Pet Care Tips

Pet Care: Healthy Beautiful Skin For Your Pet

Pets are like humans in many ways; they, too, need to be nourished in order for them to have healthy and beautiful skin. It often follows that when your pet has skin and coat that glow, it is generally healthy, too, and healthy pets can live long and happy lives.

The coat is your pet’s first line of defense. It protects the skin which also protects the body. As you must know, the skin has a very important and specific role; together with the hair, it prevents foreign bodies to invade the body. The skin also keeps the body warm and protects it from extreme weather temperatures.

If you have a dog or a cat, you must know that protein is what makes up most of either one’s coat. You can easily tell if your pet is not having enough protein in its diet just by merely looking at its coat. Dogs or cats that lack protein have coats that are weak, brittle, and dry, and hair that always falls out. The skin, on the other hand, is usually made up of squamous cells or flat cells that are packed tightly together and which are made of proteins and fat. It is essential that these cells are well nourished, otherwise the cell membranes of the skin will weaken, allowing water to escape. Without enough water in the skin, viruses and bacteria can get through the skin and body easily.

Plants and animals are a rich source of proteins. Animal-based proteins have all the essential amino acids that your pet cat or dog must absolutely take, while plant-based proteins contain only some of the essential amino acids. Thus, to ensure the well being of your pet, you need to give it more of proteins that come from animals.

Fat is found both in animals and plants as well. They are then incorporated in skin cells, taking the form of fatty acids. There are two kinds of essential fatty acids that your pet must have in order to achieve healthy skin, and these are linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, both of which are omega-6 fatty acids. These acids are abundant in chicken fat, and vegetable oils like soybean and corn.

What linoleic acid does is to condition the skin and the coat of your pet so they don’t become dry, dull, and lifeless, and also so the hair does not fall out easily. Arachidonic acid on the other hand is a must specifically for cats.

However, you need to be aware that omega-6 fatty acids can be converted into compounds that can actually make your pet’s skin more prone to inflammation. Thus, it is necessary that you balance them out with omega-3 fatty acids which are normally found in fish oils and in certain plans like flax and canola. To achieve healthy skin and coat, the ideal ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is five to ten to one.

Aside from proteins and fat, your pet needs a good amount of vitamins and minerals, too, so make sure to include animal-based and plant-based components in your pet’s daily diet.