Commercial dog food options have grown significantly in recent years, and savvy marketing and messaging about various diets and diet types are often not based on hard evidence or science. It’s no wonder that consumers are commonly confused about what is actually best to feed their pet! Increasing numbers of owners have also taken to preparing home-cooked diets for their pets - often stemming from concerns related to commercial pet food recalls or as part of managing a pet’s health problem. Certainly the selection of any single diet may be impacted by various factors including the pet’s health status or special dietary needs, as well as the owner’s moral or ethical concerns and budget. In this Specialty Update we report on and summarize important information recently published regarding canine nutrition and food considerations including: - The importance of understanding the nutritional value of a diet and that it is not necessarily dependent on the ingredients - Plant-based or vegetarian diets and why a vegetarian diet might be considered over a prescription or over-the-counter veterinary diet in dogs with cutaneous adverse food reactions (food allergy) - The increasing reports of diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dog breeds not previously considered at risk for the disease - The concept of grain-free and our current understanding of why this may be a harmful feeding practice in dogs Running time: 12 mins Member Fee: $10.95; Free registration for Premium VetVine Membership subscribers: http://vetvine.com/article/181/evidence-based-update-subscriptions

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