The Pet Assistant

Your ferret has a unique feeding requirement. Providing your pet with the appropriate diet is one way of ensuring your pet’s health and safety. You have the option to provide your furry friend with real organic foods or find a suitable commercial pet food in the market. Since not all of the foods available either from your or someone else’s farm or garden nor from those available online or via your local pet shop as commercially prepared pet food, you need to be careful when looking for the ideal food to offer to your ferret. This simple guide will provide you with basic information about ferret food.

Ferrets Are Carnivores

Ferrets are carnivores. They also have a short digestive tract that allows them to let food pass for a very short time (about three to four hours). They digestive system hardly gets any nutrients from plants and fruits. This only means that you will need to feed your ferret with a diet that is high in animal protein and fat but has low fiber content. Be reminded also that even the foods that are formulated primarily for ferrets, may not provide the same amount of every nutrient that your pet needs, so you need to be careful when deciding what foods you will be feeding your pet ferret. (more…)

“Until one has loved an animal, part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” -Anatole France (1844-1924)

   The Pet Assistant supports the ideals and mutual benefits of pet ownership.  Our main goal is to provide individual care and attention to our client’s beloved pets, ensuring that the clients can go about their other business guilt-free and at an affordable price.

We believe pets are part of the family and deserve love and care as well. The pet assistant is a spiritual oriented pet service, not only taking care of your pet, but also focusing on their soul! We offer a peace-of-mind service.

The Pet Assistant is a very professional service, respecting the rights of privacy, maintaining confidentiality and discretion in order to better serve its clients’ needs.

We are a licensed, insured and bonded service.

“Until one has loved an animal, part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

–Anatole France

The Pet Assistant supports the ideals and mutual benefits of pet ownership. Our main goal is to provide individual care and attention to our client’s beloved pets, ensuring that the clients can go about their other business guilt-free and at an affordable price.

We believe pets are part of the family and deserve love and care as well. The pet assistant is a spiritually oriented pet service, not only taking care of your pet, but also focusing on their soul!

We offer a peace-of-mind service. We are a licensed, insured and bonded service. The Pet Assistant is a very professional service, respecting the rights of privacy, maintaining confidentiality and discretion in order to better serve its clients’ needs.

Please contact us today and find out why our services make both owners and pets happy.

I have had clients bring dogs to the hospital because they were worried when it didn’t eat breakfast. I have had other owners bring in dogs that hadn’t eaten in weeks. And then there have been the countless dogs that were somewhere in between missing one meal to many meals. And always the two questions are the same no matter what the situation “What is wrong with my dog” and “How long can it go without eating?”  The assumption for the questions of course, is there must be a single cause for not eating or inappetence and a time period that is dangerous for survival. Unfortunately this symptom is the least informative, only surpassed by ADR or ain’t doing right. Fortunately, going without food is far less serious than going without water.

Causes of Inappetence

Symptoms are only signs that a problem exists, not the problem itself. Not eating can be caused by the following list and more:

• Primary oral disease ( gingivitis, periodontitis, infection)
• Secondary oral disease ( kidney disease, oral cancer, foreign body, infection, viral disease)
• Esophagus (irritation, inflammation, foreign bodies)
• Stomach problems (reflux, ulcers, outflow problems, tumors, obstruction, and inflammation)
• Intestinal problems (dietary indiscretion, foreign bodies, obstruction, tumors and inflammation)
• Pancreas and Liver problems
• Anemia, infection
• Behavior (weather conditions, fear, competition with house mates, anxiety, etc.)
• Other medical problems (cancer, hormonal conditions, neurological)
• ADR (Ain’t Doin’ Right)

So how do we vets find out why your dog isn’t eating? We have to examine, run test, perform x-rays, ultrasound and possibly even more advanced diagnostic tests and procedures. All of these procedures are to try and find a cause for not eating. The alternative is to give appetite stimulants and see if appetite returns spontaneously. This is clearly the less desirable choice but in some economic situations is the only feasible alternative.

How Long Can My Dog Go Without Eating?

Not drinking water is a problem after only 1 day. Not eating reduces body functions, especially the immune system, and can be harmful after a period of 4-7 days. Although dogs can survive much longer periods of time without food, the consequences can be significant. Muscle is lost and contributes to significant weight loss. This can also contribute to further inappetence. So what are rational guidelines?

Missing one meal or not eating for 1 day does not necessitate a veterinary visit. Two to three days of consistent inappetence requires veterinary intervention because something is wrong. It may not be serious or it may be very serious. The good news is that most causes of not eating are typically easy to resolve, eventually.

Do you remember that stage in your child’s life when they asked “but why” or “how” to every questioned you answered for them. Remember how the chain would go on and on as they tried to process and categorize the information. In this age of information overload we can learn a lot from our children’s interrogation methods. This is especially true when it comes to fad dog food trends like dog lifestyle foods, dog breed specific foods and hypoallergenic dog foods. It seems that commercial dog food makers, celebrities, internet websites and others are constantly blasting us with “must eat” foods to ensure the health of our dogs. But, why must they eat them? How are they miraculous? We need to put on our “child goggles” to evaluate these claims.

Why Do We Eat? It is not food dogs need. It is what is in food that they need. That grain-free, age appropriate food and breed specific medical condition diet will never reach the intestines in whole form. Starting at the mouth then to the stomach and finally into the intestines, this healthy meal will be broken down into basic microscopic parts. Namely, amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, chains of fatty acids, simple sugars, vitamins, minerals and other chemicals. Nothing will be left whole. Only the molecules are absorbed through the intestinal walls and into the blood stream to be used by all of the body cells. Those molecules that the body doesn’t need will leave in the urine or poop. This process is what we need to keep in mind when we evaluate fad foods for our dogs. It is not a particular food that is important, only what particular stuff is in that food and what the body does with it.

How the “Child Goggles” Work   Now we know it is what is in food that is important, let’s put on our child goggles and look at age specific, breed specific and hypoallergenic diets. We are told that our dogs’ need this food because it is formulated for senior life changes and supports joint health. The breed specific diets tout more or less of certain ingredients that are important for specific medical conditions that certain breeds are prone too. And hypoallergenic dog food will help all dogs with skin problems. Is this sounding familiar? Let the child in you take over.

• Why do I need to feed my older dog differently?
• What exactly do senior dogs need that normal, younger dogs don’t need?
• How do I know my dog has a problem that these foods address?
• If my dog has a problem will this food make it better?
• What is in the food that helps joints?
• Are the amounts in the food at levels known to really help?
• Is there any proof that this stuff works?
• What does this breed specific food help?
• Does it prevent my dog from getting the genetic diseases that the food was designed for?
• What if my dog does not have the breed specific disease?
• Why does he need less or more of these ingredients?
• Are the adjusted amounts in levels that really make a difference?
• What makes this diet hypoallergenic?
• Will it prevent allergies?
• Can it really prevent itching?
• How does it help?
• Why or why not?

We need to question just like a child and we need to let every question lead to another and another in order to evaluate our dog’s food. Just because it was said, and even said by a doctor, doesn’t make it so. Just ask any child.