Feeding for Life Stage Requirements

The best diet is useless unless it is eaten by the patient. To aid recovery of patients, it is essential to provide the most appropriate diet and correct level of nutrients.

Practicing vets will often face a balance between adequate provision of nutrients that aid recovery and ensuring that the smell and taste of the food are attractive enough for the patient to want to eat it.

Life-stage requirements for patients require variation in nutrients, biological values and feeding intervals.


Neonates
It is essential that neonates are fed by their mother as soon as possible after birth in order to get maximum benefit from the maternal colostrum. If for any reason the mother is not available, the neonate will need bottle feeding. A proprietary milk formula should be used, fed from a bottle feeder of appropriate size, to provide the correct protein and fat levels. The formula is fed at body temperature or just above, initially every 2 hours, with frequency of feeding decreasing as the quantity taken increases.


Growth Phase
The energy demands of growing young animals are high and are met by using an energy-dense highly digestible diet with a suitable amount and balance of vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium andphosphorus. Patients can either be fed continuously or approximately 4–5 times daily to ensure that adequate energy uptake via food takes place.


Maintenance (Adult)
To avoid loss of appetite or the development of stressor diarrhoea in a patient, a familiar diet should be provided (in consultation with the owner). The diet must be balanced and the daily nutrients should be divided into 2–3 feeds per day, which will allow continuous monitoring and will be more comfortablefor the patient than one large meal.


Pregnancy
Depending on the stage of pregnancy and the species of patient, dietary requirements may be unchanged from normal maintenance (bitches only require an increase in dietary intake in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy) or may need to be increased from the time of mating (during pregnancy, cats require dietary increases to approximately 30% above maintenance amounts). Feeding may be continuous or via small feeds throughout the day.
In the lactation phase, energy requirements depend on litter size, with the greatest demands occurring 4 weeks after parturition. Small meals should be fed to supply the correct quantities of nutrients, often using a proprietary diet for lactating animals that will provide the necessary increased energy density.


Activity
Diets for working animals (e.g. sheepdogs, police dogs and racing Greyhounds) should meet the needs for muscular work and stress. Diets that have increased energy and fat levels are often referred to as ‘active diets’, but in recovering patients from this group it is important to provide a familiar diet that is palatable, digestible and balanced.


Old Age
Aged patients will vary considerably in condition and health status. They should be fed a familiar diet,given in small frequent meals and warmed to increase palatability. Older patients may require special diets in order to help deal with specific medical problems. Elderly patients may have sensory loss as well as a poor appetite. Many also have reduced mobility and will need assistance to take up the required daily nutrients.