Nutritional Advice

Under the WSAVA, nutrition is now considered the “fifth essential element” of a veterinary assessment, so do not be surprised if you are asked a few questions about what you feed your pet.

Many pet owners do choose to feed a home made diet, some choose commercial foods or purchase premade RAW foods. We do suggest reviewing the WSAVA.

If you feel your pet has had an adverse reaction to any food, let us know immediately so we can report this to PETFAST.

We strongly recommend that you:

Feed Premium Pet Foods: We prefer, as much as we possibly can, to stock and sell Premium Pet Foods which are made in Australia, using Australian produce. We stock Delicate Care, as well as a limited range of Prime 100 foods. Our range of Hills Nutritional Products, Royal Canin and Proplan are for medical conditions only. (most commonly for skin allergic diseases, kidney, gastrointestinal diabetes, and bladder stones).

If you choose to feed home made, RAW or BARF, we do recommend that you ensure that they satisfy the recommended nutritional guidelines for dogs and cats, such as the AAFCO nutrient guidelines. If you purchase raw meat, ensure that you also check the sulfide levels within the meat (strips can be purchased online). We advise the use of “balancers” which are supplements you can add to the meat to ensure it is a complete meal for your pet, or consult with a veterinary nutritionist.

Tip on nutrition – How we feed is as important as what we feed – avoid using a food bowl– why not scatter feed, use treat dispensers, snuffle mats, Kong wobblers, or make your own treat dispenser using a drink bottle with selected holes in it. Make it fun, and make them work for it.

There are some important “people” food to avoid – such as chocolate, grapes, macadamias, onions and garlic.

But you can happily feed pieces of watermelon, carrot, and blueberries.

Please note – we do not advocate bones as a means of nutrition or dental care in this practice, as we have seen too many problems associated with this in the majority of the pets. We do respect your decision if you do choose to feed your pet bones, and we hope you respect our position in not advocating this feeding choice.

For more information on bones and your pet, visit.

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer–updates/no–bones–or–bone–treats–about–i t-reasons-not-give-your-dog-bones