Small Animal Nutrition, Diets, Obesity (Dr. Parker)

What three things related to body composition should be performed at every visit?

Body weight, body condition score, muscle condition score

What point scoring system is recommended for BCS of cats and dogs?

9-point

If you're doing a BCS and you feel ribs w/ a light fat cover, what is the score?

5/9

If you are doing a BCS and you see and easily feel the ribs, like you can feel your knuckles, what is the score?

3/9

If you are doing a BCS and you see a flat line from shoulder to hips, what is the score?

7/9

What are the possible scores for muscle condition score?

Normal, mild, moderate, severe muscle loss

What are the 4 locations to visually examine and palpate when doing a muscle condition score?

Temporal bones, scapulae, vertebrae, pelvic bones

True or false: BCS correlates directly with MCS.

False— BCS does not necessarily correlate with MCS

What are the 3 main things that are useful on a pet food label?

AAFCO statement, ingredient list, guaranteed analysis

True or false: There is no such thing as an AAFCO approval.

True

What must be included in an AAFCO statement?

1) complete and balanced?

2) which life stage?

3) how determined?

4) supplemental feeding/intermittent?

What are the pros and cons of AAFCO diet trials?

Pro: tested in live animals

Con: May not meet all nutrient requirements

What are the pros and cons of a diet that has been formulated to meet?

Pro: should meet nutrient requirements

Cons: doesn't necessarily take into account bioavailability

Which of the following would NOT be a reason for an AAFCO diet trial to fail:

Clinical signs of a nutrient deficiency, average PCV <42%, average ALP < 100, average albumin < 2.8, dog loses > 15% of body weight

Average ALP <100 (fails if ALP is > 150)

A diet's serving instructions says "This product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only." Does this mean it is complete and balanced?

No!

Which of the following is NOT a life stage that can be claimed on food labels: Growth, adult maintenance, gestation/lactation, senior/mautre, all life stages

Senior/mature

What are ingredients listed by on pet food labels?

Weight

What is any nonrendered, clean part of the carcass?

Meat by-product

Which of the following is NOT an example of a by-produce: Liver, kidney, lungs, hair, spleen

Hair

True or false: A diet that contains a lot of by-products in it is worse than a diet that has a meat ingredient listed first.

False— ingredients do not equate to nutritive value

What is the most accurate way to compare diets of different caloric densities?

Per caloric basis (per 100 calories)

What lists the minimum and maximum percent of nutrients on an as fed basis?

Guaranteed analysis

What 4 things are on a GA (two min, two max)?

Minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fiber, maximum moisture

What are the nutrient concentrations that the diet is expected to achieve acquired from lab analysis?

Typical nutrient analysis

Which is more accurate, a guaranteed analysis or typical analysis?

Typical analysis (depicts what the diet is most likely to have at any given batch)

Why is it important to look at protein and fat content as a per calorie basis?

Protein or fat contents will be reported as a percentage, may look like one food is much higher in protein but when you look at it on a calorie basis, is actually less grams of protein per 100 calories

What are the three ways you can get information about nutrient content on a g per 100 calorie basis?

Product guides, call company, calculate

What is the shortcut formula to calculate a nutrient on a g/100 cal basis?

% nutrient reported/kcal/gram= g nutrient/ 100 kcal

If the calories reported are kcal/kg, how would you adjust your calculation?

Convert kcal/kg to kcal/g by moving the decimal over 3 places, then do your division

If you want a nutrient on a mg/100 kcal basis, how do you manipulate the product?

Multiply your answer by 1000

Bonus Q: Is a diet that is aimed at helping GI issues like diarrhea going to have a higher fiber or lower fiber diet?

Lower fiber bc want to slow things down

Which is a more useful indicator of fiber in a diet: total digestible fiber or crude fiber?

Total digestible fiber

What is the main equation to calculate RER?

70 x BW in kg ^ 0.71

What is the second equation to calculate RER but should only be used in animals 3-25 kg?

30 x BW + 70

For a canine in growth below and above 4 months, what is their MER?

< 4 months = 3x RER

> 4 months = 2x RER

For adult neutered canines, what is the MER?

1.6x RER

For adult intact canines, what is the MER?

1.8x RER

For working adult canines, what is the MER?

2-8x RER

For growing felines, what is the MER?

2.5x RER

For the adult neutered feline, what is the MER?

1.2 x RER

For the adult intact feline, what is the MER?

1.4x RER

Why might a cat that weighs more may have a lower intake than a cat that weighs less?

Different metabolisms and energy levels may change MER, also RER and MER fall along a bell curve, may be cats outside this

How long should you feed a diet for growth?

Until at least 1 year old

True or false: Energy needs decrease after neutering.

True

True or false: Because large breed dogs grow quicker, they need to be switched to adult feed at 6 months.

False, should feed growth diet until skeletal maturity (15 months)

Which age range has the highest prevalence of obesity?

6-10

Can renal diets be substituted with senior cat diets?

No, senior diets have a lot of variability and not all senior diets are good for CKD

What is muscle loss associated with age in abscence of disease?

Sarcopenia

What is muscle loss in presence of disease?

Cache is

True or false: Dietary supplements are required to show proof of safety, efficacy or quality control to be marketed.

False, not required

True or false: certain companies like the US Pharmacopeia and NSF international may provide seals of approval for supplements that guarantee a supplement is safe and effective.

False— no guarantee safe and effective

What does a seal of approval from NSF or USP on a supplement indicate?

All the ingredients listed on the label were present, no harmful levels of contaminants, product properly manufactured

Are all-in-one supplements better?

Not necessarily, may have a lot of things added but not in sufficient enough quantities to be beneficial

According to the EPA and DHA, omega-3 fatty acids are known to be __________.

Anti-inflammatory

Do joint supplements have evidence that they are effective with helping osteoarthritis?

No evidence

What is the most common nutritional disorder?

Obesity

What BCS score is considered overweight?

6/9-7/9

What BCS score is considered obese?

8/9-9/9

Which of the following is not a negative consequence of obesity: increased risk of diabetes mellitus, increased risk of orthopedic disease, increased risk of UTIs, increased skin disorders, respiratory compromise

Increased risk of UTIs

In the study where Labrador retrievers were either fed a controlled amount or 25% less than that amount, which group lived longer?

25% less fed

How did the groups in the Labrador retriever study fare with osteoarthritis (controlled amount and 25% less)?

No difference in occurrence of osteoarthritis but the 25% less lasted longer without needing treatment

What is the key to managing obesity?

Prevention

What is the first thing you should do if you notice a young animal is starting to gain too much weight?

Switch to a lower calorie diet that is still for growth

Which of these is not a main reason pets get obese: Unawareness of caloric density of diet or treats, food is love, avoidance, cats sleep majority of the day

Cats sleep majority of the day

If an animal is currently an 8/9 BCS and weigh 31 kg, what is its ideal weight (assume ideal is 5/9)?

21.7 kg

Since each BCS score means a 10% reduction in weight, 31 * 0.7 = 21.7 kg

What are all foods that are not providing complete and balanced nutrition?

Treats

Treats should stay < ______ total intake?

< 10%

Do supplements fall under the complete and balanced nutrition or treats?

Treats

How do you determine daily caloric intake for an obese animal trying to lose weight?

Calculate IBW, calculate RER using IBW, reduce current intake by a certain percentage

Why can't you just feed an obese animal less food per day?

Risk of nutrient deficiencies

What is the absolute minimum protein for dogs and cats?

Dogs: 6 g/kcal

Cats: 8.9 g/kcal

True or false: Low fat diets are great choices for low calorie diets.

False— not all low fat diets are low in calories

True or false: Low carb diets do not necessarily aid in weight loss

True

If a diet is high in fiber, how does this benefit satiety?

Animal can eat a greater volume of food

What is the key to success with a patient going through obesity management?

Frequent monitoring and rechecks every 1-2 weeks

What are the weight loss goals for an otherwise healthy animal eating a veterinary therapuetic weight loss diet?

1-2% weight loss per week

What is the obesity paradox for animals with chronic wasting diseases?

Overweight/obesity can improve survival

True or false: when a plateau happens in obesity weight loss management, you should reduce intake by 3-5%

True

True or false: For a pet going through a weight loss protocol, you should not let owners give any treats as this will counteract the progress.

False— if you tell owners they can't give treats, likely won't like that/listen to you, allow 5-10% of intake to be treats

Which of these is not an example of an unconventional diet: FreshPets simple ingredients refrigerated dog food, home-prepared diet, raw diet, vegetarian diet, boutique/exotic ingredient/grain-free

FreshPets

What is the biggest risk of feeding a home-prepared diet?

Nutritional inadequacy

What was found when 200 recipes of home-prepared diets from 34 sources with 65% written by veterinarians were analyzed?

95% had 1 or more nutritional deficiencies

True or false: Raw diets pose an infectious disease risk for bacterial and protozoan contamination.

True

Who else do you need to consider when feeding your animal a raw diet?

Those preparing the raw diet, any person or animal in contact with their feces, those immunocompromised

What condition is described in dogs fed raw diets likely secondary to consumption of thyroid tissue?

Dietary hyperthyroidism

What was found when 13 dry and 11 canned vegetarian diets were tested to measure crude protein and amino acids?

6 diets not meeting all amino acid requirements, also not abiding by AAFCO labeling regulations

What condition was found to be associated with grain-free diets?

Dilated cardiomyopathy

Which amino acid can potentially be associated with DCM as many dogs that have dietary associated DCM are deficient in it?

Taurine

What are ingredient drifts and why are they bad?

When owners drift away from the diet recipes of home-prepared meals—> can cause nutrient deficiencies