Nutritional Health Issues Flashcards
Causes of obesity in dogs
Breed predisposition- recent data in various animal species provide new insight into the genetic basis of obesity
Age- As an adult animal ages, lean body mass declines, resulting in a decrease in total daily energy needs.
Neutering- Neutering results in the net loss of circulating sex hormones, slowing an animal’s metabolism and predisposing the neutered animal to becoming overweight or obese.
Nutrition- Dietary factors also contribute to excessive weight gain in dogs. The number of meals and snacks fed, the consumption of table scraps, and an animal’s presence when owners prepare or eat their own meals all contribute to canine weight gain.
Overweight or obese owners
Environment- Obese dogs had a higher median age and were more likely to be female and neutered. Obese dogs had significantly less exercise per week compared with nonobese dogs. Socioeconomic class appeared to be a factor in a dog’s becoming overweight or obese; the risk of obesity was significantly associated with owner income as pet owners in the highest income bracket were more likely to have obese dogs. Finally, increasing owner age was also associated with increased incidence of overweight or obese dogs
Nutritional management of obesity in dogs
Protein
High-protein diets are recommended during the weight loss period. Animals have well defined amino acid requirements; providing additional protein can prevent possible deficiencies of taurine or other amino acids. In addition, high-protein diets preserve lean body mass during weight loss
Carbohydrate & Fat
Modifications in carbohydrate and fat concentrations are variable in therapeutic weight-loss diets. Fat is often reduced since it provides over 2 times as many calories by weight as carbohydrate or protein. However, essential fatty acids are required and fat cannot be reduced below a certain threshold. Carbohydrate and protein are commonly both increased in a diet when fat is reduced.
Fiber
Fiber is added to increase both volume and weight of a food, while minimally affecting its caloric content. It is the most controversial nutrient modification for obesity because studies examining rates of weight loss or satiety have had mixed or poorly-controlled results
Moisture Content
Diets formulated for weight loss may increase moisture content of canned diets during extrusion to increase food volume during caloric restriction.
High-moisture diets reduced ad libitum caloric intake of cats in 1 study,30 while another showed no intake difference during the weight loss period. The latter study did show that weight regain was significantly reduced.31
It has been hypothesized that some animals find canned food more palatable, but this likely depends on pre-existing preferences.
Additional Ingredients
Weight-loss diets occasionally incorporate ingredients purported to improve the efficiency of weight loss.
nutritional health issues associated with under and over feeding of pregnant dairy and beef cattle?
Ketosis (acetonemia) is a metabolic disorder characterized by elevated concentrations of the ketone bodies (acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone), and a low to normal concentration of glucose in the blood.
fat cow syndrome. This condition refers to a combination of metabolic, digestive, infectious, and reproductive conditions which affects the obese periparturient cow. The condition develops primarily due to faulty feed management which permits excessive consumption of unbalanced diets. The syndrome is frequently a herd problem characterized by a high morbidity and mortality due to an increase in disease in periparturient cows. Clinical signs include depression, anorexia, ketonuria, marked decrease in production, progressive debilitation, weakness, nervous signs, and an elevation in temperature due to infectious disease. The obesity is generalized throughout the body with extensive fatty metamorphosis in the liver. Histological changes are primarily in the liver and kidney.
If you do nothing to remedy the overweight cow’s condition before they reach calving, and they maintain their level of weight gain in late pregnancy, it can lead to fat buildup near the pelvic canal.
Causes of Metabolic Syndrome in Horses
EMS is caused when fat cells or adipose tissue produce high levels of adipokines, a protein hormone that leads to an increase in cortisol. As a result of the abnormal hormone production, a horse’s normal response to the hormone insulin is disrupted, resulting in high insulin and glucose blood concentrations. The horse cannot properly metabolize carbohydrates, including starches and sugars. This mechanism can trigger the onset of laminitis.
Certain management practices such as feeding high caloric diets to relatively inactive horses can predispose a horse to EMS. Equine Metabolic Syndrome can occur at any point after a horse reaches maturity.
Clinical signs of Metabolic Syndrome in Horses
The most common clinical signs are abnormal intra-abdominal fat deposits (belly fat) as well as fat accumulation in the crest of the neck, over the rump and in the sheath of male horses. These horses will usually have a high body condition score of 7 (Fleshy) or higher. However, other equine may just have abnormal fat deposits.
Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome in Horses
There is currently no single diagnostic test that can definitively diagnose EMS, but elevated levels of glucose and insulin after fasting along with negative results from the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) used to diagnose Equine Cushing’s are good indicators of EMS.
Prevention and treatment of Metabolic Syndrome in Horses
Insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance can be improved by dietary restriction and exercise aimed at reversing obesity. Here are some strategies that can be used in the treatment of this disease.
Reduce calorie intake and eliminate simple sugars (carbohydrates).
Feed moderate quality grass hay at 1½ % of ideal weight. You can test the hay for the amount of simple carbohydrates, if the horse is severely affected or not responding to diet well.
If the horse can tolerate pasture, use a grazing muzzle and allow the horse to graze in the mornings before the sugar content rises with sun exposure.
Other acceptable feeds are grass hay cubes and beet pulp without molasses.
DO NOT feed grains, carrots, apples or sweet feeds.
STOP supplements that are soybean meal-based or high in sugar content.
If greater dietary energy is needed once obesity has been brought under control and an exercise program has been initiated, grass hay should be supplemented with soaked beet pulp and/or vegetable oil or rice bran rather than grain.
Increase exercise, if laminitis is not present or is improving to a degree to allow some exercise.
Chromium supplementation is recommended as well as magnesium supplementation to achieve dietary calcium: magnesium ratio of 2:1.
Homemade vs Commercial feeds for dogs and cats
Homemade feed gives control and customisability in diet however many recipes do not meet the nutritional requirements and they can be difficult to manage
Some cheaper pet food brand may not use quality ingredients however they are regulated and tested so don’t have the issues homemade foods might
Colostrum 3 Qs
Quantity
The recommendation is to give a first feed of 3 litres or 10% of body weight. This should be followed up by another similar size feed within 12 hours of birth.
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Quality
• Good quality colostrum contains at least 50g/L of IgG. Any colostrum containing <20g/L of IgG should not be used
• Colostrum quality declines
the longer it is held in the udder
as it becomes more dilute with time
6-12 hours
0-6 hours
• Test colostrum from all cows. Ensure cows are milked as soon as possible after calving to ensure best possible colostrum is collected and fed to newborn calves
• Quality will decline if the colostrum becomes contaminated with bacteria.
Quickly
The efficiency of antibody absorption from colostrum declines rapidly from over 40% at birth to less than 5% by 20 hours.
