Miniature Schnauzer Food and Health
As for nutrition for your Miniature Schnauzer, there are a number of things to keep in mind. First of all, understand that these dogs are supposed to weigh around 15 pounds as adults, depending upon gender and size, and that a healthy Schnauzer should be getting the right diet to stay that way. This not only means providing the right number of calories, but it also means making sure that you choose the right food that contains protein, fiber, carbohydrates, nutrients, vitamins, minerals and more. Miniature Schnauzers need a specific diet in order to survive and stay healthy, particularly because they are prone to a number of health conditions.
One of the first things that you will want to be concerned about is whether or not your dog is getting enough protein. Although the National Academy of Sciences say that your dog should be getting at least 10% of their calories from protein, other experts say that is too conservative and that your dog should be getting around 20% of their diet from protein. Some of the most common sources of protein include meat, eggs, poultry, fish, soy and legumes. you want to make sure that your dog food features protein from multiple sources and that they are the number one ingredient listed.
Something else that you want to keep in mind is that your dog needs fiber in their food. Dog should be getting at least 50% of their food from carbohydrates with nearly 5% of that being fiber according to the National Academy of Sciences, but you have to keep in mind that you want to go with good carbohydrates. This means that you give them carbohydrates from things like sweet potatoes and brown rice. They also need between 5% and 8% of their diet from fats.
There are also certain health conditions that you should be aware of because they are affected by diet. Some of those conditions depend upon the amount of fat that your dog is getting from their diet, so Miniature Schnauzers should not be getting more than that 5% to 8% of their diet from fat or they could suffer from hyperlipidemia which could make getting pancreatitis a real possibility. They may also suffer from diabetes, bladder stones, and eye problems.
The best thing that you can do for your dog might be to get them dog insurance. Pet insurance is relatively new, but many pet owners are taking advantage of it because it is so useful. Pet insurance is low-cost health insurance for your pet that you can specialize for just about any incident that you can think of. For example, you can get pet insurance in case your dog is ever involved in an accident, you can get pet insurance to protect against specific medical conditions, or you can get pet insurance that protects your dog against just about anything that can happen. Obviously, the more protection that you have the more the insurance is going to cost. However, when you compare to paying out of pocket for medical expenses; the cost is quite low.