FINALLY It’s Here! The Pet Nutrition Interview You’ve Been Waiting For…

“San Diego Zoo Nutritionist, Dr Michael Schlegel, Spills The Beans & Reveals Everything He Knows About Pet Nutrition!”

(Read an abbreviated version of the interview below OR click the blue arrow below to listen to the full phone interview)

boomp3.com

Sometime during the Summer of 99’, I had an opportunity to do a graduate Nutrition rotation at the San Diego Zoo.

To be honest, it was the highlight of graduate school for me and here’s why…

1. It was new, different and exciting.

2. The Zoo Nutritionist at the time, Dr. Marc Edwards, was 100% passionate about animal nutrition!

In my opinion, there’s nothing better than excitement and passion.  I truly love these two emotions.

So fast forward 8 years and I got the idea to call the San Diego Zoo and ask the nutritionist for an interview.

Guess what?

He agreed, there was just one catch…

Instead of Dr Marc Edwards (who had moved on to The National Zoo) it was Dr Mike Schlegel.  No worries, since Dr Schlegel was great and had the same passion as Dr Edwards.

Here’s how the interview went…

The Grooming Guru: Tell me a little about yourself?

Dr. Schlegel: My name is Mike Schlegel and I am the animal nutritionist at The San Diego Zoo. I received BS degree in Animal Nutrition at Penn State and then an MS & PhD in Animal Nutrition at Michigan State.

I taught Animal Nutrition at a small college called Delaware Valley for 5 years before I took the job at the San Diego Zoo. Believe it or not my specialty is in bovine (cow) nutrition.

The Grooming Guru: Can you talk a little about what you do at The San Diego Zoo?

Dr. Schlegel: I am the nutritionist for the Zoological Society of San Diego.

I supervise the nutritional services department at both the SD Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.

We have a department of 20 people, who receive the food and prep the diets for the animals.

The Grooming Guru: What do you like about what you do?

Dr. Schlegel: Well there’s always something unique going on since we take care of 7000-8000 animals at the zoo and park…and 400 different species.

So we may be reformulating hummingbird diets or we may evaluate our elephant diets or we may be looking at the light for our reptiles to make sure they are getting enough.

I love looking at numbers to make sure the animals are getting enough of what they require.

The Grooming Guru: Could you talk a little about what the average pet owner needs to know and should do for their pet’s nutrition?

Dr. Schlegel: Well there is a lot of information out there and even though I do exotic animals, I’m not an expert in domestic pets.

That being said, there are some key components to ensuring the overall nutritional health of the animal.

One thing would be ensuring that the pet food you’re using meets the standards set by AAFCO, which is the American Association of Feed Control Officials. AAFCO sets the standards for pet nutrition.

The other key component would be understanding your dog or cat’s target body weight and evaluating its body condition.

One of the biggest challenges is preventing animals from becoming obese.

Purina has a really good body score system that gives you descriptions and pictures for what the ideal dog or cat should look like.

The other thing is since there are a lot of options for pet foods, I would encourage watching dental health especially if an owner provides a wet food diet. The pet needs something crunchy to help with dental health.

The Grooming Guru: Is there a place, website or book that the average pet owner could go to for more information.

Dr. Schlegel: There are some places but the definitive source is The Nutrient Requirements of Dogs And Cats published by The National Research Council through the National Research Press.

It’s a little above the average pet owner's level and it’s not cheap (around $200) but it is the gold standard.

The Grooming Guru: And they could get this book at Amazon?

Dr. Schlegel: Yes.

The Grooming Guru: You also mentioned something that Purina has on ideal body condition. Is that online?

Dr. Schlegel: Yes, it’s at Purina.com and I think that you can print out the pictures. You may be able to contact them as well to get a chart.

The Grooming Guru: A lot of people in the pet industry really believe in the meat only diet for dogs and cats. Could you talk about that? Are there studies out there to prove that this diet is better than a regular diet?

Dr. Schlegel: We use a raw, meat only diet on the big cats at the Zoo since it’s hard to get them to eat kibbles. Keep in mind that this diet is supplemented too.

I have not read any studies with regards to raw meat diets for pets.

Dogs and cats are different though since cats will eat meat only but dogs will eat things other than meat.

I think if you are using a raw meat diet purchase it from a quality manufacturer and you prevent cross contamination at home.

That’s because it is not a sterile product.

The Grooming Guru: I’ve heard that a raw meat diet prevents things like hip problems and I’m ok with that, but only if there are studies.

Dr. Schlegel: I agree and there are a lot of Universities doing studies on pet food. Some of the Universities doing studies are UC Davis and The University of Illinois.

The Grooming Guru: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Dr. Schlegel: I think there are different products for different pet owners. There are brands at different price points and as long as they meet quality standards they should be good for your pet.

I would really like to hear your comments on this interview. Please send them to wes@thestudlypooch.com. Remember, the only way I can improve is if you tell me how I’m doing.

I would also like to thank Dr. Mike Schlegel for his time and commitment to this interview and to promoting the health of the animals at the San Diego Zoo.