Nutritional Disorders and Wellness diets 1 Flashcards
What is the difference between food allergy and food intolerance?
Food allergy is an adverse reaction to food that have an immunological basis.
Food intolerance is an adverse reaction to food due to non-immunological mechanism.
What is a food intolerance usually due to? Give an example
The animal not being able to properly digest nutrients.
Ex) Lactose intolerance
Why is there not much research regarding horses and food sensitivity?
Horses tend to avoid foods that have made them sick in the past.
What are some symptoms of food sensitivities?
Skin: pruritus (itchy), self inflicted alopecia
Digestive Tract: Vomiting, diarrhea.
When do clinical signs of food sensitivity generally show up?
4-24 hours after ingestion
What type of nutrient generally causes food allergies?
Large proteins. Such as beef, dairy products, gluten, fish.
How would you diagnose a food allergy?
- Feed an elimination diet (containing novel protein) and demonstrate a decrease of clinical signs.
- Challenge animal with original diet and see if clinical signs return.
- Feed select ingredients to determine the specific dietary component they’re allergic to.
What do you do if an animal has a protein allergy?
The animal still has an animo acid requirement so you still need to feed some form of protein to meet requirements. Try a different protein source or use hydrolysis to partially degrade the protein.
How have animals change in lifestyle increased incidence of obesity?
Less working and more sedentary companions. For example, cats used to mouse, dogs were working dogs for hunting etc and horses were free range grazers
How do we assess obesity in companion animals?
Body weight, BCS, measure fat vs. protein mass.
When are animals considered obese?
when they are greater than 20% above optimal weight.
What are some risk factors for obesity?
Age , Breed (Ex. cocker spaniels, retrievers and labs, shetland sheepdogs) Gender and Gonadectonomy , physical activity levels, type of diet.
How would gender and spay/neuter status have an effect on obesity?
- Males have more lean tissue than females, females are more at risk than males.
- Spaying a female also removes estrogen which is an appetite suppressant therefore may be prone to eat more without this hormone.
- Neutering lowers basal metabolic rate and there is a massive change in hormone balance however animals will eat the same but may be less active.
What must be considered when designing a weight loss program for pets?
- How much the animal is overweight
- Time frame to lose weight
- Amount of restriction that must be applied to reach optimal weight
What could you do to help a cat better transition to a weight loss diet?
Feed smaller multiple meals, Spread out meals so they feel they are getting more, change diet to weight loss diet. (This is important as you don’t want to just restrict a maintenance diet because then they might not get adequate nutrients)
