Quiz Four

• Cats and dogs belong to the order "Carnivora."
• Cats have a need for many nutrients that other mammals do not.
• Cats have a high requirement for protein because of a high requirement for nitrogen in order to control the activity of enzymes.
• Cats also need arginine, taurine, niacin, vitamin A, and vitamin D.
• Cats have a reduced number of starch metabolizing enzymes, but they can still digest cooked starches.
• Dogs are adaptive carnivores because they can make taurine, vitamin A, and beta carotene.
• Healthy animals normally eat sufficient food to satisfy their energy requirements.
• The greatest energy demands for animals are growth, gestation, and lactation.
• Diet history is key.
• A dietary history should be taken on every pet every time.
• A dietary history includes specific product names, how much the pet is fed versus how much they eat, and snacks and treats.
• When the animal is at an optimal weight, it is advised to stay the course with feeding.
• Controlled studies have shown that energy requirements can vary greatly among similar animals housed in similar conditions.
• The three types of feeding are free choice, time restricted, and portion control.
• Free choice, or self feeding, is the method of choice when animals are lactating.
• Free choice can be ideal for cats by giving multiple small meals.
• Free choice can minimize noise and stress in a kennel.
• The disadvantages of free choice are anorexia, denial of food, medical problems, overeating in 30 to 40 percent of animals, and the inability to feed moist or semi moist food this way.
• Time restricted feeding relies on the animal's ability to control their intake.
• Time restricted feeding provides a surplus amount of food at every feeding, but a set amount of time.
• Time restricted is not practical for cats.
• Time restricted feeding typically lasts 5 to 15 minutes.
• Time restricted feeding is recommended twice a day.
• Time restricted feeding can encourage gluttony and aerophagia.
• Portion controlled feeding involves feeding a specific amount of food, typically in 2 feedings.
• Portion controlled feeding is the best approach in most stages.
• Portion controlled feeding lowers the probability of obesity and alerts to problems sooner.
• Portion controlled feeding takes more commitment from the owner.
• 56.8 percent of dogs and 26.1 percent of cats get treats.
• Treats are important to the human animal bond, but they should not exceed 10 percent of an animal's caloric intake.
• High fat treats can cause GI problems and pancreatitis.
• No one diet is best for every pet.
• When considering what diet to put your pet on, consider the animal in question, a variety of external factors, the product, where you can purchase the product, signalment, body condition score, activity level, and food preference.
• External factors to picking a diet are budget and environment.
• Environment factors include number of animals, and how they are housed.
• After assessing the patient, assess the food and ensure it supports they life stage they are in.
• When recommending food, it is often better to recommend large manufacturers because they use animal nutritionists, AAFCO, and feeding trials.
• Newer, smaller companies are essentially doing trials on pets. So, caution must be used with raw food.
• Pregnancy is a great energy demand on the dam and fetus.
• Nutrition must meet the mother's needs, those for growing a fetus, and the development of milk.