Changing the diet can easily lead to major problems for dogs

If the food is suddenly changed, two situations often occur: one is that the food tastes good and is suitable for the dog's hobbies, and the dog eats a lot of food , eventually leading to vomiting and diarrhea. If the treatment is not enough, the body is too weak and often leads to death;

Another situation is that the dog does not like to eat, which affects the dog’s health. The correct way to change food is to start with the original food and add a small amount of new food. Then gradually add new food and reduce the original food until all the new food is eaten.

Food changes are a stress response in dogs. In the case of weakness, illness, surgery or other stress factors, it is not appropriate to change food in a hurry to prevent multiple factors from causing serious effects on the dog.

Feeding misunderstanding: Feeding dogs liver and carrots

Animal liver is rich in nutrients and very palatable to dogs. Almost all dogs like to eat it. And they don’t like to eat any other food. Therefore, many pet owners like to feed their dogs only liver or liver and carrots. However, this is unscientific and can easily cause rickets in puppies and osteomalacia in adult dogs. Dogs suffering from these two diseases appear to be healthy, but their gastrointestinal function is weakened, they eat less, their feces are dry or thin, they are inactive, and they dare not jump from high places. In severe cases, the puppy's waist and back will be sunken. The pelvic cavity becomes narrow and constipation is prone to occur. Adult female cats are prone to dystocia when giving birth and calcium deficiency convulsions after giving birth.

This is because the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio in food is approximately 1:1, while the calcium to phosphorus ratio in fresh liver is 1:36. Less calcium and more phosphorus is very detrimental to calcium absorption. In addition, the liver contains high amounts of vitamin A and vitamin D. Long-term consumption can easily cause vitamin A and D poisoning. One beta-carrot molecule in carrots can be converted into two vitamin A molecules, which is more likely to cause vitamin A poisoning in dogs. The correction method can be carried out according to the food replacement method, but the time can last longer.

Feeding misunderstandings: Feed dogs raw meat, raw fish, and raw shrimp

Dogs like raw meat and shrimp, especially cats. Research shows that raw meat may contain cysts such as Toxoplasma gondii, Echinococcus granulosus, hookworm cysticerci, and Trichinella spiralis larvae. Dogs can become infected after eating. If you eat raw fish, shrimp, and snails, you can become infected with a variety of flukes. According to a survey, the incidence of clonorchiasis in cats in Beijing is as high as 94%, and the main reason is eating raw fish and shrimp. The above-mentioned diseases are all zoonotic and can also infect humans, causing greater harm.

Raw meat, fish and shrimp may also contain a variety of pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella and E. coli. If they go rancid in summer, these bacteria may also produce toxins, which is more harmful to dogs.