Pet Nutrition
Feeding your pet well isn’t complicated, but it is confusing, and that’s mostly the fault of the marketing. This page is our plain answer to the questions we get asked across the consult table every week: what to feed, how much, and how to tell whether it’s working. We’ll also tell you where we stand, because we do have a view.
What should I actually feed my dog or cat?
We recommend a gently cooked or raw diet that’s complete and balanced, appropriate for your pet’s life stage, and made by a reputed manufacturer. That goes for cats as much as dogs.
The reasoning is straightforward. Those diets are much closer to what dogs and cats evolved eating and are physiologically built to digest. Kibble carries a far heavier carbohydrate load than either species needs, largely because carbohydrate is what holds a dry biscuit together, and we’ve written at length on why that matters.
It isn’t all or nothing though, and we’re not asking anyone to throw the bag out. Kibble is affordable, convenient and far better than nothing. Research shows that replacing even 20% of your dog’s daily food with fresh, minimally processed food makes a measurable difference, so if that’s where you start, that’s a genuine win.
For dogs, we recommend Lyka or a similar gently cooked diet, followed by commercially prepared raw brands such as Raw and Fresh. For cats, we recommend gently cooked food such as Tyga, a commercially prepared raw diet such as Raw and Fresh, or a good quality wet food from a manufacturer like Hills or Royal Canin.
Not sure where your current food sits? Bring the bag, the box or a photo of the label to your next visit and we’ll tell you honestly what we think of it.
Lyka and Tyga
Lyka is the fresh food diet we recommend in clinic, and Tyga is its feline version, made by the same company. Everything below applies to both.
It’s gently cooked, human grade and made here in Australia to high safety standards, then delivered to your door already portioned for your dog. It’s formulated by board certified veterinary nutritionists around the nutrient profile dogs evolved on, which is the part that gives us confidence putting our name to it. Because the quality is consistent, one food covers every life stage. You change the quantity and the protein, not the product.
We’ve got a lot of direct experience with it, in the clinic and at home. Dogs we see on Lyka are lean, have good skin, produce well formed stools and actually enjoy their food. Several of our own team feed it to their dogs, including a household of three greyhounds, so it isn’t something we recommend without having lived with it ourselves.
Their support team is easy to deal with, and because we know them well we can get on a call and sort out any problem quickly rather than leaving you to chase it.
To be upfront with you: the clinic does receive a benefit from Lyka, in the form of staff discounts and some rebates. We recommend it because we rate it, and we’d rather you knew both things.
Sign up through our clinic referral link and you’ll get a free sample flavour, 50% off your first week, 30% off your second week and a few treats thrown in. Ask at reception if you’d rather we set it up with you.
Feeding a puppy or kitten
Growth is the one stage where getting it wrong has lasting consequences. Puppies and kittens need food built for growth, and large breed puppies need a diet formulated for them specifically, because growing too fast is its own problem.
Our guide to feeding your puppy covers portions and body shape in detail, and it’s worth reading before you settle into a routine. If you’re coming to puppy school with us, bring your feeding questions along too.
One advantage of a high quality food like Lyka is that it suits every life stage, so you’re not switching products every year. You change how much, not what. On a conventional diet, most pets move onto adult food somewhere around their first birthday, with cats and small dogs getting there sooner and big dogs later.
Starting a pet on good food early is worth the effort. Across our patients, the ones who’ve been on a high quality diet from the beginning tend to give us fewer problems with itchy skin and unsettled stomachs later on, and heading that off is far easier than changing course once something has already gone wrong.
What changes as your pet gets older?
Appetite drops, muscle goes, joints stiffen and teeth get sorer, and all four change what an older pet needs on the plate. A senior diet is usually easier to chew, easier to digest and lighter on calories without being light on protein.
If your older pet has started leaving food or losing weight without you changing anything, that’s worth a look rather than a new bag of food.
How much food does your pet actually need?
Start with whatever guide comes with the food, then stop trusting it. Those numbers are averages built for an average pet, and yours almost certainly isn’t one. Two dogs the same weight can need quite different amounts depending on age, breed and how much walking they actually get.
If you’re on a portioned diet like Lyka, that work’s already done for you. Keep your dog’s weight updated in their system and it recalculates the amount, and their customer care team will help if you’re unsure. So will we. Working out how much to feed is a normal thing to ask us about, not an imposition.
The real measure is your pet’s body condition rather than the number on the scales. Have a look at the body condition score chart and check your pet against it, then book a weight and body condition check with a vet or nurse every six months so we catch any drift early rather than a year late.
Is your pet carrying extra weight?
Give it a go now. Run your hands down your pet’s sides. Ribs should be easy to find without pushing, and looking down from above you should see a waist behind the ribcage. No ribs and no waist means there’s weight to lose.
Weight is the most common nutrition problem we see and it almost never arrives suddenly. It’s half a biscuit here and a bit less walking there, and twelve months later the dog can’t get up the back step. Our pet weight loss program is built around fixing that without anyone feeling mean about it.
Here’s one from the clinic. Teddy is a much loved Jack Russell cross whose owners were already onto his weight and had him on a commercial kibble based weight loss diet for around two years. He sat at 23kg the whole time and it simply didn’t shift. Then he needed knee surgery, and the first thing the surgeon asked for was weight loss, because in her view the weight was the main reason the knee went in the first place.
We moved him onto Lyka and the weight came off over the following twelve weeks, without extra exercise, fasting or any battle over portions. He’s since had both knees done and recovered from each without complications. He’s 17.8kg now, which is spot on for him, and his owners are delighted.
What your dog's poop tells you about their diet
Nobody wants to talk about it, but it’s the most useful daily feedback you get. Firm, consistent and easy to pick up means the diet is agreeing with your dog. Loose, greasy, unusually smelly or wildly variable usually means it isn’t, or that something else is going on.
Use the chart below to score what you’re seeing.
Give any diet change ten to fourteen days before you judge it, and change foods gradually rather than overnight. If things haven’t settled after that, or there’s blood, weight loss or a pet that seems unwell, come and see us rather than trying another bag.
Do supplements actually help?
Usually not. A pet on a complete and balanced diet is already getting what it needs, and piling extras on top can do harm as easily as good.
Omega 3 is the exception worth knowing about, particularly for itchy skin and stiff joints, and we’ve written up what omega 3 and omega 6 actually do. Dose and quality vary hugely between products though, so ask us before you buy rather than after.
When food is part of the treatment
Some pets need a diet that’s doing a job. Skin and food allergies, urinary problems in cats, kidney disease, diabetes, pancreatitis and ongoing digestive trouble can all be managed substantially through food, which is why those diets come through the clinic rather than the supermarket.
The ones we reach for most often are for upset stomachs and ongoing gut trouble: Royal Canin Sensitivity Control and Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Low Fat for dogs, and the Gastrointestinal Low Fat for cats. For teeth we stock Royal Canin Oral Care and Hills t/d, and for cats with lower urinary tract problems we stock Hills c/d.
Your pet needs examining first so we know we’re treating the right thing. After that we can supply the food through our pharmacy and keep an eye on how they respond, which usually takes a few weeks rather than a few days.
Nutrition advice from our vets
Our vets write regularly on feeding and diet. The latest articles are below.
Come and talk to us about your pet's food
Nutrition questions are welcome at any appointment, and they’re a lot easier to answer with the food in front of us, so bring the bag or a photo of the label.
We look after pets across Clyde North, Berwick, Cranbourne, Narre Warren, Officer and Pakenham. Book online or give us a call.
Here’s what owners ask us most.
Frequently asked questions
In our view, yes. A gently cooked or raw diet that's complete, balanced and life stage appropriate, from a reputable manufacturer, is better than kibble, and we don't recommend kibble as a sole diet. That said, swapping even part of the diet across makes a real difference, so any step counts.
Yes. Cats evolved getting most of their water from prey, so they don't drink as much as you'd expect, and wet food tops that up hence relieving the pressure of the cats Kidneys. Further wet food does not have as much carbohydrate as the kibble. Cats are designed for high protein and fats and low cards. The High % carbs in kibble can play havoc with the insides of a cat and should be avoided.
Start with the guide on the food, then adjust to how your puppy is growing rather than to the number. Puppies should stay lean while they grow, especially large breeds. On a portioned diet the system works the amount out from your puppy's weight, and we're happy to help you check it.
Around the first birthday on a conventional diet, a little earlier for small breeds and later for large ones. If you're feeding a gently cooked or raw diet that's formulated for all life stages, you don't need to switch at all. You just adjust the quantity as your pet finishes growing.
Slowly. Mix a little of the new food into the old and shift the ratio over ten to fourteen days. Going straight across is the most common cause of a sudden upset stomach. If things haven't settled after two weeks, give us a call.
Firm, segmented, easy to pick up and roughly the same day to day. Loose, greasy or unusually smelly stools often point to a diet that doesn't agree with your dog. Blood, weight loss or a pet that seems unwell needs a vet rather than a food change.
Most dogs on a complete diet don't need extra supplements. Omega 3 and omega 6 are the ones we're asked about most and they can help with itchy skin and sore joints. Dose and quality vary a lot between products, so check with us before buying one.
Often, yes. We use diets like Royal Canin Sensitivity Control and Gastrointestinal Low Fat for exactly this. They only work once we know what we're dealing with though, so your pet needs examining first, because the same symptoms can come from several different causes.
Feel along their sides. Ribs should be easy to find without pressing, and you should see a waist from above. If you can't, there's weight to lose. Book a weight and body condition check with us, and if your pet's in good shape, every six months is a sensible rhythm to keep it that way.