Choosing Healthy Food for Your Pets

Choosing Healthy Food for Your Pets

A healthy body starts with a balanced diet and good nutrition. In fact, many health conditions in pets can be addressed and improved with dietary adjustments.
Choosing food for your dog or cat, however, isn’t always as simple as choosing healthy food for yourself. Dogs and cats have different digestive systems and body chemistry than humans do, so a healthy diet for a pet doesn’t look exactly like our own.
Thankfully, there are lots of great pet food formulations available ready-to-go, complete with all the calories and nutrition your pet needs.
We recommend selecting pet food for your pet based on your dog’s or cat’s specific lifestyle, health, weight, age, size, and medical history. The following pet food brands, however, are a good place to start:
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Top-Recommended Dog Food Brands

  • Wellness Complete Health
  • Instinct Original Grain-Free
  • First Mate
  • Hill's Science Diet
  • Nature's Logic
  • Blue Buffalo Life Protection
  • Taste of the Wild
  • Purina Pro Plan
  • Orijen
  • Nulo Freestyle

Top-Recommended Cat Food Brands

  • Lams Proactive Health
  • Hill's Science Diet
  • Purina Pro Plan
  • Purina Cat Chow Complete
  • PetGuard Organic
  • Fancy Feast
  • Royal Canin
  • Friskies
  • Open Farm
  • Smalls
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Raiding the Pantry for Your Pet

There are a variety of human foods that make good snacks or treats for your pets, too!
Good snacks for dogs include plain, boiled chicken, rice, chopped carrots and green beans, unsalted and unsweetened peanut butter with no xylitol, watermelon (with the seeds and rind removed), blueberries, plain popcorn (no unpopped kernels), and bananas in moderation.
Cats can enjoy a snack of tuna, mackerel, chicken, or beef – be sure to avoid overly salty meats to prevent dehydration and salt poisoning. They can also enjoy cheese, bananas, and pumpkin.
Just be careful when feeding your pet human foods to be sure it doesn’t contain ingredients toxic to dogs or cats. Since their digestive systems are so different from ours, certain foods that are safe for people are actually quite dangerous for pets. Some can cause mild illness while others can be fatally toxic.

Nutritional Counseling and Weight Management With Our Woodland Park Veterinarian

If you’re struggling to find a healthy diet for your pet, if your pet is overweight, has arthritis, suffers from allergies, or has a sensitive stomach, our veterinarian can help you choose the right food to meet your pet’s unique health and nutrition needs.
To learn more about selecting pet food, treats, and nutritional supplements for your dog or cat or to schedule a nutritional counseling appointment, we welcome you to contact Compassion Animal Hospital today.

9 Signs Your Pet Feels Stressed

Is Your Pet Feeling Stressed? Watch Out for These Anxious Behaviors

Anxious and stressed pets are nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, many everyday occurrences can trigger an anxiety response in pets. Simple things like changes to the environment, package deliveries, strangers, or car trips can be enough to make a cat or dog feel uneasy.
Although stress in pets is common, it’s something that pet owners should be aware of and able to recognize the signs so they can provide comfort and corrective training to help their pets relax and be happy.
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9 Signs Your Pet Feels Stressed

1. Hiding

Stressed (or even sick) pets will often withdraw from the rest of the family. You might find your anxious dog hiding in a safe place or your fearful cat quietly tucked away under the bed.

2. Tucked Tail

Dogs instinctively tuck their tails between their legs when they feel afraid. A tall tail indicates a confident, happy pup, while a tucked one is a sure sign of a stressed dog.

3. Nose Licking

Dogs and cats both lick their noses to keep them clean and moist. However, more frequent nose licking than usual indicates anxiety.

4. Vocalization

Barking, yowling, hissing, or growling all indicate stress (and pain) in pets. Have your cat or dog examined by your veterinarian ASAP if you notice excessive vocalization.

5. Accidents

Anxious house-trained pets will often have accidents in the house or outside the litter box.

6. Destructive Behaviors

Pets experiencing separation anxiety and extreme fear often become destructive to their environments. Your pet might chew or scratch the furniture or destroy your favorite leather boots.
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7. Yawning or Panting

When your well-rested pet yawns or pants excessively, this is likely an indication of discomfort or stress.

8. Side-Eye

Eyes that bug out or show a crescent of white (reminiscent of “side-eye” in humans) indicate anxiety.

9. Puffed Fur

When your dog or cat puts its hackles up (puffs up the fur along its back), this means your pet feels threatened and fearful.

Ease Your Pet's Anxiety With Help From Our Veterinarian in Woodland Park

If your pet experiences stress during every thunderstorm, Fourth of July, whenever you leave the house, or due to another trigger, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with our veterinarian at Compassion Animal Hospital. We’ll thoroughly examine your pet to rule out any potential underlying health problems that could be exacerbating your pet’s anxiety and then help you determine the proper course of treatment. We can recommend lifestyle adjustments, medications, and additional strategies to keep your pet healthy, happy, and calm.
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