Myth or Fact?

Let’s dive into some common health myths and facts. Have you heard some of the following claims?

1) If your pet’s nose is dry, your pet is sick and you should see a veterinarian

Zeus, a Great Dane/Lab Mix, and his wet nose.

Myth and Fact: the truth is your pet’s nose can be wet or dry and still be healthy. Your pet’s temperature fluctuates throughout the day based on their activity level and other factors. (Check out this article from the American Kennel Club) These changes affect the amount of moisture on your pet’s nose. So don’t be alarmed if your pet has a warm or dry nose.

However, if your pet is acting abnormal, has dry flaky skin, is eating less, or has sores around their nose, please seek help from a veterinarian. There are many reasons for these symptoms and a veterinarian will help diagnose if there is a problem. You know your pet best, so if your pet is doing something that causes you to be concerned, be an advocate for your pet and seek veterinary help. Just remember, if the only symptom is that your pet’s nose is dry… your pet is likely fine.

**Disclaimer: As always, you should always seek veterinary advice if your pet is not feeling well.

2) If your pet is eating dirt/rocks, they are probably missing nutrients from their diet.

**The rocks have been digitally added. No dogs were placed in harms way during the creation of this picture.

Myth and Fact. This is a tricky one. Yes, if you pet is eating dirt and/or rocks, that could be a sign of missing nutrients from their diet. If you notice this, discuss your pet’s symptoms and diet with your veterinarian. If it is determined that your pet’s diet is balanced, it may be a behavioral issue. That is the myth part of this claim. Some dogs eat dirt/rocks for attention or out of boredom. I once knew a dog named River because he kept eating river rocks. It was a behavioral compulsion to eat rocks. He was otherwise very healthy. Unfortunately his habit resulted in repeated surgeries to remove the rocks!

3) To avoid your pet developing allergies, you should expose your pet to more things and more foods.

Typical food allergies for pets.

Myth. You can’t determine in advance if your pet will develop allergies. Exposing them to different environments and foods may have no effect. In fact, I have learned that with food allergies in particular, you cannot predict if your pet will have a food allergy. BUT, if they do develop allergies, it will be to foods they have already been exposed to. So, if you offer an assortment of foods (when I say foods, I mean proteins) early on… and they develop an allergy, your options of Novel Proteins will be severely limited. (Novel Proteins= proteins your pet has not consumed before…. they are new to your pet.) The only options left for your pet to eat may be more expensive or exotic meats like crocodile, ostrich, or kangaroo.

Some of these proteins may not be available in your state due to local laws so you may need to get creative in how and where you have your food delivered. For example, kangaroo meat is currently outlawed in California due to legislation passed in 2016 (US congress is considering a bill to ban kangaroo meat across the US). This caused a huge issue for many pets who relied on kangaroo-based foods. Their owners could no longer have the food shipped to their front door. Instead, many of them had to ship the food to a friend/relative out of state and then have it sent it to them in California. For those unlucky pet owners who didn’t have friends out of state, they had to change their pets diet to a more expensive novel protein like crocodile meat.

So in short, feed your pet a normal diet and avoid the novel proteins like salmon, bison, kangaroo, duck, rabbit, etc. Leave those novel protein diets alone in case your pet develops food allergies later in life.

If you have questions about things you have heard around the water cooler, let me know. We can discuss it in a future post.

**Disclaimer: As always, you should always seek veterinary advice if your pet is not feeling well.