The ABC's Of Prescription Dining

There are many different brands, flavors, and ingredients in pet foods. All places carry pet food from your grocer to your veterinary clinic. So what is the difference when purchasing prescription food versus Pet store food?

Prescription diets are foods that the ingredients are designed to help the pet with a particular problem, or help control disease. Hill's is the main brand of prescription food that Capitol Illini carries. They base the names on the alphabet. They try to coordinate the disease or problem that food aids in with the alphabet. The ending in all their food is d, this stands for diet. So here is a guide to get you through Hill's prescription "dining".

A/d, this food is very palatable, meaning it tastes very good! It is like candy to both dogs and cats. The a stands for anorexia. This food is for pets who are not wanting to eat.

B/d, this food is for our older dogs only. The b stands for brain, brain diet. This food aids with pets who have cognitive dysfunction (canine Alzheimer's).

C/d, stands for cystitis diet. This food is for pets who have chronic urinary tract infections. It helps prevent them.

D/d, this stands for dermatological (skin) diet for pets with food allergies. There are several types of D/d (rice, egg, fish, etc.) and some new additional prescription allergy diets.

G/d means geriatric diet. It helps control nutritional excess older pets don't need, and helps prevent diseases in older pets.

H/d is for the heart. It is designed for pets with heart disease. It helps maintain heart size and helps to control fluid build up. It can also be used in dogs with heartworms. It does NOT cure or prevent heartworms, it merely aids the strain put upon the heart from heartworms.

I/d is a diet for intestinal problems. It is a very bland diet, so it is often used for pets who have either undergone intestinal surgery, or who may have a condition such as pancreatitis or something similar to that.

J/d is joint diet. Some of the ingredients in this diet include glucosamine, chondroitin, and omega 3 fatty acids that help improve and maintain joint mobility in dogs (this food is for dogs only) with arthritis.

K/d is for the kidneys. This diet helps aid in kidney disease, as it has been proven to prolong and improve the quality of life for a kidney disease patient.

L/d, l is for the liver. L/d contains a high quality protein that reduce the workload for the liver and aid in regeneration of liver tissue.

M/d is for cats only. This is a new alternative weight loss food for cats. It stands for metabolic weight loss. As cats have a unique metabolic rate this food contains ingredients to help alter the metabolism to help reduce body fat.

N/d is neoplastic diet. Neoplastic means cancer. This food was developed through veterinarians and researchers studying dogs with cancer. It is a nutritional diet for dogs undergoing radiation, chemotherapy, or both. It is to aid in the stress put on the dog's body with these treatments, and shown to help improve lifespan and quality of life for dogs who unfortunately have been given this burden to bear. This food is for dogs only, and comes only in canned form.

P/d is nutrition for pediatrics. It was designed to help puppies and kittens grow. Capitol Illini no longer carries P/d as there are so many wonderful brands of puppy and kitten food on the market.

R/d stands for restricted diet. For our chubby companions this food is less caloric, and designed for weight loss.

S/d is for struvite crystals. These nasty little crystals are formed in the bladder. They accompany many urinary tract infections. This food helps break those crystals down. It is not intended for a long term or life long food. It is used when the crystals are present, and then the pet is usually transferred to the C/d to prevent infections. This food is for both cats and dogs, but only comes in canned form for the dogs.

T/d or teeth diet. This food is formulated to break tartar off the teeth. It scrapes each tooth as the pet chomps down. If your pet is an " inhaler" this food may not help them as they do need to chew this food for effectiveness. It is what we use for treats in exam rooms, so it could also be considered treat diet!

U/d is urolith diet. This refers to other nasty crystals that are associated with some urinary tract diseases. These types of crystals are rarely seen in cats, so this is a dog only food to help break the crystal down, and to prevent them in the future.

W/d is weight control. This food is used after a pet has lost the desired weight on diet food, to help maintain the current weight of the pet.

X/d is for calcium oxalate crystals. This is yet another urinary tract associated crystal. This food is for cats only.

Z/d is a food allergy diet. I know, z for allergy? WellA/d was developed long before, and so the a was already taken! They get the z because it is a hydrolyzed protein diet (see there is a z in there). So what does that mean? Hydrolyzed proteins break down intact animal proteins virtually eliminating the chance of reaction to this food.

Prescription diets are just that, prescriptions.So a veterinarian has to prescribe the first bag in order to start your pet on it. Along with proper care they can be wonderfully beneficial to a pet with a disease. Talk with your veterinarian if you think your pet needs new food!

Next months issue we will discuss Eukanuba and IVD prescription diets.

Welcome Back Shauna!

Starting September 6, Shauna Trautvetter, CVT will be re-joining the Chatham clinic team, part time. Shauna started working for Capitol Illini after graduating from Parkland College in 1989 with a degree in veterinary technology.

She has a wonderful husband, Sergeant Todd Trautvetter with the Illinois State Police canine unit, and three lovely boys.She left a year and a half ago due to scheduling with her children and their activities.

She is certified in canine massage therapy. Massage therapy increases blood flow to muscle tissue, increases flexibility for comfort, and reduces stress to injured or arthritic animals.

So welcome back Shauna, Capitol Illini missed you! Stop in and see her at our Chatham location and let her know you missed her too!

Housetraining Your Puppy

Time and patience is the most important aspect to remember when housetraining your puppy. With some tips it can be easy and effective.

Certain activities stimulate eliminating in the puppy. These activities include eating, drinking, playing, and waking up. So the first step is to know when they are thinking about going potty. Pick an area where you want your puppy to go, and be sure to take them there after every meal, drink, play time, and when they wake up. Praise when they sniff around the area, and thoroughly praise when they go by good tones, love, cookies, or more play time.

To help with scheduling these activity times keep your puppy on a routine. Having feeding schedules and feeding the same time every day can help predict when they will have to go. Do not leave food down, as the puppy can return to the food and you may not be aware of it. Leave the food down no longer than 30 minutes. They will soon learn to eat when it's dinner time!

Never leave them unattended, supervision is a must. If you have to leave the puppy confine them to a small area, or a crate. Always take them out before confining them, and as soon as they are released. It is important to associate good things with the confinement area, as it is not a punishment.

When there are accidents (and there will be) keep your cool. If you are present when they are eliminating startle them with a loud noise or shout NO, and take them outside immediately. A correction that occurs even a few minutes after the deed is done is not effective. Be sure to thoroughly clean the area, as they will return to previously soiled areas via scent.

A puppy is considered house trained when they have gone four-eight consecutive weeks with no accidents. Until then they should be watched.

With patience, consistency, and love your puppy will be house trained as good as you or me!

Ask The Vet

Sue from Springfield asks:

What causes "puppy breath"?

Dear Sue,

Unfortunately there are many theories, with no studies to back them up as to what causes puppy breath. Some veterinarians believe puppy breath can be due to roundworm infestation. An unhappy thought that makes puppy kisses undesirable. It poses the question however, why don't adult dogs infested with roundworms develop a puppy breath odor? Other explanations that have been posed are the bacterial content in pups are different than in adult dogs, causing a difference in odor. Yet another theory that seems to make more sense to me relates to diet. The puppy breath you smell may be due to mom's milk. As they age and the diet of course changes to solid puppy food they lose their puppy breath smell.

Kris K. Myers, DVM

If you have a question for the vet please send them to:

Ask The Vet
C/O Capitol Illini
1020 Jason Place
Chatham, Il. 62629
Or email them to jody@capitolillinivet.com

The Booty Scootin' Boogie

Grab your partner, swing em' round and round, stick you legs in the air and rub your butt on the ground! A common myth is that when dogs or cats "scoot" their bottom on the ground they have worms. This just isn't true.

Dogs and cats have anal sacs, which are two glands located on either side of the anus. They hold a strongly scented liquid that is released every time the animal defecates. This serves as a locating scent so they generally go in the same area, and also a territorial scent so other animals know there is an animal in the vicinity.

When these glands fill up it causes discomfort making the animal scoot or bite at their rear to express these glands. Some pets have trouble expressing them, and have to be manually expressed by the veterinary clinic.

Every pet is different. Some anal glands fill up faster than others. Some have thicker material than normal. On average if the pet has to have them expressed it is usually two-four times a year, but they will let you know with the booty scootin' boogie!

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