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Pet Care
Waltham
www.waltham.com provide expert advice on
pet care and nutrition to pet owners, veterinarians, bredders and researchers.
We have chosen a quote from the site that discusses the nutritional
requirements of dogs.
"More recently, interest has focused on the concept of "functional foods" and
"positive nutrition" in which certain foods or food components, when consumed
as part of a normal balanced diet, may confer physiological benefits beyond
simply the provision of nutrients in adequate amounts. Such foods therefore
have the potential to enhance the health of individual animals through a
variety of mechanisms that may help to reduce the risk of development of
disease.
Every year, WALTHAM continues to invest millions of pounds in research aimed at
improving the health and longevity of companion animals. Recent research has
led to the development of dietary products that embrace the concept of positive
nutrition. These diets are designed to support the body's natural defence
mechanisms that help to maintain the individual's resistance to disease. This
is achieved through the careful selection of ingredients that support physical
barriers to disease (such as the skin and gastrointestinal tract) promote oral
health enhance antioxidant levels in the body, which can help to combat the
oxidative stress that may be involved in the pathogenesis of a number of
disease processes.
The nutritional requirements of a dog vary throughout its life and are governed
by factors such as age, reproductive status, level of activity, state of health
and environmental conditions. In meeting the particular needs of an individual
animal, the owner must provide the required amount and correct balance of
energy and essential nutrients in a quantity of food (or combination of foods)
that the animal will actually consume. Since animals eat to satisfy their
requirement for energy, all essential nutrients must be present in the correct
amounts relative to the energy content of the diet.
General recommendations may be given for feeding dogs at various lifestages,
but these are usually aimed at the average healthy dog that is kept indoors in
a temperate environment. These recommendations, which are reflected by the
feeding guides found on the packaging of commercially available pet foods, are
intended only as a guidance to obtain an approximate estimate of a pet's needs.
By observation of the animal, the owner can then decide whether to feed more or
less and, by substitution of one food for another, will arrive at a suitable
regimen."
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