If you have followed us here at My Pet Nutritionist for any length of time, you’ll know that we’re great advocates for the inclusion of veggies for their prebiotic and fibrous benefits. But there are also times where we would avoid certain veggies. Keen to learn more?

In most cases, a liver shunt is caused by a birth defect. This is known as a congenital portosystemic shunt. But acquired shunts can also occur – this is usually linked to primary liver disease, or a disease involving the normal blood vessels into the liver. We describe the liver as the powerhouse of the body, quite simply because it carries out so many functions, so, is there anything we can do to support it when it’s function isn’t quite up to par?

Whilst we get skin issues across the board in dogs; we can’t deny that certain breeds are more predisposed than others. But if we have a list in our mind of those dogs who we think are more likely to suffer, have we even considered that their coat type may play a role? We’re going to take a look at those double coated breeds specifically, and why they may suffer with skin challenges.

There can be a number of reasons why your dog may be suffering with their ears. We’ve compiled some of the more common ones.

If you are a current pet owner or have been in the past, there is a 99% chance your pet has had pain medication at some point in their life. For us to fully weigh up what we are administering to our pets, it makes sense to start with the basics. So, how do pain medications work in pets?

We joke that certain breeds are a little sensitive to pain, and then we find other breeds completely stoic when suffering a chronic issue. But, if pain is crucial to our survival, quite literally, yet it can be subjective, what on earth is it? Let’s take a look at the neuroscience of pain.

There is a common misconception in the feline world. Many of us will see a hiding cat and make it our mission to coax them out. Whether this is whilst visiting a friend or taking in a new addition and they shoot straight under the cooker. We want them to come out so we can scratch under their chin. We want to reassure them. But what if we were to tell you that the welfare of said cats is greatly improved when they are given the opportunity to hide?

When faced with a sick pet, it can be hard to know where to start. It can sometimes feel like there is a never-ending list of things going wrong. We also have to manage our emotions; our pets are part of the family, and we hate to see them suffering. Sometimes it can help to have a structure when supporting digestive health and to this end, we take a systems approach.

Like all the systems in the body, things can and do go a little awry with urinary health. We’ve compiled 3 things to consider if your pet is facing challenges in this system.

When we understand that that the microbiome has a direct relationship with every organ in the body, why wouldn’t we wonder whether it could play a role in our dog’s bladder stones? We are lagging in canine data, but let’s take a look at the current information around urinary health and the microbiome.

It is thought there is over 300 recognised breeds of dogs around the World. The American Kennel Club recognise around 190 of them, and the UK Kennel Club recognise 221. For those of us who have a preference for a certain breed we may fondly discuss our love of the Labrador’s happy-go-lucky nature or the trainability of the poodle. It is clear there are breed differences, which suggests a genetic blueprint of certain traits and characteristic. We also know there are genetic predispositions to certain health issues in various breeds. But would you be surprised to learn that there may be breed differences in some clinical measurements?

When establishing the health status of pets, we often pursue a battery of tests. Whilst they may have been explained, you won’t be the first one to wonder what exactly the tests measure and what the numbers mean. One of the most common tests, along with kidney, is liver function. These tests are then talked about in terms of liver enzymes. But what are these liver enzymes are what jobs do they carry out in the body?