There’s been a lot of media attention recently on “AI” or artificial intelligence. Several large tech companies have recently made available to the general public AI “chat bots” that can carry on relatively human-like conversations and even draft documents such as letters, poems, and blog posts. These tools can provide fast answers to questions of all types as well as entertaining interactions for those who might engage them. But, this powerful new technology is not without some considerable issues – there are concerns that AI chatbots may pull information from unreputable sources, plagiarize copyrighted material, or even completely make stuff up! An attorney found out the latter the hard way – he was put in a very uncomfortable situation when it became clear that he used ChatGPT to write a legal brief and the software completely made up a number of legal cases and judicial opinions. These issues were, of course, not caught by the attorney before the document was submitted to the court! With all of the discussion of the promise of these new chatbots, I found myself curious how they would handle common pet food questions. So, I undertook a little experiment! I made the same request of the three best known AI chat bots – Bing Chat, by Microsoft, Bard by Google, and ChatGPT by OpenAI : “help me find the best dog food”. Here’s what they told me: Bing Bing provided me with the briefest of answers. It provided the name of one specific food as “the best overall dog food” “according to a veterinarian”. It then suggested that a good dog food should have “meats, grains, vegetables, and fruits to meet the nutritional standards of dog food regulations”. Then it recommended going to a popular but unscientific pet food ratings website for help finding diets…
Chronic diarrhea is one of the most frustrating medical conditions for both dog owners and veterinarians (and especially for us veterinary nutritionists!) However, while it can be challenging to find the optimal diet for a dog with chronic diarrhea, it’s worth the extra effort!
Anyone who has lived with a cat or dog with medical issues knows that maintaining a good appetite can be challenging and that weight and muscle loss can occur as a result. Reduced food intake is not only distressing to owners but also has negative effects for the pet. When healthy pets lose weight, they mostly lose fat. However, elderly pets or pets with medical issues that lose weight mostly lose muscle. Muscle loss is bad for pets (as it is for people) because it can reduce strength, immune function, and wound healing, and can even shorten a pet’s lifespan. Many things affect pets’ appetite and food intake, such as sense of smell and taste, food properties (nutrient levels, aroma, flavor, texture), medical issues, dental disease, pain, competition between animals, and medications. Many chronic diseases, such as heart or kidney disease, can affect appetite. But even healthy older animals can have reduced appetite. Older people’s less sensitive taste and smell perception can reduce appetite; while we suspect this also occurs in dogs and cats as they age, this has not been well studied. One approach to helping animals’ appetite is to adjust the temperature of the food. An interesting study was published recently in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior.1 Researchers studied older cats’ preferences for wet foods at different temperatures. Thirty-two healthy older cats took part in the study. All cats were over 8 years of age (up to 14 years, with an average age of 11 years). This was a carefully-designed study using a single “chunks in gravy” style commercial canned food. The temperatures tested were 43°F (the temperature of food coming out of the refrigerator), 70°F (room temperature), and 99°F (warmed). Cats were tested in a two-bowl test where they could select the food they preferred in two…
Preservatives are essential ingredients in some forms of pet foods but they are surrounded by a great deal of misinformation.
Growing puppies have very specific nutritional requirements that are different from those of adult dogs. Feeding puppies correctly reduces their risk for obesity and orthopedic diseases, and increases their chances for a healthy life. Puppies are very sensitive to nutritional imbalances which can include too much or too little of a nutrient or even improper balance between different nutrients. Nutritional imbalances that might have minimal negative effects – especially in the short term – in an adult dog can have disastrous results in a growing puppy, such as malformed or fractured bones, anemia, poor growth, skin problems, or even heart disease. One of the reasons puppies have such specialized nutritional requirements is that they have to be able to grow from tiny puppies at birth to full-sized adults within approximately one year and stay healthy. Nowhere are the unique requirements more evident than in large or giant breed puppies. For example, a Great Dane puppy that weighs 1 or 2 pounds at birth grows well over 100 pounds within one year (and even more by the time they’re full-grown at 18 months)! But even small breed puppies need careful nutrition while growing to optimize their health. Too many calories from puppy food, treats, and other foods during growth can cause puppies to become overweight. However, even before those extra calories cause a puppy to become overweight, they cause puppies to grow too quickly which – especially in large breed puppies – can increase their risk for bone and joint problems that can affect them for their entire lives. Keeping your puppy at a perfect body condition score of 4 to 5 (on a 9-point scale) is critical (and it’s better to err on the side of your puppy having a body condition score of 4 or even a little lower,…
While good nutrition is important for all dogs, it’s especially critical for growing puppies due to their special nutritional needs. Therefore, you’ll want to be sure you’re selecting best food for your new family member.
Follow this step-by-step guide to make sure you’re feeding the best possible food to your puppy.
Follow this step-by-step guide to make sure you’re feeding the best possible food to your puppy.
There is no such thing as “AAFCO-approved” or “AAFCO-certified” pet foods!