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FOOD INTAKE IN ILL PATIENTS

First broadcast on www.provet.co.uk  


This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Many forms of disease compete with the body for energy, or increase the energy needed by the body, and this can be a problem if food intake isn't maintained

Energy is very important to maintain the everyday bodily functions that are essential for life - heart muscle contractions, brain activity, breathing and so on. So, your pet needs to eat regularly to replace the energy that it is losing just by being alive . If it also does other things that require energy such as exercise, if it is growing or if it gets pregnant and has to feed youngsters it will require much more energy because energy is needed  for muscle contractions, for cell multiplication and growth,  for fetal growth during pregnancy, and for milk production during lactation. 

Energy intake may also need to increase if your pet is ill. Many diseases increase energy use and your pet uses energy just to overcome the disease, and repair damaged tissues. Probably the best known example of this is cancer. It is well known that cancer cells grow at the expense of the animals body as they compete for available energy sources, particularly carbohydrates. Many tumours use glucose and the rate of turnover of glucose has been estimated to be up to 80% greater in cancer patients than in normal patients.  Glucose is an essential energy source for several organs, including the brain, so if the animal does not compensate by eating more food, it has to breakdown its own body stores of energy (fats, glycogen and proteins) to maintain blood glucose concentrations.

In many diseases the animals appetite is poor due to a variety of factors :

  • Decreased sense of taste
  • Decreased sense of smell
  • A direct effect of the disease
  • Pain
  • Obstruction to normal feeding 
  • Side-effects of some drug treatments
  • Generalised weakness and depression 

The net result of increased energy loss from the body with decreased energy intake is rapid weight loss.

Maintenance of energy intake is of paramount importance if ill patients are to maintain themselves, launch a good immune response against the disease and respond well to the use of therapeutic drugs and other forms of treatment. 

If your pet is ill, is losing weight and not eating you should use your best efforts to encourage it to eat. There are some tricks you can try :

  • Give the types of foods that you know your pet prefers eg canned or dry food, a specific brand
  • Sometimes adding water to the food can increase acceptance
  • Pour a highly aromatic substance (eg warmed beef or chicken stock) over the food
  • Warm foods to near body temperature
  • Feed small amounts of food regularly throughout the day
  • Hand feed small amounts of food
  • If , because of it's illness your pet has to be given a special diet to which it isn't accustomed, gradually introduce it over a 3-5 day period by mixing it in with it's favourite food and increase the amount of the new food daily.

If necessary your veterinarian may advise force feeding or special tube feeding techniques to prevent the vicious downward cycle of energy wastage, weight loss and generalised weakness.

 

Updated October 2013