Feeding Your Pet

Just in case you missed the story, it was about Apple, the 9-month-old Border Collie who ate a piece of devil's food cake, along with a knife that was waiting for the next cake customer. Dr. Elaine Caplian, of the Animal Medical Center in New York, said that Apple was spared more serious injury only because the knife went in handle first.

The point, though, is that Apple had to have been introduced to "people food" by humans in order to know that cake was food. If she had never eaten anything but dog food, the chances are good that she would never have been attracted to the cake in the first place.

As an alternative, dogs that eat people food along with or instead of dog food can be taught aversion to unacceptable foods through simple training techniques.

Why should one go to such lengths? What's wrong with a little snack now and then? Lots of things.

For starters, diets should never be supplemented unless directed by your pet's doctor. Anything you add or take away from a top quality balanced pet food imbalances that food. The balance of nutrients with each other is as important to good nutrition as is starting with good building blocks: carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Secondly, you never know when a pet that eats table food is going to eat something inappropriate, such as a knife-laced cake, or spoiled food that you turned your back on momentarily when the phone rang. Chow Hound Chester could ingest a lethal dose of bacteria before you can turn back around.

Third, good manners. While you may think it's cute to see FiFi sitting up on her haunches to beg at the table, your guests won't. So, either plan to have no dinner guests, or teach your pet better manners.

But an ounce of prevention is worth 1000 words in this column. If you have a youngster, a puppy or kitten that is learning his eating habits now, then now is the time to establish likes and dislikes for a lifetime. Finicky eaters are made, not born. If your little one is slow to ingest a certain brand of food, and it is a top quality brand, there are two don'ts and two dos to remember.

Don't switch brands every time he balks at eating meal or two, because all you'll do is force his intestinal tract to have to adjust to each new food. Don't add gravy, scraps, vegetables or other materials to a pet's diet to enhance the flavor. It only causes imbalances.

Do stick with one brand of food. A pet should eat only three diets in a lifetime: a growth formula, an adult formula, and a formula for older pets. There's no reason to change foods between 1 1/2 and 7 years of age, unless a medical condition warrants a special diet prescribed by a veterinarian. Pets don't need variety, they need constants in their diets. Do add water if your pet prefers softer food, and warm the food slightly to improve palatability.

As parents, we feel gratified whenver our children eat. We feel the same about our pets. We are doing them no favor, though, by feeding them the wrong things.