What is it?
A nutritional assessment includes consideration of animal-specific factors, diet specific factors, feeding management, and environmental factors.
1. Animal specific factors
This include age, life stage, weight, body condition score (BCS), activity, and nutrient sensitive disorders requiring specific dietary management (e.g., chronic kidney disease, obesity).
2. Diet specific factors
This include the safety and appropriateness of the diet and include nutrient imbalances, spoilage, and contamination. Feeding of an unbalanced homemade diet or a poor-quality commercial diet would be noted under this part of the assessment.
3. Feeding and management factors
This include the frequency, timing, location and method of feeding. Feeding management includes over- or under-feeding, feeding of treats, scavenging and hunting.
4. Environmental factors
This include the pet’s housing, presence of other animals, access to the outdoors, and environmental enrichment.
Why is this important?
Good nutrition enhances your dogs quality and quantity of life.
The positive impact of proper nutrition on health and disease is well established in all animals. Appropriate feeding throughout all life stages can help prevent diet-associated diseases, as well as to assist in the management of other diseases.
Doing a nutritional assessment for your dog is so important for your dogs well being that it has been added as a 5. vital sign for your dogs health by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA)
You can read more about the 5 vital signs of your dog here.
How is this used by Furry Fitness?
The Furry Fitness App use this data to create recommendations to you
When you use the Furry Fitness App you will be offered to do a nutritional assessment for your dog.
Will will ask you some questions and then the Furry Fitness App will give you some advice and give you feeding recommendations for your dog.
You can do nutritional assessments as often as you want and we recommend that you do this on a regular basis.
If you are on a diet plan for your dog due to obesity it will be important that you do weigh-ins and a Body Condition Score (BCS) at regular intervals.
Your dog is completely dependent on you as a dog owner and some of the advice the Furry Fitness App is actually about you as a dog owner in regards to your feeding management