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Your dog's nutrition is important for a healthy & happy life. petMD experts help you to know what to feed your dog, how much food to feed, and the differences in dog foods, so your dog gets optimum nutrition.

Nutrition Nuggets is the newest offshoot of petMD's Dog Nutrition Center. Each week Dr. Coates will use her expertise and wisdom to blog about the intricacies of dog nutrition.
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The Importance of Digestibility for Dogs

Today I’m going to talk about an important pet food characteristic — digestibility. In fact, I think it is so important that I’m going to address it on both the canine and feline Nutrition Nuggets pages on the same day. The information in the two posts is similar but not identical,... READ MORE

Nov 09, 2012 / (3) comments

Feed the Patient - Starve the Cancer

Feeding pets that have been diagnosed with cancer is a challenge. It is not unusual for cancer patients to lose their appetites as a result of the disease or its treatment, and this occurs at a time when good nutrition is vital. Cancer also changes a pet’s metabolism. He has to compete with the... READ MORE

Nov 02, 2012 / (2) comments

What to Do When a Dog Eats Poop

Most owners love their dogs, but that doesn’t mean we’re not disgusted by them from time to time. Chief among the complaints that I most frequently hear from owners is coprophagia. Okay, nobody uses that word. Instead they’ll say something along the lines of, "Doc, why does my... READ MORE

Oct 26, 2012 / (4) comments

Dental Diets That Work for Dogs

Do you brush your dog’s teeth? You should … every day, or at least every other day (less than that is not really helpful). But don’t despair if, like me, you find that all too often "life" gets in the way of this chore. You do have other alternatives that can help.   READ MORE

Oct 19, 2012 / (3) comments

Using Diet to Treat and Prevent Bladder Stones

Some of the most dramatic X-rays I’ve ever shown clients are those that reveal the presence of large stones in the bladder of a dog. Up until they see the X-rays, many of these folks are a little annoyed at their pets. This isn’t too unreasonable considering they’ve typically been dealing... READ MORE

Oct 12, 2012 / (8) comments

Is Tighter Enforcement on the Horizon for OTC Therapeutic Diets?

On September 10, 2012 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a Draft Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) on the "Labeling and Marketing of Nutritional Products Intended for Use To Diagnose, Cure, Mitigate, Treat, or Prevent Disease in Dogs and Cats." CPGs are not new laws or regulations;... READ MORE

Oct 05, 2012 / (4) comments

Did Anyone Actually Read the AVMA Raw Meat Policy?

I don’t understand the kerfuffle over the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) newly adopted policy about the feeding of raw or undercooked animal-sourced protein to dogs and cats. Sure, I expected some push-back from the advocates of raw feeding, but the majority of people commenting... READ MORE

Sep 28, 2012 / (28) comments

Size Does Matter

I love practical research. Don’t get me wrong, even seemingly esoteric studies can end up having great, if sometimes unforeseen, benefits, but when I see a title like "Size of food bowl and scoop affects amount of food owners feed their dogs," I rush to read the paper. An article entitled,... READ MORE

Sep 21, 2012 / (7) comments

The Nutritional Needs of Older Dogs

A few months ago, I wrote about the special nutritional needs of puppies. Today, let’s look at the opposite end of the spectrum. In other words, how should we feed the "mature" dogs in our lives?   READ MORE

Sep 14, 2012 / (2) comments

Nutrition for the Canine Cancer Patient

When facing a diagnosis of cancer in a beloved pet, it’s easy for owners to become overwhelmed with all the treatment options, associated prognoses, and emotions involved. One topic that can get overlooked is the important role that nutrition plays during this time. A dog’s metabolism... READ MORE

Sep 07, 2012 / (2) comments

 

 

 


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ABOUT NUTRITION NUGGETS

JENNIFER COATES, DVM

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... graduated with honors from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. In the years since, she has practiced veterinary medicine in Virginia, Wyoming, and Colorado. She is the author of several books about veterinary medicine and animal care, including the Dictionary of Veterinary Terms, Vet-Speak Deciphered for the Non-Veterinarian .

Jennifer also writes short stories that focus on the strength and importance of the human-animal bond and freelance articles relating to a variety of animal care and veterinary topics. Dr. Coates lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and pets.

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