Content by Mike Davies
You may have noticed that when you buy your pet food it is based on your dog’s age. So this National Puppy Day we wanted to celebrate your 4-legged bundle of joy by giving some insight about why puppy food is different to what they’ll be eating when they are all grown up.
Puppies have significantly higher nutritional requirements than adults. This isn’t surprising when you think how much new tissue they have to make in such a short space of time…cartilage and bones, muscles and organ soft tissues – heart, liver, kidneys, bladder, brain and nervous system, intestinal tract and skin - the list goes on and on.
Puppies reach their maximum height by about 9 months of age, although they continue to gain weight for some time after that. Therefore, their food needs to support them throughout this stage of life.
The most important difference between puppies and adult dogs are due to increased requirements for…
Energy
All body activities are upregulated during growth and all cells require energy to grow and divide by replication. Basically, more growth = more energy.
Not only that but puppies also tend to be much more active through play and exploration than adults so they are burning off more calories all the time. These calories need to be replaced and the puppy range of OMNI plant-based dog food does just that. Check out all the other plant-powered pups and their happy owners over on our Instagram @omnipetfood.
Protein and amino acids
Protein is a major component of the structure of cells, tissues and organs and is being used at a very rapid rate during growth. Proteins are also enzymes and hormones, which are all upregulated during growth. Let's also not forget that red blood cells are essential for carrying oxygen around the body and these contain protein too! White cells and antibodies are also both important in immune defences and are all growing in number and consist of proteins.
This is why protein is super important in puppy food. As one of the healthy puppy food brands, OMNI is here to save the day. Our plant-based dog food contains 30% protein… pssstt that’s a lot more than most traditional meat puppy food.
Not only that but the OMNI plant-based dog food recipe is packed with all 10 essential amino acids that your pup needs, while using 90% fewer resources than meat-based dog food. We call that a win-win!
Fatty acids
Fatty acids are components of cell walls, and neurological tissues including the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves - all of which are developing rapidly during growth. They are also important to facilitate absorption of some vitamins from the intestinal tract, which is a main supplier of energy. So your puppy food needs fatty acids to fuel the zoomies…
Minerals
Different minerals are a major component of tissues. For example calcium, phosphorous and magnesium are important for bone and cartilage development so higher amounts are needed during the growth of the skeleton. Minerals are also involved in a lot of biochemical and physiological activity such as acid-base balance.
….woweee minerals are important. But don’t worry because OMNI puppy food has all the vital minerals to give you a healthy puppy.
Vitamins
Vitamins are components of enzymes and coenzymes, and so are required for many biochemical processes in the body. These are all very active during tissue growth and development so OMNI puppy food has all the vital vitamins your pup needs.
Your pup is in safe hands with OMNI
With all this in mind, puppy diets have to be carefully formulated to make sure that they provide sufficient energy and essential nutrients particularly when they are very young. If puppies are not fed a properly formulated food they are likely to develop skeletal disease and other illnesses during development, which is unfortunately very common.
An OMNI subscription is a great plan for affordable healthy puppy food that will provide your pup with all the necessary nutrients they need. Your hands may be a little full while raising your little terror… errr, we mean angel, so that’s why you can get OMNI delivered straight to your door every month. No hassle, no fuss, just healthy puppy food.
