Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN

With the hundreds of pet foods available today, an owner's decision about what to feed his or her pet has become a more complicated question than it once was.

Although dietary supplements are thought to be safe because they are natural, this is not necessarily so.

The process of choosing an appropriate diet for an animal with cardiac disease involves examining the patient, the diet, and the owner's feeding practices and considering all the issues at hand.

When patients are unable to tolerate enteral feeding, parenteral (intravenous) nutrition should be considered. A veterinary facility with the ability to obtain and maintain aseptic vascular access, to provide attentive 24-hour nursing care, and to perform in-house serum chemistry analysis can provide parenteral nutritional support.

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder affecting dogs and cats in the United States (and, now, other countries), and its treatment is extremely challenging.