Ask the Vet

Dexter: What to do when the dog refuses to eat?

Dr Linh: Every dog ​​can have anorexia regardless of age. However, a dog's refusal to eat often has two leading causes: pathological or psychological. To solve the problem of dog refusal to eat, you need to identify the cause.

As for psychological anorexia, the reason is that you have been pampering your dog. You often change their diet, give them a lot of tasty meals, and then suddenly return to their daily routine, causing the dog to stop eating. Or it is still possible that they will even eat, but eat less. And gradually will form an anorexic habit.

To overcome this problem, you can apply the following:

Make a good habit for your dog by letting a meal last only about 10-20p, if the dog eats after that time, but all the food away. Doing so will help the…

Dexter: What foods are bad for dogs?

Dr Linh: Some people think that dogs can eat all the things we can eat. This is not true. Some of the things we love to eat but can be dangerous for your pet. E.g.:

Chocolate, coffee, and caffeine are dangerous foods that dogs should not eat. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has shown that chocolate, coffee, and caffeine contain methylxanthines, which is a dangerous compound for pet health.

According to them, immediately after eating the above foods, the methylxanthines in it will cause pets to vomit, diarrhoea along with some other symptoms such as panting, thirst and continuous urination, hyperactivity, Abnormal heart rhythms, tremors, convulsions, and even death. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the methylxanthines.

Raw meat is also bad for pets. Although dogs are wild animals, they are not food for dogs. Raw meat…

Dexter: What are some nutritious dog food?

Dr.Linh: Currently, there are many foods to compliment the well-developed dog. In particular, they are sub-divided into 2 types of food. That is:

Dry food for dogs: Dry food contains full of nutritional ingredients such as cereals, meat, vitamins, and other meat products (eggs, milk) ... This type of food is not highly commended for its quality and quantity. It also saves you time, no need to prepare your dog food. This food line is usually produced and processed according to the stage and age of the dog. Therefore, you absolutely can choose the right product.

Fresh dog food includes fresh foods such as pork, beef, chicken, fish, vegetables, fruits, etc., which are processed appropriately. These are all nutritious, fresh foods, so when properly prepared will be very good with the comprehensive development of dogs. Each type of food will have different advantages…

Dexter: What is a sensible diet for dogs?

Dr.Linh: A reasonable diet means ensuring adequate nutrition for animals at that time, without excess and deficiency. To do that, we have to build a diet based on the following points:

Firstly, depending on the variety, we have different diet choices. For example, there are tiny body breeds like the Phot squirrel, the diet, the amount of food that can not be as much as the big breeds like Golden Dog or Beagle.

Secondly, Depending on the stage of development, we have different diets such as 8-week-old puppies need to eat 4 meals per day. When it is 3 months of age should eat 3 meals per day, 6 months of age eat 2 meals per day. Diet and diet for puppies aged 3 to 7 months are the most important because this is a period of rapid bone and puppy growth.…

Dexter: How important is a dog's nutrition?

Dr.Linh: Nutrients are the components found in foods that are essential for the body's metabolism. There are nutrients the body can synthesize and not synthesize itself. For example, dogs can synthesize vitamin C in their liver by themselves, so there's no need to add vitamin C to their diet. However, many other minerals and proteins cannot be synthesized and added to food. Thus, a reasonable diet is a diet with balanced nutrition, sufficient, no excess, and no shortage.

There are 6 main types of nutrients: water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Each class has a different function in the body.

Water is an essential component of your dog's body, which promotes healthy digestion and metabolism, in addition to helping regulate body temperature. Maintaining the right amount of water the puppy needs is mandatory.

Protein is a crucial component in the process of…