160 Bear Christiana Rd
Bear, De 19701
302-322-6488
Dr. Jim Berg
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Nutrition and Feeding
You should feed your puppy a puppy food until 9 months of age. Puppy foods have higher levels of vitamins and minerals
that young puppies need to grow and develop bones and muscles. At 9 months old, you should buy adult food and slowly
start to mix the adult food into the puppy food. You will do this for the next 3 months - slowly increasing the
quantity of adult food while decreasing the puppy food. At one-year old, your pet can be fed exclusively adult
food. This gradual change allows the pet's intestinal system to adjust to the new food and usually prevents stomach
upset and diarrhea.
In general, premium foods will provide the best food source to your pet as these foods tend to use fewer by-products
than foods purchased at a grocery store. Premium foods often are also available in life-stages that you can use
for your pet's different age needs (puppy, adult, and senior formulas). These foods allow you to change your pet's
food to a different life-stage without completely having to change brands and the food change therefore seems to
be accepted by your pet better, both mentally and physically. Examples of premium foods include Hill's Science
Diet, Iams, and Eukaneuba. If you choose to purchase food from a grocery store, try to avoid "generic"
foods or the store's name brand food as we typically find these can cause gastrointestinal upset. Also, we again
recommend you select a food that comes in different life-stage formulas.
The dry vs. canned issue is often of concern. In general, it does not seem to greatly matter which your pet eats.
We see just as many animals with dental disease that eat canned food s as we do that eat dry food. In some instances
your pet may develop a specific health problem which could require a specific food. In these circumstances, we
will discuss what is best for your pet at that time.
How much food should you feed? In general we do not like to give a set amount since, just like humans, each animal
will have different metabolic and individual needs. In general, you should feed your pet the amount they can eat
in a 15 minute span without having it gone instantly, but also not have a bunch left over. Also, another useful
tip to use to evaluate if the amount you are feeding is okay for your pet, you can evaluate their body structure.
You should be able to feel the ribs without seeing deep indentations between each rib. If you can see indentations,
you need to increase the food amount you are feeding. If you cannot feel your pet's ribs when just gently touching
the rib cage, then your pet is becoming too heavy and you should slightly decrease the amount of food you are feeding.
If you feel your pet is too heavy or too thin despite what you feel is appropriate feeding, please make an appointment
for your pet to be examined, as there are many metabolic diseases that can show such symptoms.
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