Prescription Diets for Your Pets

Music. Really, the goal is just to use our stories to bring veterinary medicine to life for the pet caretakers of the world.

And we're doing it because we believe that educating these caretakers is the most powerful thing that we can do to improve the life quality of all of the pets that we love. Cool, cool. Here we are. Hello. Welcome back. Oh, yes. Hello. Welcome back. Vet Tales, Dr. Natalie Key. And Dr. Caitlin Craig. And we're both already laughing. Yes. It's definitely a good session, I think. I think so, too. We're flying by the seat of our pantalones.

Yep. So today is we're going to talk about prescription diets as a whole. Like we've talked about some prescription diets, like when we talked about diabetes or when we talked about food allergies. But we're just going to just go kind of neck deep in opportunities that exist through managing the conditions via the diet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, what do you want to do first? Do you just want to go and order a part?

Yeah, let's go and order. So, I think we should start the urinary diet, which is probably going to be more common for cats, probably. Yeah. And small dogs. Yeah, like. It just depends. I feel like I see more stones in dogs. Very true. I mean, oh, my God, the dog you have right now. Yes. If you guys see, if you're at all ever on Northside's Facebook page, Northside Veterinary Hospital, Shawnee, Oklahoma, our Facebook page, Monday, we posted images of Dr. Greg's patient. Yeah, it was a poor girl.

She had five urinary bladder zones, and we've sent them off, so I couldn't tell you what their composition is yet, but they were massive. Like the size of a chicken egg. Yes. If not bigger. It's not bigger. Yeah. I mean, I've never seen anything. Like, I've seen dogs with way more stones. Right. I also have. I saw a dachshund one time, very similar situation. Her urinary bladder was just filled to the point where she could barely hold any pee because there were so many stones.

But it was just a lot of little ones. This one was just five very, very large stones. It was pretty impressive. I mean, yeah. And they're really smooth. And it looks like they meant they're a rock tumbler. Literally, because they were so close together, they had smoothed each other out. Yeah. There's indentations from one stone into the other. And then flicking into the other. Yeah, it was almost like a little puzzle. Yep. Yep. That's what I said. Great.

So I see way more stones of the dogs when the cats get the... Drenary blockage. Yeah. And they'll get that cystitis that maybe doesn't have a stone, but they've got the fibrin clots or just the chronic straining to urinate, inflammation of the bladders that they're having.

The stress, too. Yes, exactly. the stress cystitis maybe maybe we've done an episode on like stress cystitis yeah and like fluted yeah i think we did be like lower urinary disease i think i have an episode on that i'll go back and look if not we'll touch it back but yeah but the urinary diet is maybe one of my like, favorite diets in the sense that i do believe it is like a prescription that resolves an issue it's not just like oh this is friendly for

this condition this is like i can fix your problem yep because a lot of them it'll dissolve with stones yeah it changes the urine ph so what i tell owners i'm gonna talk about this food system when i know anything about katelyn that's fine you're gonna take it for me i got this one let me tag me in coach so i i tell owners all the time it's nothing wrong with what you're feeding your dog it's that this food is specifically designed Did you change the pH of the bladder to make

it like an unconducive area? Inconducive? Unconducive? Unconducive. Unconducive. I don't know. Yeah. Non-conducive. So one of these days somebody's going to start back. I know. They're going to start singing. And I'll be like, we had that coming. Grammar. It's not at all conducive for. My English teachers, I do apologize. Yes. I do. We're doing a poor job of describing this condition. That's what our English teacher was. I was like, it's not poor.

I was like, I'm not saying that. I'm not saying it. I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Anyway. Way back to your nerd. Yes. So it makes it an environment in which crystals can be used to be used to. Well enough to congregate and turn into stones. It dissolves them. In most cases, it's not like urate stones is not going to, it's a whole different beast. Absolutely. It won't dissolve those, but it will prevent them from forming.

So that's something that's helpful. And one thing to kind of mention too, that's kind of a side note.

A lot of the diets we're going to talk about, they're going to have something called SO index, which is going to kind of play back into what we're talking about right now it helps prevent formation of crystals it does not dissolve the so index alone does not dissolve it just helps prevent yeah i think the s is like struvite isn't that what it kind of means yeah yeah it's more yeah exactly it's like so that's where they get the names a lot of these diets are linked to the disease

that they're treating like so is Struvite and oxalate. And so the urinary SO, Struvite. Which is Royal Canyon specifically. There are other brands too that are great. We should probably say that. We're not getting paid by Royal Canyon. Correct. At all. We're not. They're not giving us any kinkbacks or anything with this. This is just the main diet we carry in clinic. Yeah, I like it because I think that dogs and cats like the taste of it better.

I don't think scientifically one is superior to like Hills or Purina has a lot of prescription lines. There are some other prescription lines out there that I've not tried, but I'm sure are meeting all the standards. So don't freak out if you're using a different brand. Yeah, this is just the one we use. Yeah, exactly. And they do focus a lot on palatabilities. Yes, it is kind of their hallmark is how much.

Yeah, I mean, it's rigorous testing. Like 95% of patients have to eat it or they won't market it. They won't market it. That's why there's no canned HP for cats. Because they just won't eat it. They won't eat it. They won't eat it. Yeah, which, yeah, if they aren't going to eat it, it's not going to help. Yeah. They do also have, all these companies have a guarantee so that if your dog or cat gets prescribed a food and then they won't eat it, you can get your money back.

Which I think is fantastic. Yeah, it's risk-free in terms of, you know, buying a bag of food that your pet's not going to eat. So, anyway, urinary calm is my favorite one, especially for cats with cystitis that helps with idiopathic cystitis or stress cystitis in cats. Because they can literally just get stressed out and it causes bladder inflammation and then they peel over your house and then you're stressed out. And urinary calm is actually really helpful. I mean, I would say 85% of my fluted

cats are the ones with the, you know, recurrent idiopathic cystitis will get better. Yep. And it usually resolves and helps prevent future flutes. Yeah, or at least dramatically reduces them. Yeah. I really like the urinary calm for cats. Yeah. It's fantastic. It's a great diet. It just has tryptophan. Yeah. And which is what's in Turkey. Yes. It's sleepy. Yeah. Thanksgiving. I know. And I think it doesn't also have like, oh, shoot. You know, the thing that's in. Oh, tryptophan.

Sorry. The D. D. D. H. It's the thing that's in colostrum. DHA. Yes. Hydrolyzed milk protein. Hydrolyzed milk protein. Which, yes. Which also makes you sleepy. And, yes. Supposed to be very relaxing and calming. Maybe sleepy was the wrong word. Yes. Relaxing and calming. That's sleepy. It's not Benadryl. Yeah. It's not Benadryl. So, yeah.

So, that's urinary food. If you're a veterinarian, prescribes you a urinary diet, definitely take that advice seriously. Yes. It is not the same thing as urinary health over-the-counter. Food is not, is not, will not work, is not. No. Don't mix these foods with other foods or it will not be able to change the pH of the urine and therefore is no longer effective. So just go all in. Yep. And if for any reason your pet does have two different

problems or what we like to say comorbidities. Such a great word. It is such a great word. Not always great, though, because, you know, it sucks having more than one disease. But they do this, again, this specific company makes multifunction diets. So like urinary diet with hydrolyzed protein. So those kiddos with IBD who also have urinary issues or kiddos with food allergies with urinary issues, it works for them. But again, it's not mixed. They make it that way.

So you don't have to mix it. And, yeah, if you mixed it, you would actually probably cancel out both. Probably, yeah. Because your hydrolyzed protein isn't going to be SO. No. And your SO is not going to be hydrolyzed protein. So you're going to blow both diets. Correct. So you've got to use their combo. Don't mix at home. Yeah. Which I think is really cool. Yeah. Which we talked a lot about food trial already with, like, the hydrolyzed protein diets and the ultimino. Yeah.

We don't need to go over those. Yeah, if you have a job with food allergies, scroll back to the infamous food trial episode and you will hear more than you can ever wish to know. Oh, yeah. Food allergy.

So, okay, what do we got next? We have Satiety, which is a good one, which is for our kiddos that are overweight. Again, this is a Royal Canin one. There are other brands. There's Metabolic with Hills, another great product. Yeah, Carina, OM. But these are really good because they have a lot of high fiber content. They help those pets feel fuller. Feel full. Yes. It helps. Man, talking is hard today. It helps them feel full. Yeah, by filling their tummy with fiber. Exactly. Exactly.

And another good thing, too, is that these foods have treats. So to go back a little bit, urinary food, there's a treat form as well. And then same with the satiety. So if your kiddo has been diagnosed as being a little chunk or just, you know, that's the nice way of saying it, but overweight. Yes. Overweight, obese. Unfortunately, I know we don't like to hear those words, but that is what it is. It is a medical condition that impacts their well-being. Oh, yeah.

And the satiety also helps with like joint support too, which is what a lot of these pets deal with. A lot of them have arthritis. Yeah. And fat, a lot of people don't realize that it is metabolically active. And so it's actually secreting inflammatory enzymes that is creating inflammation within the system and so this helps offset some of that as well. Yeah, exactly. So it helps to help get that fat off of them a little bit faster.

So if you're struggling with, you know, just cutting the calories or that over-the-counter diet, ask your vet about satiety or another. Pick that metabolism in the booty. Yeah, because that's really what it does. It does help change the metabolism as well. Safely. Safe weight loss.

Our next big one's going to be our GI food. I love the GI food. Yes, the GI food. I'm sure a lot of people, anyone who has had a cat or a dog with vomiting or diarrhea, the GI food is bread and butter, honestly. I mean, it's every internal medicine specialist drink. Yeah, it is. Because the biggest reason is it's so easy for them to digest. So easy. Chicken noodle soup for the dog tummy. Literally. That's the best way to describe it. Yeah. Is chicken noodle soup.

I never thought about that. Yeah, it's just easy to digest. And then my favorite is the low-fat. Yes. Which is not the same thing as low-calorie. Correct. So they're not going to lose weight on these. It's not the goal. It's not, like, I always tell my clients, I'm like, look, Jolly Ranchers are low-fat. It's not diet food. Right. They're zero calorie, like, zero fat grams in hot tamales, which are my favorite road trip candy. I love those. FYI.

You know, a little zing when you're trying to, like, burn these to the back of your tummy. I knew we were sisters just separated. Exactly. Just not by birth. Intertwined at the soul. So anyway, so yeah, not low calorie. Correct. But the low fat helps the pancreas heal. The dog body really struggles to metabolize fat. Yes. Really all of our bodies do, but especially our canines. It takes a lot of work to get a fat molecule. Because it's a big molecule. It is.

And it's like, obviously, we all know oil and water don't mix. So you have to coat the entire fat molecule with these little things that allow it to be absorbed through the water portion of the GI tract to get it in to where it needs to be. So it's work. Yeah. And so taking the fat out of that is less inflammatory for the dog's pancreas. It doesn't have to work as hard. So any of those types of GI diseases.

Pancreatitis. Yes. Especially pancreatitis. So, even if it's immune-mediated pancreatitis, taking the fat out of the diet will help the pancreas heal regardless of the cause of the pancreatitis. Yep. And it's a well-balanced diet. So, you know, a lot of times we may tell you to, you know, feed some boiled chicken and rice or something. The cool thing about this is it's similar, you know, but it's actually a well-balanced diet. Right. If you only feed it safely every day, not just for three days.

Whereas, like, chicken and rice, that's not balanced. You don't want to have vitamin-mineral deficiencies. Exactly. That's an excellent point. There's also the fiber response for those kiddos who may struggle with constipation issues. It helps to bulk up that stool. Works great for our Manx kitties, especially those who struggle with pooping. Yeah, the tailless cat dilemma with chronic constipation. And so keeping those stools softer and just the fiber helps it all pass.

It also helps lubricate it, too. It does. Is it like silicone or something like that? Oh, they put psyllium in it. That's what I meant. Yeah, psyllium. Yeah, they put psyllium. And then they also put the DHA and EFA from the fish oils and stuff. Which helps also lubricate the gut. Yeah. It all just helps pass. Yeah, it keeps it from turning into those really hard little bulbs. Yeah, which is what a lot of our constipated kiddos do.

Their poops a lot of time is really dry. And this really helps to moisten it up. Sorry if you don't like that word. Yeah, some people are reversed to that one. But there's probably other words in there like poop, you know, that might have triggered some people. Right. I hope y'all aren't listening to this on your lunch break. Yeah. Should have had a PSA at the beginning. Well, maybe next time. Well, it is veterinary medicine. Like, what did you think we were going to talk

about? That's true. We talk about a lot of poop. And pee and bonnet.

Fat. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Another of my favorite diets is the early cardiac diet. Ah, yeah. That's one we talk about a whole lot. And you may not hear us talk about it in exam rooms a lot because, unfortunately, there are so many diets and there's so many different recommendations for things.

Like it gets it gets hard but this one is for my kiddos who we know are going to be predisposed to heart disease for example my king charles cavaliers oh one of my favorite breeds i love them such good dogs but unfortunately they are very predisposed to heart disease i myself have had king charles cavalier who was my soul everything dog i loved her, Can I just tell them that I gave her to you? Yes. Oh, yes. Can I drop that in? Yes. We need to drop that in. Yes. I gave her that dog.

Yeah. I got her from Dr. King. There we go. That's how perfect she is. So I have her on this diet when I entered into vet school. And I'm here to tell you, he was 15 when she died. That dog was never on heart medicine. That is almost unheard of. In the Cavalier. In the Cavalier society. Like, I know she was, and she was full blood. Yep. She was a lemon a little bit because of that, but also, like, what a blessing. I never had to put her on pet meds. I had other problems. That's okay.

Well, I mean, yeah, you live to be 15 and you'll get some. Yeah, exactly. Age isn't a disease. It just comes with them. That's right. It's not a diagnosis. But this food really, it helps whenever, you know, especially, you know, myself and I know Dr. Keith as well, we really like to put pets that we know are going to have heart disease on fish oil. We don't have to do that. This diet does it for us. It does it in there. So I really, really love that.

And, you know, I'm not saying that the food was what prevented her heart disease completely. It's definitely a genetic component to it as well. But for her not developing a murmur until she was 11, I mean, also almost unheard of.

Another thing before i forget it's also low in sodium which is great because as you know too much sodium overworks the heart so yes water retention the other thing i just like tiny tangent yeah they've got this taurine in it oh yeah it's worth saying that like dilated cardiomyopathy this is a tiny tangent hang on with me while we go down this journey there were all of a sudden all of these dogs that genetically speaking were not predisposed to dcm that

yet had it like yes shih tzus and things like they're like what are you doing with dcm this is for boxers and for adobies yep and great dates right. And what they found is there was a high correlation between dogs that were developing this DCM that were on these boutique grain-free diets, especially pea and lentil diets. The FDA did a whole study on it. And what they found is they believe it actually was a taurine deficiency, which is especially interesting if you're as old as I am.

Caitlin is not. but i recall the days where we talked about it and it really was really in the 70s so that is older than me but we were still talking about it in vet school which 20 years which they briefly they did briefly mention it when i was okay as well it was more like a yes yeah for cats specifically yeah so they they thought the dogs and cats did not require torienne in their diet that it wasn't like an essential amino acid and so yeah they were wrong

so punchline i don't want to spoil this for anybody it was wrong they these cats were all just getting like canned tuna instead of like actual cat food or milk and tuna and milk or whatever and they were all developing dilated cardiomyopathy and then if you change the diet it will actually resolve the heart issue so i think it's great that they're throwing this taurine into this food to ensure that that's not a component in heart disease yeah i love it yes it's it's a real

easy ingredients that honestly kidney diets another big one um all of our kidney kiddos i'm sure mostly mostly older pets but there can be some young ones that are on this diet the biggest thing with these is it's lower protein because what our kidneys do they filter a lot of our stuff our protein breakdown product byproducts it it filters those out into the bladder and we pee them out these kiddos that don't have good kidneys, they can't do that as well.

So these toxins tend to build up in the body well. They come up with these diets, much lower protein, still safe. Not safe for pets without kidney disease. This is not a diet that you can just start to have. You can't do that. Then you will run into problems.

But these kiddos who have the issue of being able to filter this out, whether it's bu and creatinine which are big kid one kidney ones but also phosphorus it's also low in phosphorus and so that way the body doesn't have to work as hard at filtrating these byproducts because it's not breaking down as many doesn't have as much to break down the cool thing too is that if you ever notice the kidney diets they always have these weird little letters.

You're like oh renal f that must that must stand for like fancy flortoprofen or something you're That's definitely a really serious term. Right. When really it stands for... Flavorful. Yeah. They're just words to describe how the food is presented to the cats or the dogs. So we have found, especially with cats, that when they eat, they either go by texture and taste or smell. Well, some of these where you have like renal A, which stands for aromatic.

If your cat loves that stinky, gross food, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, the canned food being cracked open. Yeah. Like, what happened? Exactly. Like, did something die in this can? Like, oh, man, but they love it. And that's another good thing because historically, cats wouldn't eat these diets, specifically cats. Dogs, they really wouldn't, though, either, honestly.

I mean, it's tough. It was tough. But once they figured out the whole taste and smell aspect or texture, they came out with all these different textures, flavors, smells. And it's really nice. And they've broken it down with canines, excuse me, with dogs and cats. There's a vegetable grain-based protein. There's a pork and vegetable-based protein. So it's really cool. Yeah, they're all good for the kidney disease. But you have all of these options for which one will my pet eat.

Because a lot of times kidney dogs don't eat well. Because they already have issues. They don't feel good. The phosphorus makes them feel fluey. Their stomach's got extra acid buildup in it. And so this is where that guarantee comes in so handy because they're like, they will not eat flavorful. What about aromatic? Yep. And you just keep going down the list until you find something they'll eat. Yeah. And then you can switch brain to brain as well. Right.

And they also recently came out, well, it's within the last year or two, I believe, the early renal consult. Yeah. Which is for those kiddos that, you know, we just diagnosed with kidney disease and it's only a stage one. Right. Again, it still has the formulated with low phosphorus and stuff, but it's not as low as your regular renal support diet. Yeah, as far as the protein's concerned. And the protein's supposed to be easier

to digest as well or easier to process. The kidneys aren't working as hard at their job. Yeah. Also, it's good to note that a lot of these foods, I did forget to mention, especially the kidney ones, though, it has a lot of antioxidants in it too, which helps with just cellular health and tissue health in general, which whenever we have those disease tissues, like this helps. All of these cell breakdown byproducts and stuff is helping to, you know. Yeah. Helps it. Yeah.

And it helps slow oxidation of cells. So that's just super helpful. Yes. Excellent point. Like a tiny, another little thing about kidney disease. If you're trying to supplement your pet's diet because you're having a hard time getting them to eat it, and you're doing like toppers on the food, don't do a chicken breast. Correct. Do like sweet potato. Yes. Or something like that. Because you don't want to waste your money on a low-protein diet.

And then give them a giant chunk of straight protein. Yes, that would be... I mean, I get it. You want your pet to eat, but let's try like a sweet potato. Like you said, green beans. Yeah. Bread. Carrots. Bread even. Yes. Yeah, I'll take it. I never tell a kidney dog to not eat bread. I know. Because a lot of times, unfortunately, those of you who have had kidney cuts, they get skinny. They do. They do.

All right. What's next? We have our mobility diets. Also a huge fan favorite. A lot of our big dogs are giant breeds, you know, or our dogs prone to, you know, hip dysplasia. So we had our German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Dobermans, and then even our little dogs that have our patellar luxations and things like that. They honestly benefit from it, too. If you're supplementing your dog with joint supplements and they're not on a

medicated food, honestly, this is a great option. Instead of just doing, you know, supplements and a regular food, just put them on this. Yeah, I feel like, in my opinion, those joint supplements, I think the studies are a little dodgy on how helpful they really are. Very fair. of how much you'd actually have to give the dog for it to be helpful. Right. We're in there eating a whole bowl of it. Right. Now we're making some progress. So I would rather have a client spend the money on this.

And, you know, fish oils, it's going to have a ton of fish oils already in it. Like, so you're not going to, yeah, right. Yeah, you're going to have the joint chew in the food in a volume that's actually going to be helpful for the pet. And the other thing that's good is, because unfortunately, we do handle a lot of overweight pets again. And this helps have—it's got a lower caloric content. Yeah. So it helps those kiddos that are overweight.

Yeah. I mean, we get it. We get it. I mean, I would be lying if I told you I didn't have an overweight pet. I have had—. And may have one now. May? No. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. We're working on it. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. Whenever Dr. Dame and I are around here, he's always like, I'm not going to talk about my cat's fate with you today. So, next topic. And also, the cat's name is Cheeseburger. So, I mean, it's not his fault. I mean, honestly, what are you going to do when

you start off with a name like Cheeseburger? Right. Exactly. Okay. All right. And then again, just going to briefly mention And those kidney diets have those multifunction options. Oh, yeah. So the kidney diets, a lot of times, kidney, again, older pets, joint issues, they have both. So they have mobility and kidney diet.

Yeah. As well as, again, our lovely Hydrox protein. God love you. You know, Hydrox protein, like when you have a food allergy, you've already had like a tough break. I know. And now you've got kidney disease? Yeah. It's hard. But again, I'm very appreciative that they have that. Oh, yeah. It's a game changer. Because before you're just like, which disease is more important to manage? Do I want his kidneys to feel or for him to scratch his hair off his body?

This has just been fantastic because now we have both. We don't even have to, we don't have to choose and say, let's do both. Yeah. I mean, and I don't know how, like, I literally don't know because it may be, the answer may be all of them. But I don't know how many of the other companies actually have these. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know that Hills has some multifunction because they do have like a column urinary similar. I believe it's like a stress.

Theirs is labeled differently, but it's the same, very similar product. But I don't really know if anyone else does. I'm sure they probably do. I just think it's a really cool thing that is increased. Like they're figuring out how to do more. Yeah, exactly. Getting more options as the years go by. Right. And thankfully, since... The whole COVID debacle with having ingredients and the hardness to plant and that. Yeah, shortages were, yeah. We didn't have those multifunctions for a minute,

but they're backed out. And the treats went away, too. Yes. That was sad. Because that was like the first thing. They were like, okay, treats got to go. Yep, yep. They had to go. Giving your dog baby carrots until this comes back. I know. All right. And then we talked about Calm a little bit with the urinary SO. You know, a lot of times they're on the multifunction. And it's pretty uncommon for us to just be on the calm itself.

Yeah, I have a hard time when I have a cat with cystitis that I know needs to be on calm. I have a hard time not just doing urinary. Right. Because the price difference is negligible. And maybe if you had a cat. OK, so here's an example. Like maybe a cat has stress psychogenic alopecia when you're over grooming. Very true. Very true. I forget about that. Yeah. Because it's not always the urinary bladder that they show stress. It can be their fur when they're doing that.

So, yeah, that would be a good indication for just that. I haven't been charted on dogs, honestly. I haven't either. I know they have it. They use it more for small dogs, I believe. Yeah, it's just for small dogs. Okay, that actually makes sense. And I believe it's because the ingredients that they use, like the tryptophan and the milk protein, it's just the amount they would have to use for medium to large dogs. Yeah, it's just, and it was just, I think, ungodly expensive.

They might have had it at some point. Interesting. The dental diets, that's another one of my favorites. Oh, I know you like that. Yeah. Girl loves dentistry. I do love dentistry. It's a blessing and a curse. But it's, again, you may not hear us talk about this a lot because it's not that it's new. It's just we don't always think about these options because most people, they don't really want to buy new food.

They want to stick with the old and tried and true. But these foods are really good, especially if you have small dogs with the predisposition of having horrific dental disease or even cats. Again, there is medium-large dog variation. But these foods, they're made to be bigger. So they are bigger kibbles and they are appropriately sized for these small dogs and these cats. It's supposed to be big so that they have to chew them.

Exactly. Because what it basically does is it takes the place of using a toothbrush.

So they have these giant pieces of food in their mouth just think about it like when we were kids and you know we just get excited maybe about some chips and maybe we wouldn't take a bite we just shove them all in our mouth right that's kind of like what this is it's like you're just putting a bigger bite in there and it's it's just all moving around and grinding on those teeth and it has this kind of interesting fibery texture to it and those little fibers are like toothbrush bristles yep

yep it also has for the small dog the calcium and phosphorus yes as well as the urine so it has oh yeah the prevention of the urinary stones and the small one so i knew i knew that there was a different one about it but i couldn't remember i had to look at my notes for a second but i mean there's so much i know so many like i don't even know how many skews there are yeah but it's got to be. Oh, yeah. I guess hundreds for sure. Exactly. So many. I would be overwhelmed. Yeah.

A little bit. But the other thing that's cool is the cat dental diet, because cats, as we talked about in a. They can deal with stomatitis or, you know, severe gingivitis. The cat dental diet has fish oil in it as a natural anti-inflammatory. And they actually have seen that it's super beneficial in those cats with gingivitis. Yeah, that makes total sense, actually. I never really thought about it. Because a lot of that is like an autoimmune inflammatory process.

So if you can settle all that down. Yeah. Brilliant. Yeah, I know. So it's really awesome. I really like those dental diets. And if we're all being honest here, it's hard to brush your dog's teeth. And, like, I've tried to brush my cat's teeth. Max is 13, and I brushed his teeth at least twice in his lifetime. Yeah. We made a video one time on how to brush the teeth, and then we did it again a couple years later. So he's had his teeth brushed twice.

Granted, he's had many dentals. Yes, because guess how often he's brushed his teeth? So I'm not judging. Yeah, twice a day. At least once for dogs and cats. But I like those oral wipes, those little maxi guard wipes. And I feel like they're a little more realistic than a toothbrush. And I tell owners, if you could just do it like a few times a week, you could change the game. Strive for every day, but don't beat yourself up. Yeah, because in my defense, my dog's big.

If you have a little dog like a Yorkie or a Maltese, it could be a Dachshund. I mean, they love to get a baby's record. I know. They love to get dental disease, and those wipes can be a game-changer. Oh, yeah. They're really awesome. Same with, like, the water additives. And one of the things to note is that we do recommend the veterinary oral health care seal on any product that you use for dentistry because they actually work.

Like, veterinarians have sat down and said, like, okay, what works? What criteria? Yes, to make the results. And these things actually help prevent dentistry. Yes, there's so much out there that's just being mass marketed to the public. They're like, it's great for your dog's teeth. Yeah. And it's not. And it's like 75,000 calories. Yes. And now you have a chubby dog with bad teeth. Yes.

Which another cool thing is, is that the small dog it helps with has the fibers to help with the digestive health so they don't get as fat usually with the dental food. So that's awesome. Yay, it's a double win. We can't help it. We like, you know, food. We think sometimes food is love.

So we just got to be careful. yeah i mean and like it's for those of you who do people food i'm actually very supportive of human food for dogs as long yeah whole anything we should be eating yes your dog could probably eat with very few yeah very few exceptions like obviously like garlic and onions macadamia nuts is weird yeah can't do those yeah chocolate obviously we know but raisins but like yeah grapes and raisins that's yes randomly terrifying

yeah uh but like most fruits and vegetables and whole meats are great. Yes. And I mean, honestly, I would home cook for my dogs if I had the time. I truly would. Yeah. But if you go that route, you know, this podcast episode isn't to say that we only think the veterinary diets are the only way to go, you know, the prescription diets. That's all this is about. More just informational for you guys. But home cooking is great. And if you want to do that, give us a call. Yeah.

And it's probably on a couple other episodes somewhere, But the balanceit.com, it's a website. You just go to, literally, it's balanceit.com. And they give you a tutorial on how to home cook. And then they provide supplements for what you're deficient in. As far as vitamins and minerals or whatever. So it's like a multivitamin plus a whole cooked food. It's great. Yeah. And they updated the website, too. So it is way more user-friendly than it used to be.

Good. Yeah. It used to be kind of tricky to figure out how to get to the page to actually create your recipe and so forth. But it's really great. They can give you different recipe options, too. And if you have any of these issues, you know, joint issues or kidney disease, You know, we didn't talk about diabetes, but that's another one. Oh, yeah. They also have that capability to help you change the diet to fit the needs of your pet.

So you can home cook for most of these conditions. I think the one exception would probably be the urinary diet. Yes. That one might be a little challenging. Yeah, because of you're needing that pH. Yes. Because it would be difficult to mimic in a home diet. Right. But like you can mimic the benefits of all these diets via home cooking. It just takes some research and work. Yeah. So yeah. Which I, yeah, commend anyone who's got that kind of time. I know, right?

So anyway, all right, cool, cool, cool. That's it. Anything else you want to say about food? You know, nutrition, we don't always think about it, but it is like a huge cornerstone of our pets, excuse me, our pet and patient health. So, you know, if you think your pet might be struggling with even little things, and technically it's not little, but watch out. There might be a food to help. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, diet is key. all right thanks for joining us yes we'll talk about mushroom supplements yes next time i get together with dr greg yes what we're gonna talk about let's get excited we're gonna talk about the immune system and how we can help it out with mushrooms yeah not the bad ones not the bad ones lion's mane turkey tail red ratio we'll get to it we'll get there we'll get there stay tuned bye. Music.