FUNCTIONAL HEALTH GUIDE -- YOUR PET'S NUTRITION

 

A Longevity-Focused Guide for Dogs and Cats... And the People Who Love Them.

By Dr. Kevin Toman, The Longevity Vet

 

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Nutrition is not just fuel.
It is information.

Every bite your dog or cat eats sends metabolic signals that affect inflammation, immune balance, hormonal signaling, microbiome health, kidney and urinary function, cancer risk, and ultimately lifespan and healthspan.

This guide lays out what modern veterinary nutrition science actually shows—without industry spin, fear-based marketing, or ideology.

1. THE CORE PRINCIPLE: FOOD AS A BIOLOGIC SIGNAL

Functional nutrition asks a different question than traditional feeding guidelines:

“What diet best supports this individual pet’s biology over time?”

Rather than focusing only on calories and minimum nutrient requirements, functional nutrition evaluates:

• Inflammation
• Glycemic load and insulin signaling
• Digestibility and bioavailability
• Microbiome impact
• Immune reactivity
• Urinary chemistry
• Long-term organ stress

Food is not neutral.
It actively shapes physiology—positively or negatively—every single day.

2. UNPROCESSED FOODS: WHY THEY MATTER

Benefits of minimally processed diets (home-cooked or raw):

• Higher nutrient bioavailability
• Lower inflammatory load
• Better glycemic control
• Improved stool quality
• Often improved skin, coat, and energy
• Greater ingredient transparency

The problem with ultra-processed pet foods:

Most kibble is:

• Cooked at very high heat
• Pressurized and extruded
• Reheated during fat and flavor coating

This process:

• Destroys heat-sensitive nutrients
• Denatures proteins
• Oxidizes fats
• Creates Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs)

AGEs are pro-inflammatory molecules linked in mammals to:

• Accelerated aging
• Insulin resistance
• Kidney stress
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cancer progression

Dogs and cats are not exempt from these biologic effects. Chronic exposure to dietary AGEs contributes to long-term inflammatory burden and metabolic dysfunction.

3. RAW DIETS: BENEFITS AND REAL RISKS

Potential benefits:

• Excellent digestibility
• Lower carbohydrate load
• Often improved stool and coat
• Highly palatable

Real and important risks:

• Bacterial contamination (Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter)
• Toxoplasmosis risk—especially relevant for:
• Cats
• Immunocompromised humans
• Pregnant women

Raw feeding is not inherently wrong, but it must be:

• Carefully sourced
• Properly handled
• Appropriately balanced
• Used selectively

For many HPLL households, gently cooked diets provide a safer middle ground—retaining nutritional integrity while reducing infectious risk.

4. HOME-COOKED DIETS: THE BALANCING PROBLEM

Here is a critical truth:

Most home-cooked pet diets are nutritionally unbalanced.

Common deficiencies include:

• Calcium
• Trace minerals (zinc, copper, iodine)
• Essential fatty acids
• Certain B vitamins
• Taurine (especially for cats)

This does not mean home-cooking is a bad idea—it means balancing is mandatory.

Recommendation:

Use a professional balancing service such as BalanceIt.com, which:

• Formulates recipes for dogs and cats
• Adjusts for age, size, and disease
• Provides precise supplement guidance

Home-cooked + properly balanced = one of the most powerful longevity strategies available.

5. PROTEIN SIMPLICITY & ALLERGIC DISEASE

Why simple, single-protein diets matter:

Food allergies and intolerances are driven by immune recognition of dietary proteins.

Benefits of limited-ingredient, single-protein diets:

• Reduced immune stimulation
• Improved skin and ear health
• Better GI tolerance
• Easier identification of triggers

This approach is especially valuable in pets with:

• Chronic ear infections
• Itching and paw licking
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Anal gland disease

Complex diets often hide the true trigger. Simplicity creates clarity.

6. VEGETARIAN DIETS: WHEN THEY CAN HELP (AND WHEN THEY CAN’T)

Dogs:

Dogs can thrive on properly formulated vegetarian diets.

These diets may be useful in:

• Severe food allergies
• Certain inflammatory GI conditions
• Carefully controlled elimination trials

When formulated correctly, vegetarian diets can meet all known canine nutritional requirements.

Cats:

Cats are obligate carnivores.

They cannot be vegetarian.

Cats require animal-derived nutrients including:

• Taurine
• Arachidonic acid
• Vitamin A (retinol)
• Specific amino acids unavailable in plants

Deficiencies can lead to:

• Heart disease
• Vision loss
• Neurologic damage
• Reproductive failure
• Death

There is no safe workaround for this biology.

7. TAURINE & THE GRAIN-FREE CONTROVERSY

Taurine deficiency has been linked to:

• Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)
• Retinal degeneration
• Weakness and lethargy

Risk factors include:

• Poorly formulated grain-free diets
• Exotic or novel protein sources
• Heavy reliance on legumes
• Unbalanced home-cooked diets

This is not a grain problem. It is a formulation problem.

Functional nutrition focuses on measured adequacy, not marketing trends.

8. DIETARY TRIALS: THE GOLD STANDARD FOR FOOD ALLERGIES

If food allergy is suspected:

• Perform a true elimination diet
• Use a novel protein or hydrolyzed diet
• Avoid treats and flavored medications
• Trial duration: 8–12 weeks

This remains the only reliable diagnostic tool for dietary allergy. Blood and saliva tests may support—but cannot replace—dietary trials.

9. DIET, URINARY pH & LIFE-THREATENING STONES

Your pet’s diet directly influences urinary pH, mineral concentration, and water intake.  Every pet reacts differently to a given diet, so most times it is NOT the diet… it is your pet’s physiologic response to the diet that counts.  One of the most common issues is the effect of your pet’s diet on their urinary pH, or acid levels. 

Struvite stones:

• Form in alkaline urine
• Common in cats
• Often dissolvable with dietary therapy

Calcium oxalate stones:

• Form in acidic urine
• Increasing in both dogs and cats
• Cannot be dissolved—must be prevented

Urate stones:

• Linked to genetics and liver disease
• Strong dietary influence

Male cats:

Any of the crystals mentioned above can form in the bladder and then pass into the very narrow urethra of male cats when they urinate.  These crystals are VERY sharp and can create both urethral irritation and urethral blockage.  Urethral blockage can occur suddenly and without warning due to inflammation, mucus plugs, or crystals lodging in the narrow urethra.

This is a true medical emergency.  Without rapid intervention, bladder rupture, kidney failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and death can occur within 24–72 hours.

Dietary moisture intake, mineral balance, urinary pH control, and avoidance of excessive dry food are non-negotiable components of longevity care for male cats. Nutritional mistakes here are not theoretical—they are often fatal.

10. FUNCTIONAL HEALTH TESTS TO ASSESS DIETARY SUITABILITY

Functional nutrition is measurable.

Recommended tests include:

• CBC & comprehensive chemistry
• Urinalysis with pH and sediment
• SDMA (early kidney stress marker)
• Phosphorus
• Cholesterol & triglycerides
• Blood glucose & fructosamine
• Taurine levels (cats and at-risk dogs)
• B12 and folate (GI absorption)
• Fecal microbiome testing (selected cases)
• Food sensitivity testing (adjunctive—not diagnostic)

These data allow us to customize nutrition rather than guess.

11. THE FUNCTIONAL NUTRITION TAKEAWAY

There is no perfect diet for every pet.

There is only:

• The right diet
• For the right biology
• At the right time

Longevity nutrition is not about extremes.
It is about precision, balance, and ongoing measurement.

FINAL THOUGHT FROM THE LONGEVITY VET

Your pet’s diet can:

• Quiet inflammation
• Reduce disease risk
• Support organ resilience
• Extend healthy years

But only if it is:

• Thoughtful
• Balanced
• Monitored
• Individualized

This is where Functional Pet Health becomes Longevity Medicine.

If you want help designing a nutrition strategy that supports the rest of your pet’s life, a PET LONGEVITY CONSULT allows us to integrate diet, diagnostics, supplements, and prescription longevity tools into one cohesive plan.

Because nutrition is not just what your pet eats.
It is how long—and how well—they live.

Dr. Kevin

The Longevity Vet