I thought over the next few weeks I would discuss the most common questions my wonderful reception team get asked at the front desk. Obviously, if you do come in for advice we would tailor that advice to you but here are some general guidelines. If you have further questions please ring, email, or simply come in for a chat.

Questions:
1. What food should I feed my pet ?

2. The myths about pet food that the 18 year old at the pet shop and google have told you debunked!

3. Do I need to use a flea product ?

4. What shampoo do I use and how often ?

5. I am not sure if my pet needs a check-up ?

6. I am going away and I am not sure what to do with my pet!

At Vet HQ we stock three brands of food, Hills Science Diet and Prescription diet in wet and dry food, Eukanuba dry food, and Royal Canine Veterinary Diet in wet and dry formulation. The reason we stock these products is because they have been checked analysed and comply with AFFCO feeding standards. This means that the food has been fed to animals and the animals have been checked to ensure they are at optimal health for their life stage. Many commercially available diets will state that they exceed or meet AFFCO standards but are not approved because they have not been tested. I personally like the ‘exceed’ comment. It’s the same as a drink driver “Sorry Officer its ok because I have exceeded the limit.” Exceeding limits are not always the best thing to do for our pets health.

Hills Pet food company also inspect their food producing plants on average once per month by USDA, State Departments of Agriculture, FDA, AIB International or Hill’s Global Quality. All finished products are held until they pass a rigorous testing process that includes tests for nutrient levels, foreign materials and salmonella (dry only). We employ HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) programs. Samples are taken every 30 minutes to assure nutrients and quality of food. We perform over 1000 checks for salmonella a month. This is an amazing and expensive feat. It makes me feel safe feeding my pets Hills products.

In addition to dry and or wet food we recommend fresh HUMAN CONSUMPTION meat and bones. It is essential that you do not feed so called fresh pet food as it contains a preservative called sulphur dioxide that can cause asthma, eczema, and inflammatory bowel disease in people and because of this is banned in human food production.

Wet food preparations (cans/sachets) are less nutritionally dense as they contain more water. Wet food is not necessarily a problem and in certain conditions like kidney and gastrointestinal disease wet food is preferred. However on the whole dry food is more highly recommended.