particularly when the diet is introduced as a choice — that is, at feeding time in a separate container.
Q.
I am feeding Orijin and Arcana, both from Canada, because the protein percentage is high, and meat, not meal, is the first ingredient. Now my supplier is pushing me toward other “high quality brands†because her cost has gone up. I think she just has an opportunity to make a better profit off the other foods, but there is no place to get a truly objective comparison. Can you shed any light on this? Am I being fanatic in my support of this one dog food that has given me such a great result? Is there a trustworthy comparison tool? - Chatoyant, Orlando
A.
I can’t comment on your supplier’s motivations, and I think it is fine to support products that give you the results you want based on your experience with them. But there’s also no reason to presume that you couldn’t achieve equivalent results, in terms of the health and happiness of your pet, with many other foods of differing composition. With regard to a trustworthy comparison tool, I’m not aware of one that provides unbiased comparisons of outcomes in animals fed different diets.
Q.
My Belgian has lots of fatty tumors. My Aussie did too. What causes these? My vet said nothing to worry about, but why don’t all animals get these? I had a chow that lived to be 16, and she was fed the exact same diet. Could I be feeding something to prevent this? - Donna, Mineral Wells, W.Va.
A.
Based on your description, I imagine that these tumors are called lipomas, the cause of which is not completely known. That not all animals get lipomas suggests differences in vulnerability, which could be for many reasons, including genetics and environment. As far as I am aware, no diet has ever been associated with an increased risk for lipomas, although an association between lipomas and obesity in dogs has been suggested.
Pets should be fed whatever amount of food is necessary to maintain them in a moderate body condition score. (Click on the link for a body condition score chart.) Because the amount of food to sustain this outcome varies so much — from 30 to 50 percent — among individual animals, pet food label recommendations are population-based estimates that should only be used as a starting point. Depending on your pet’s needs, adjust the amount up or down to avoid weight loss or gain, respectively.
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