What are your New Year's resolutions for 2020? Are you still on track? According to the American Medical Association, roughly half of all Americans make resolutions, but less than a quarter are still committed by the end of January. But what about focusing on your pet? Small goals are easier to achieve than lofty ones, and having a buddy to care for can be more motivating than focusing on yourself.

Resolution #2: Feed to your pet's calorie needs
You'll need  a measuring cup and 5 minutes to start this one. I hate to break it to you, but those labels on the back of the food bags usually overestimate the amount of food your pet needs. A basic rule of thumb is that a healthy weight spayed or neutered indoor cat or small dog needs roughly 20 calories per pound. Talk to us about your pet's specific needs, because our pets are individuals and the estimates are only starting points. Overweight sedentary pets may need significantly fewer calories while active pets will need more. Carefully monitor weight and body condition after changing the diet to ensure that your pet is fed properly. Check out the Pet Nutrional Alliance calculators or look at the tables by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association for dogs or cats to get the number of calories to start with. Your pet's food should have a calories per cup or can somewhere on the bag, usually near the ingredients. Then you can do the math. If you like giving treats, here's permission: 10% of the calories can come from treats. For example:

• my 60lb dog needs roughly 1000 calories according to the chart, or 1167 according to the calculator
• my Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet DRM is 418 calories/cup
• 1000 / 418 = 2.4 cups or 1176 / 418 = 2.75 cups  - this is your starting point
• I have been feeding Cooper 2.5 cups per day, or 1,045 calories of kibble, with a 190 calorie dental chew 3 days/week. Don't forget to add in dental chew calories - as you can see, a single chew is more than Cooper's 10% treat allowance! I balance that by not using one every day. Since Cooper is maintaining his weight and muscle mass, I know that I have his calorie needs in balance 
• I ignore the bag, which recommended 2.75-3.5 cups per day for a 60lb dog

These resolutions aren't big by themselves, but they can add up to a better relationship with your pet and a healthier, longer life over time. Here's your chance to start the new decade with some small goals, and beat the odds of making them stick. Your pet will thank you. 

'Tis the season for gift-giving! Here are some safe presents to get your pets in the holiday spirit.

Pumpkins, costumes, and scary skeletons - it's October! Here are some tips so that both you and your pets can enjoy the holiday in style.

Photo credit: Mike McCune www.flickr.com

Pumpkins are for more than pie
Did you know that pets can enjoy eating pumpkin right along with you? It is a healthy addition to food for many pets. Dogs, cats, parrots, many reptiles, rabbits, and small mammals can all benefit from pumpkin.

• Natural remedy for diarrhea or constipation: Pumpkin has a high fiber content that draws water into the colon. This will absorb the excess water from diarrhea to create more formed stool, and soften hard constipated stool to make it more flexible and easier to pass. Start with adding a couple tablespoons of cooked or canned plain pumpkin (not the pie mix) for cats and smaller dogs and 1/4 - 1/2 cup per meal for larger pets, then adjust as necessary.
• Vitamin-filled treat: rabbits, guinea pigs, other small mammals, and many reptiles can snack on cooked or raw pumpkin. If feeding raw, wash thoroughly and cube or shred the flesh to make it easier to eat. Keep quantities small since it can cause diarrhea if suddenly eaten in large quantities. 
• Bird Enrichment: many parrots will enjoy the whole pumpkin inside and out. Wash the outside carefully to remove any pesticide residue (buy organic if you can). Remove the top and cut holes in the side if you want to, then watch your parrot climb and feast. The seeds and flesh can be eaten raw or cooked, just remember not to salt the seeds if you're roasting them. Don't be alarmed if the stool turns orange and is a bit looser than usual after a pumpkin meal.

How much food should you give your pet? Here's a hint: it's a lot less than what's printed on the bag!
First thing to do: use your eyes and hands to find out your dog or cat's body condition score. Use the picture below to compare your pet's body shape.

• An ideal body weight dog or cat will have a waist when seen from above and an belly tuck when viewed from the side.
• Spine: gentle ridges should be felt when you run your hands down your pets back. 
• Ribs: there should be minimal fat coverage and the indents between the ribs should be easily felt
• Hips: it should be easy to feel the bones of your pet's hips but they shouldn't protrude out

Now, is your pet underweight, ideal, or overweight? We'll be happy to assess for you if you're unsure. While highly athletic pets can be healthy at underweight, very thin pets are ill and need to be checked out as soon as possible. All overweight and obese pets need to be helped to lose the excess weight - you will lengthen their life by as much as 2 years for a large dog and decrease painful arthritis.

Your next step is to grab a measuring cup. Find out how much food you are currently giving in a day, and then find the calories/cup on the label. Some foods contain around 300 cal/cup, but others can be as high as 600! Next add in all the treats and snacks your pet receives. It can take some work to find out how many calories are in each treat, but the manufacturer can tell you if you call them (and if they can't, you probably shouldn't be feeding it to your pet). For example, a small milkbone has 20 calories, and a large one has 125. 

Your individual pet may need more or less depending on activity level, but here's a rough guideline to calorie needs:
Approximate Daily Caloric Needs for Indoor Pets

Cats

• 10 lbs: 180 to 200 calories - for most cats this is no more than 1/2 cup per day!

Dogs

• 10 lbs: 200 to 275 calories
• 20 lbs: 325 to 400 calories
• 50 lbs: 700 to 900 calories
• 70 lbs: 900 to 1050 calories
• 90 lbs: 1100 to 1350 calories

Treats should total no more than 10% of your pet's daily calories. The secret to success is portion control - choose the tiny size milkbones (7 calories), or break larger treats into tiny portions. Green beans and baby carrots (3 calories) make great treat alternatives. 

If your pet is overweight, a good starting point is to decrease the amount of food and treats by 25%, and then reassess in 2 weeks. For example, if you currently feed 1 cup of food per day, you would go to 3/4 cup per day. You can add green beans and carrots as healthy fiber if your dog seems hungry.

For weight loss, your pet will need to consume fewer calories than he or she is using. Increased exercise in combination with decreased food and treats will be the most effective. The best tool for cats are food-dispensing toys. Portion the day's kibble into several toys and let your cat chase them around the house. Meals will take longer so your cat will be more satisfied, and he will be exercising while he eats. No more food bowl required!

If you have more questions about what and how much to feed, give us a call. We can talk about your specific pet's needs and come up with a plan together.

We adore our pets, and want to keep them healthy and happy - and spoil them rotten sometimes. So we need to make sure that the food we give every day is nutritious and safe. The pet food market has exploded in recent years, and there are excellent foods available. But how to separate the truly great from the great marketing?

First, look for the teeny tiny letters "AAFCO" somewhere on the bag. Every bag of food must have an AAFCO statement by law.

Here are the 3 questions you MUST ask your pet food manufacturer. You won't find the answers on that beautiful glossy bag - look for the company's contact information and call their 1-800 number.  The best answers according to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association nutrition committee are given.

1. Who formulates the food, and what are their credentials?

• PhD in animal nutrition or veterinarian board-certified in veterinary nutrition (if the answer is "our vets", probe a little deeper - I'm a veterinarian, but certainly not qualified to design my pet's food)

2. Does the diet meet AAFCO nutrient profiles by analysis of the finished product, or by analysis of the raw ingredients?

• Finished product analysis is superior since key vitamins can be destroyed during processing. The manufacturer should also be able to provide the exact amount of specific nutrients (like protein, phosphorus, sodium, etc), not just the guaranteed minimums or maximums listed on the bag. Just knowing the calorie content is not enough.

3. What specific quality and safety control measures do you use when manufacturing the food?

•  ​Ingredients should be tested for toxins before being added to the batch of food, and the finished food should also be tested for toxins, bacterial contamination, and nutrient analysis

If you are satisfied with the answers to these questions, continue feeding with confidence. If you have any doubts after your call, switch brands. For example, the Hills (Science Diet) customer service representative was extraordinarily helpful and open about all the credentials of their employees and the extensive research and testing that goes into their foods. I had two horrible phone calls with a different brand whose reps refused to answer the questions and told me that "normal" pet parents don't ask these questions. So I encourage each and every one of you to hold your pet's food company accountable. Your pet deserves it.

We love our birds, and want to give our pets the best food to keep them as healthy as possible. Here’s the bad news: there is no single diet on the market that you can scoop from a bag and be done. But don’t be discouraged. The good news is that there are great diets available for our birds, and it’s easy to supplement them with a variety of healthy foods that you have right in your own kitchen.

Why don’t we have a single perfect diet? That’s a great question - and the answer comes from our birds themselves. Our pet parrot species originate all over the world, and each adapted to their native habitats. So a wild cockatoo from Australia is eating a completely different variety of plants than an amazon from Brazil. Then, each individual bird’s nutritional needs change over time: a mature adult needs far fewer calories per day than a growing chick, and an egg-laying hen needs far more calcium than when she’s not reproducing. Lastly, think of how smart and social your bird is - they often form strong food preferences in the first months of their lives, and self preservation instincts can prevent them from trying new foods (think about those poisonous berries out in the wild - the birds that survive are the cautious ones who only eat what their flock-mates are eating).

Can’t birds just eat seeds? Nope. Seeds are high in fat and deficient in many vitamins. They’re pretty much the bird equivalent of eating at McDonald’s every day: delicious, but so not healthy.
So, what’s the recipe for success?

• Start with a high quality pelleted diet designed for your bird. This should make up 60-75% of your bird’s daily intake. Good brands include Harrison’s, Roudybush, and Zupreem.
• Next, offer fresh food daily. This should be 20-30% of your parrot’s daily diet, and includes fruits, vegetables, greens, and cooked beans or pulses (like lentils). Variety is key here - change up your bird’s salad ingredients frequently to ensure a balanced diet. Organic produce is best, but if not available make sure to rinse thoroughly and peel when possible to decrease pesticide residue.
• Last, up to 10% of your parrot’s diet can be treats: seeds, nuts, dairy (like hard cheeses), and processed grains like bread, crackers, cereal, and pasta.
• Remember, AVOID avocados, chocolate, rhubarb, onions, and all the pits of stone fruits. These are toxic to parrots.
• Quantity counts too: a budgie needs only 12-16 Calories per day, while a large macaw tops out around 220 Calories per day.

Parrots don’t need grit or cuttlebones. While many cockatiels will happily ingest small quantities and be perfectly fine, some individuals will swallow large pieces of cuttlebone or too much grit and obstruct their intestinal tract. Parrots hull their seeds before swallowing, so they don’t need grit to break down seeds like pigeons and doves do. That’s also the reason that fortified seed mixes aren’t as healthy as the marketing would have you believe - the added vitamins get left in the seed cup along with the hull.

Help - my bird only eats seeds! What do I do?
This plan applies to any new food - fresh or pellets - whether we’re starting with an all seed diet or just trying to add some variety to a more healthy diet.

• Start with a vet exam - we never want to abruptly change a sick bird’s diet.
• Train your bird to meal-feed on the current food (this means getting rid of the full seed cup and measuring how much your bird eats in a given day - then divide this amount into two or three portions).
• Add a small amount of new food and limit the quantity of old food at each meal (start with 25% new at the very most), then gradually increase the proportion of new food; OR, feed the new food for breakfast, with no old food, and then offer the old food at lunch and dinner. Gradually increase the time until the old food is offered as your bird eats more of the new foods.

Be patient and DON'T GIVE UP!
Parrots are naturally suspicious creatures, and it usually takes over 20 times of seeing a particular food before they will accept it.

• The transition can take YEARS. Be glad that bird servings are tiny - you will throw away many, many untouched meals.
• Never try to force your bird - they are quite capable of starving themselves to death.
• Monitor stool production - if it decreases then your bird may not be eating enough and you need to go more slowly (but color change and some large soft stools can be normal when introducing fresh fruits/veggies).
• Some birds will never reach “ideal” diet, but even accepting one or two new foods is worth the trouble.

Tips and tricks for seed addicts:

• Offer a small amount of new food at a time (one piece can be more enticing than a pile).
• Mix grated veggies in with seeds - even if your bird picks through and only eats the seeds, at least he or she will be on her way to those 20 tastes. Remember to swap out for clean dry seeds after an hour to avoid spoilage.
• Play with Texture
  • finely chop vegetables or grate them in food processor - or offer huge hunks to large birds
  • mash cooked foods
  • switch between raw, thawed from frozen, or cooked (avoid canned unless salt-free and thoroughly rinsed)
  • for pellets, try blending them to dust and adding to a favorite food, or softening the pellets in water, tomato sauce, juice, applesauce, etc.
• Vary the color - most pellet colors actually taste the same, but many birds prefer red.
• Spice it up - many birds love heavily spiced foods. Try cinnamon, chili powder (or whole chili peppers), cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, etc. Make sure to use spices with no added salt.
• Model good eating habits - cut a slice of your apple and hand it to your bird, or take a bite of that pellet. Some birds will try new foods when invited into the dining room but not when hanging out in their cage by themselves.
• Try LaFeber’s Nutriberries - these make a great transition diet for seed junkies. They consist of hulled seeds in a vitamin-enriched matrix. Warm gently in the microwave and break them into seed-sized bites for quicker acceptance, since most seed-eating small birds don’t want to work hard enough to pry the seeds out from the ball at first.

With lots of patience and persistence, your bird can learn to enjoy a variety of foods. Not only is a balanced diet the foundation for a healthy pet, but you'll get to have fun at mealtime with your feathered friend, too.

Photo credit Geek2Nurse, www.flickr.com