At Ajo Veterinary Clinic we are very excited about the nutritional counseling we have to offer our Tucson clients. With so many foods now on the market it is very difficult for even the most conscientious owner to know what to choose. One of the most common problems we see is obesity in pets. Have you ever tried to find the calorie content on a grocery store or pet shop food? It is probably not there, and who knows exactly what the categories of foods that manufacturers put on their labels; senior, less active, mature or indoor, means in terms of calories consumed by the animal. Some of those foods are actually higher in calorie density than the regular foods.
We have access to the caloric analysis of many of the foods and can help you with recommendations for your individual pet based on lifestyle, breed, and age. Best of all in many cases you do not have to change foods.
Our weight control program includes help in personalized diet planning for your pet, you can come in and we will help you weight them regularly, if you can’t do it at home.
We understand that most people who feed table food to their animal do so as an act of love, to share something special with their pet, and usually that is the member of the family who shows the most appreciation. Also people feed “left-overs” rather than waste food. These are hard habits to break, but for the pet’s health they need to change. We have a selection of low calorie treats available and lots of encouragement.
The rewards are a pet that is able to be more active, and less affected by arthritic joint disease as he or she ages. In cats, over weight leads to fatty liver disease, which can cause death when some other problem initiates degeneration and jaundice. Diabetes is also much more common in over weight cats.
Ajo Veterinary Clinic also carries prescription diets for dogs and cats. Among the diseases addressed with these foods are kidney diseases, bladder stones, heart disease, hyperthyroid disease in cats, and food allergy problems in both cats and dogs.