Animal nutritional consult

At Den Hoek you can also schedule nutritional consults with our vet Aleid Hillebrand. Diet often plays a role in the development of an imbalance in the body, so it can also be used to correct the imbalance. It is nice to see that sometimes big differences can occur with small adjustments.

Giving the same kibble or the same canned food over a long period of time is actually not desirable.

We often give a certain type of feed for years on. Usually we still take into account the age and level of activity, but we do not look at, for example, the seasons or what type of animal you have according to the Five Elements (Wu Xing).

From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), not only the age and level of activity, but also the time of year and the basic constitution of an animal determines what it needs.

In humans it is also the case that one person, for example, needs more protein or carbohydrates than the other, and we also eat differently in the summer than in the winter.

According to TCM, all nutrients have a thermal and energetic effect. It does not matter whether it concerns meat, grains, vegetables, dairy, herbs or spices. They all have their own specific effect in the body.

For example, certain meats can be “warming” or even “hot”, such as lamb. Certainly if the animal receives this daily, this can cause certain “heat problems”, such as inflammation, in the long term.

The “hot” types, such as the Fire or Wood types, will suffer from this more quickly than, for example, a Water type. A Water type sometimes needs heat.

How these “heat problems” manifest themselves depends on the basic constitution of the animal. One will get ear infections, the other gastrointestinal problems and another behavioral problems.

When problems have arisen, nutrition always plays a role, if only to maintain the problem. In a nutritional consult, we look at which adjustments can be made to help repair the problem. Then a balanced diet is put together to prevent problems in the future. This is adjusted to the constitution, season and age of your animal.

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