New at-home saliva pet food allergy test for dogs released

A new type of test has recently hit the market allowing pet owners to test for their dogs' pet food allergies with just a saliva sample, according to a report.
Although testing for other potential non-food-related allergens must still be done by a veterinarian, Nutriscan has developed a saliva test that can identify 20 of the most common food allergies in dogs.
Dog allergy testing has usually been conducted by a veterinarian taking skin samples of the dog and prescribing a pet food diet free of those ingredients that could be potentially causing the allergies. But with Nutriscan's test, pet owners collect the saliva sample from their dog and return it back to the company to receive results about two weeks later. The test means pet owners no longer have to put their pet on a special prescription diet as a trial and can test for all potential food allergies at one time. 

Hill's Pet Nutrition launches Prescription Diet GI dog food formula

Hill’s Pet Nutrition launched a new Prescription Diet i/d Low Fat GI Restore Canine formula petfood to support the care of dogs with challenging gastrointestinal conditions like pancreatitis, hyperlipidemia and protein-losing enteropathy. 
This new  dog food is designed for long-term feeding of adult dogs and provides veterinary health care teams with another option to recommend for dogs with a variety of gastrointestinal conditions. Hill's says the Prescription Diet i/d Low Fat formula contains omega-3 fatty acids to help break the cycle of inflammation, prebiotic fiber to restore the intestinal microbiota, and ginger to calm and soothe the GI tract. Prescription Diet i/d Low Fat pet food is also clinically proven to decrease fasting serum triglycerides, reducing a risk factor of pancreatitis in dogs, Hill's says. The new food is available in both canned and dry forms.
“Low-fat pet foods can play a crucial role in the management of dogs with hypertriglyceridemia and secondary GI disease or in dogs with primary GI disease, but without hypertriglyceridemia,” says Jörg M. Steiner, Ph.D. “Also, since these conditions can be complex, canine patients may also benefit from prebiotics, probiotics, antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive agents.”

High-quality pet food may save owners from paying high vet bills in the future

Pet food expert Sarah Linehan, of The Pet Experience, discussed the importance of providing quality pet food diet and how it can help maintain a pet’s health in a recent article.
She says that although there are many different pet supplies that pet owners need to purchase, a high-quality pet food is the most important.
While a high-quality pet food may cost consumers more up-front, she says, it will save money in the long run because it contains more nutritional ingredients and may prevent owners from having to pay higher vet bills as their pet gets older.
"Although the bag may cost more, usually the high quality brands work out cheaper in the long term as the feeding quantities are much lower, so the bag will last a lot longer than the cheap bag from the local supermarket," Linehan says.

Therapeutic pet food diets aid in managing pet health condititions

New research has led pet food manufacturers to develop therapeutic diets that are created specifically to manage many different medical conditions, such as pet obesity or allergies, says a recent article from veterinarypracticenews.com. 
Typically discussed when a pet's lifestage changes, from puppy to adult to senior, or when the pet develops a specific medical condition, veterinarians say pet nutrition is now being more regularly incorporated into check-up visits as nutrition becomes increasingly important as a form of preventative pet care.
“There are a lot of important factors in keeping a pet healthy, and many are interdependent,” says Richard Hill, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, professor of small animal internal medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “Nutrition is very important in this respect, as it affects other aspects of overall health. For example, vaccinations are important to help prevent certain infectious diseases in pets. In order for vaccinations to be most effective, the pet needs to have a healthy immune system. Certain nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein and taurine act as antioxidants and help reduce damage to the cells of the immune system, improving function. Thus, nutrition plays a role in disease prevention.”
Veterinarians say that although therapeutic diets can be misused if fed to a healthy pet, they can be effectively used as a non-pharmacological means to managing specific diseases or conditions in pets.
“Some therapeutic diets have a nutritional profile that would not be ideal for a healthy pet, but since they are only used under the supervision of veterinarian, misuse is not common, in my opinion,” Dr. Brent Mayabb, manager of education and development at Royal Canin, says. “As far as being overused, I think it’s the opposite. While vets are good about recommending diets, pet owners don’t always understand the benefits and as a result, don’t take the recommendation. Sometimes they take the recommendation initially, but don’t continue on the food, causing a compliance issue.”
In addition, these therapeutic petfoods typically cost more than grocery store maintenance diets because of the extensive research behind them, which can also deter pet owners from following a vet's recommendation.
Therapeutic pet food diets can prove very beneficial in managing a condition such as pet obesity, but owners must recognize the health risks associated with their pet's obesity to stick with the new therapeutic petfood regimen.
“The incidence of obesity in pets is high in the US,” Mayabb says. “I’m not sure owners always recognize the health concerns associated with obesity. The incidence and severity of many conditions–joint disease and diabetes, as examples–increase with obesity. But I believe some owners only view obesity as a cosmetic issue, instead of the serious health issue it is.”

Study finds decline in vet visits among pet owners in recession

A survey of 1,200 dog and cat owners by the Pert Group and Brakke Consulting found veterinarians continue to be key in influencing pet product purchases and are the primary retail channel for items like medications and prescription pet food diets, yet pet owners are visiting the veterinarian less thanks to the recession.
The survey, conducted in November 2011, found that 77 percent of respondents reported taking their pet to the veterinarian, down 20 percent from 88 percent in 2007, the first year the survey was conducted.
“Dogs and cats are feeling the bite of the recession as pet owners put a leash on pet care expenses,” said Susan Spaulding, executive vice president and principal at the Pert Group. “The recession has not only decreased what consumers spend on their own health, but what they spend at the veterinarian.”
Spending by cat owners who had not taken their pet to the veterinarian within the last year was also down, with these cat owners saying they spent 28 percent less on heartworm prevention, 23 percent less on dental products, and 20 percent less on flea and tick control compared to 2007.
“Pet owners confirmed that veterinarians and their staffs are key sources of education and highly influential in product choice. Veterinarians could capitalize on their client relationships to compete more effectively with the growing internet and pet super store channels,” said John Volk, senior consultant at Brakke Consulting. “Online ads and in-store displays can’t compete with one-on-one interaction and expertise.”

Three prescription diet pet food myths addressed

A recent eNewsChannels article aims to clarify three myths for pet owners about prescription diet pet foods.

The first myth is that commercially prepared prescription diets are the only option for pets that require a special diet. Pets that are fed prescription diet petfoods usually must manage a specific health condition. The article says, however, that so long as the health guidelines or restrictions of the pet's veterinarian are followed, homemade food can be prepared or used in combination with a prescription commercial pet food.
Another myth addressed in the article is that some pet owners believe it is OK to feed all pets a prescription diet food that is required only to be fed to one other pet. This is not true, the article says, because the other pets that do not have the same health condition may not receive the proper nutrients from the restricted-ingredient, prescription food.
The last myth is whether a commercially prepared prescription diet food will address all of the nutritional needs of a pet with multiple health problems. Again, it is not necessarily true that a prescription diet food will solve all health problems, the article says. In this case, it is recommended that the pet owner feed a custom-tailored diet that is designed by a veterinarian or nutritionist to address the multiple health concerns.