VETgirl Q3 2021 Beat e-Magazine

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ISSUE 11 | OCTOBER 2021

CONTENTS OCTOBER 2021

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ARTICLES

04 Adverse Food Reaction:

When Diet is the Problem—and the Solution

20 Do You See What I See? Ophthalmic Exam Basics 22 On Simone Biles, Emotional Agility, and Leading with Mental Health 07 Management of Cats with Adult Heartworm Infections 10 Monitoring the Anesthetized Patient - Part 1 14 Goodbye Toxic Team

REVOLUTIONIZING THE ELIMINATION DIET. AGAIN.

We started with the first truly hypoallergenic dry diet for dogs with food allergies. And now, our progressive science has led to Elemental—built with purified amino acids. It’s our most advanced elimination diet yet.

NEW

NEW FLAVOR

24 UPCOMING CONTENT 28 TECH TIPS 28 PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT WHAT’S NEW

Explore our allergy-focused nutrition at PurinaProPlanVets.com.

Purina trademarks are owned by Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.

Photo by Nathália Arantes on Unsplash

/// QUARTERLY BEAT / OCTOBER 2021

QUARTERLY BEAT / OCTOBER 2021 ///

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Adverse Food Reaction: When Diet is the Problem—and the Solution

ALISON MANCHESTER , DVM, DACVIM (SAIM) Veterinary Specialist and One Health Fellow Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine

How often do we experience gastrointestinal (GI) upset and say to ourselves, “It must have been the burrito/ice cream/ sausage pizza/bean dip I ate.”? If we’re sensible, we avoid consuming the offending food until at least the next time our cravings overcome our common sense.

Unfortunately, dogs can’t perform this kind of self-regulation, even though their kibble may be the culprit behind their chronic diarrhea, vomiting, flatulence and/or poor appetite. As veterinarians, we often overlook diet as a potential instigator of GI distress and instead jump to the assumption that a patient with GI issues must be suffering from a parasitic or bacterial infection. As a GI-obsessed internist, it’s disappointing to walk into a consultation and learn a dog has been struggling with GI distress for months or years, undergoing treatment with metronidazole, tylosin, dewormers, and holistic supplements, with only a passing reference to dietary investigation. In many cases, a simpler, safer option might have been to first consider changing the dog’s diet. The term “adverse food reaction” is broad. It encompasses everything from a true food allergy to food toxicity to intolerances of proteins, fiber sources or fats underpinning a host of chronic enteropathies . The good news is that approximately two-thirds of dogs with adverse food reaction can experience marked clinical improvement, if not full clinical remission, when we feed them the right diet.1 ASK QUESTIONS—AND LISTEN We can’t ask our canine patients how they’re feeling, but we can get a lot of information from the owner. The catch is that owners don’t always know what’s normal and what’s not. Ask a client if their dog is experiencing “diarrhea”, and you may miss something simply because the client doesn’t realize that their dog’s bowel habits actually might indicate GI dysfunction. A thorough nutritional history is also vital. Unless you probe deeper, the client may tell you their dog is eating a prescription hydrolyzed diet, but neglect to mention that the dog also gets the milk at the end of the cereal bowl, three rawhide chews a day and “a bite” of whatever the owner eats for dinner.

RUN THE RIGHT TESTS After you take a diet history, the next step should be to ask yourself, “Is this animal sick or well?” If the dog has a good appetite and normal body condition, a conservative approach, such as switching the dog to a different over-the-counter food or to a therapeutic GI diet, may be appropriate. If the animal is not well, with a decreased body condition, loss of muscle mass and/or a poor appetite, a more thorough investigation is warranted. I start with a minimum >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16-17 Page 18-19 Page 20-21 Page 22-23 Page 24-25 Page 26-27 Page 28-29 Page 30

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