Articles on Dog Health and Nutrition
I write articles for the Whole Dog Journal on both health and nutrition topics. I also wrote the Cook's Corner column on topics related to homemade diets for Dog World from January through December 2010, and continued to write feature articles on canine nutrition topics for Dog World until the magazine shut down in 2012. All of my articles are posted here six months after publication.
Diet Topics
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- DCM and Diet
- Diabetes Diets
- Homemade Diet Series
- Low-Fat Diets
- Sample Low-Fat Diets
- Senior Dog Diets
- Weight Loss Diets
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- Diet Critiques
- Coming Up a Bit Short Sometimes a diet looks complete at first glance, but nutrient calculators reveal deficiencies.
- Just the Fats Using a pre-mix for dogs with allergies: It’s good, but the fats need some balancing.
- Variety Show A varied diet helps these dogs thrive.
- You Can Make It Home-prepared diet guidelines: You don’t need a spreadsheet or a degree in nutrition to feed your dog a complete and balanced diet.
- Raw Diet Pitfalls Too much bone or fat in a home-prepared diet can lead to nutritional inadequacies.
- Diet Critiques
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- Other
- Share the Feast Thanksgiving Recipes
- Dishing on Diets Article that talks about nutrients that are commonly deficient in homemade diets, and how to provide them
- Other
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Dog World and Natural Dog Magazine Articles
- Mix and Match Find the right combination of fresh ingredients and commercial foods for your dog's diet.
- Crash Course on Calcium When you feed a homemade diet, adding the right amount of calcium is vital.
- Produce Pros Enhance your dog's meals with fruits and veggies.
- Variety Is Best Flexible yet balanced meals increase your dog’s vitality.
- Growing Bodies Protein plays a vital role in a puppy's diet.
- Raw Data The basics of feeding a raw diet
- One for the Road Tips for preparing meals while traveling with your dog.
- Bargain Hunting Simple tips to save cash while providing a balanced homemade dog diet.
- Vim and Vigor The right supplements can enhance your dog's diet.
- Weight Control Provide healthy foods and exercise to slim down your pudgy dog.
- Picky Eaters Help for dogs that won't eat.
- Diet for Senior Dogs Diet guidelines for older dogs.
- Switching It Up The nutritional value of food rotation.
- Count Those Calories Calculating how much food your dog needs.
- Essential Fatty Acids How supplementing your dogs diet with a essential fatty acids found in oils can help improve skin, coat, and more.
- Food Storage Tips How long will that can of food or bag of kibble last once its opened?
- The Skinny on Oils From fish oil to coconut oil, discover the health benefits of these supplements.
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Dog World and Natural Dog Magazine Articles
Health Topics
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- Addison's Disease The Great Imitator: Addison’s disease can mimic many other conditions; here’s how to positively identify it.
- Anxiety Medications Chill Pills: Behavior-altering drugs can help dogs with phobias or anxiety disorders.
- Arthritis
- Arthritis Overview Joint Decisions: Many effective tools can help in the fight against canine arthritis.
- Shockwave Therapy A new form of therapy offers pain relief using sound waves.
- Cushing's Disease Common in older dogs, but both diagnosis and treatment can be complicated.
- Diabetes in Dogs: Canine Diabetes and Diets for Dogs with Diabetes
- EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) Starving, Not Starved: Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) prevents absorption of food.
- Heartworm Disease
- Heartworm Prevention Don't take it lightly: Conventional preventatives are still the best way to protect your dog.
- Heartworm Treatment Get the worms out: Treatment for heartworm infection is critical, though risky.
- Hypothyroidism Fat, Lazy, and/or Grumpy Dog? If this describes your dog, the problem may be hypothyroidism. Learn about the many signs and causes of this disease, and how to treat it.
- Inappetence Tales of the Lost Appetite: What to do when your dog refuses to eat.
- Incontinence Drips Dried: Don’t give up; your dog’s urinary incontinence can be cured.
- Lipomas Take Your Lumps: Can (or should) anything be done about lipomas (also known as fatty tumors)?
- Noses and Toes Gone Wrong Numerous conditions that can affect your dog, from nose-tip to toenails.
- Pancreatitis A Pain in the Pancreas: Pancreatitis can be a serious acute condition, or just a chronic pain.
- Urinary Stones
- Calcium Oxalate Kidney and Bladder Stones Stoned Again? Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of calcium oxalate kidney and bladder stones.
- Struvite Crystals and Stones Is Your Dog Stoned? Preventing and treating struvite crystals and stones.
- Urate, Cystine, and Other Less Common Urinary Stones Cast in Stone: Treatment and prevention of urate, cystine, xanthine, calcium phosphate, silica and compound uroliths.
News Archive
I regret that I no longer have much time to respond to questions. See my Contact page for more information. My name is Mary Straus and you can email me at either or