Daily Mail - 05.03.2020

Page 46 Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020

healthier happier pet

how to

have a

WITHOUT A SPECIAL DIET, MY CATS WOULD DIE

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

BAnISHIng

grAInS

HAS HELPED

JACK’S

EPILEPSY

Julie Maxted, 58, runs dog gate

company dog-g8.com with her

husband Peter, 61, from their home

in Horsham, West Sussex.

the couple have three grown-up

children, a seven-year-old

dachshund Jack and a cat

called Benjy. She says:

JAck is a much-loved member of the

family and is very cheeky.

In fact, thanks to him and our tabby

cat Benjy, it’s like Tom and Jerry

around here — Jack will sit by the cat

flap so Benjy won’t come in, then

Benjy will dab Jack with her paw and

he squeals like a girl! They wind each

other up.

We’ve had him since he was a puppy

but when he was about four, he kept

having fits and we thought we were

going to lose him.

His eyes would go glassy, he’d start

shaking and saliva would come out

of his mouth. He looked quite

frightened and all we could do was

cuddle him until it subsided. We

were so worried — he’s so

dear to us.

He went to the TV

Supervet — Noel Fitz-

patrick’s practice —

to be tested and he

was diagnosed with

epilepsy. Luckily,

there was nothing

m o r e s e r i o u s l y

wrong with him.

He’s not on any drugs

so we went online to

see what we could do for

Jack and we found case

histories of dogs where going grain-

free really helped. A family friend

also suggested it.

It’s not known why such a diet

would help epileptic dogs, but since

we switched Jack’s diet to Butcher’s

grain-free recipes, usually the wet

tripe varieties in tins, it has helped

him enormously.

After about three or four months

of his diet, we realised the food was

beginning to work because he hadn’t

had a seizure for a while.

From having a fit every couple of

weeks, he now only has about

one ever y six months. They’re

no less severe but they’re far

less frequent.

We had no idea a diet

could have this effect

and we would not go

back. While Jack’s

epilepsy is never

going to go away, it

has given us peace

of mind.

EMMA’S vErDICT:

Whatever has made

this difference it’s clear

the result is good.

Gluten-free diets are known

to help Border terriers with a

syndrome like epilepsy but that

doesn’t need to be grain-free, just

gluten-free.

If you do go grain-free, speak to

your vet about the brands which are

most reputable.

Peace of mind: Julie with her

beloved dachshund Jack

Grain-free? Raw?

Three owners reveal

how special diets have

given their animals

a new lease of life

menus

that

worked

miracles

aManda Mc nally, 39, is a

Pa at Cats Protection, and

is married to university

lecturer Mike, 59. they live

in east Sussex with their

daughter Beatrice, seven,

and cats tully, 17, and

doris, ten. She says:

While there is a large age

gap between our two rescue

cats, both have ended up

having the same medical

problem: kidney disease.

Tully was first. he was a year

old when we got him — his

family had emigrated and he

needed a home. he’s huge

with a strong personality. he

hates dogs and will attack

them in the street and used to

sit on walls and whack people

as they walked past.

Ab o u t f i v e y e a r s a g o i

noticed that although he was

perfectly happy, he was drink-

ing and urinating excessively.

Being a former vet nurse, i

had my suspicions and took

him for a check up at the vet.

The urine analysis showed

proteins were increasing —

which ultimately can lead to

kidney disease. Because it was

a very slow onset, we thought

we’d change his diet to see if it

slowed it down.

Our vet recommended one

by Royal Canin called Urinary

S/O, which helps prevent the

formation of stones in his

bladder that stop him from

going to the toilet.

Kidney disease can lead to

too much protein in cats’ urine

and this food can help reduce

it and help prevent urinary

tract infections, which both

my cats suffered from before

they were diagnosed with

kidney disease.

Tully’s been on it ever since

and, around two years ago,

also had to begin medication

for kidney disease.

About the same time Doris,

a shy girl who’d been found in

a n a b a n d o n e d f r i d g e i n

someone’s garden nine years

ago, began showing the same

signs as Tully.

The only difference was that

s h e w e n t d o w n h i l l r e a l l y

q u i c k l y. S h e d r a n k a n d

urinated huge amounts every

night, lost ten per cent of her

body weight and started being

sick. Because of our experience

with Tully, i picked up on it

really quickly, got the tests

d o n e a n d s h e w e n t o n

medication and a special diet

straight away.

They’ll both be on a special

d i e t a n d m e d i c a t i o n f o r

the rest of their lives — it

keeps them going — and we

go to the see the vet for a

check-up every six months to

ch e c k t h e k i d n e y d i s e a s e

hasn’t progressed.

Despite their illness, both

the cats are perfectly happy

pre-prepared food is far easier. Cats,

on the other hand, are obligate

carnivores, which means they must

have certain ingredients found only

in meat.

Some people do want to make their

cats vegetarian but my opinion is if

you don’t want a carnivore as a pet,

don’t get a cat!

in terms of their food, in general the

‘super premium’ brands such as Purina

hills and Royal Canin are better,

but price is not always an indicator

of quality.

Cats should ideally be fed wet and

dry because they don’t take well to

changes later in life, so if they need a

certain food for a medical condition,

i t’ s b e t t e r i f t h e y a r e a l r e a d y

accustomed to it.

Pet food is certainly a minefield these

days, but there are key things to

remember. First, you need the right

food for your pet’s age or lifestyle. For

example, it’s very important for

puppies to have specific puppy food

because they need different levels of

minerals and also more calories than

adult dogs.

Older animals may need senior diets

to keep them in tip-top shape. Usually

older animals need fewer calories, they

also have slightly different mineral

levels to help in the early stages of

organ problems, and many have

supplements to help joints as our pets,

like us, get creakier with age.

it’s also essential that the food you

feed is ‘complete and balanced’. if the

packet doesn’t say this, don’t buy it.

You may want to home-make a diet

(cooked, i hope!) but remember that

dogs’ needs are different to ours so

ensure you are following expert advice,

not just a random recipe book ‘cooked

up’ by someone unqualified.

it’s very difficult to get home-made

diets right, even for us humans.

let’s not forget our small furry pets,

too. Rabbits, guinea pigs and degus

need lots of long fibre like grass

and hay.

And remember, never, ever feed

muesli- style foods. These make

selective eating and deficiencies and

obesity very common.

essentially, they pick out all their

favourite bits so miss out on nutrients.

it’s a bit like offering children a bowl

containing Brussels sprouts and

sweets. You know what they’d eat first.

So nuggets — they’re like a complete

kibble for rabbits and rodents — are

the way forward.