For two weeks every year, the health of hundreds of sled dogs during the world’s most prestigious sled dog race falls upon the shoulders of one man, Dr. Stu Nelson, the chief veterinarian of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. And with the help of an entire crew of trail vets, Nelson makes sure that the animal athletes stay in top shape and get what they need.Nelson grew up around the country, attending school in Missouri and beginning his career on the East Coast. The first animal athletes he worked with were racehorses before moving to Idaho. It was there he first...

“I am currently witnessing a drastic improvement in two gun dogs that I presently condition for clients during this off season. Both dogs are versatile hunters. Both hunt waterfowl and upland and are owned by hardcore, old school style foot hunters who work their dogs during the season 3-4 days a week at 4-6 hours per hunt. Most days these dogs hunt both ducks in the morning and pheasant or grouse in the afternoon. Both dogs are 3 and 4 year olds respectively. Both were switched to Dr. Tim’s from another high performance food(nationally known brand) four months ago by their...

Question I read the content in your foods and am wondering why chicken meal rather than chicken? I have switched both my cats (3) and dogs (2) from Science Diet to Innova Senior Dry and Can for my dogs, EVO dry for my two older underweight cats, and Chicken Soup Light dry for my overweight 4 year old cat because of the ingredients in Science Diet. Why should I switch to yours? I thought grains and carbs were bad for my pets. Thanks for your response. Marilyn Answer Thanks for the great question. In my opinion, if you are going to...

Dr. Tim, Do you have a dog food for an overweight dog? We are looking at switching dog foods and feeding our dogs, Alex and Gunner, 3-6 cups a day seems alot, or would I just scale it down to 3 cups? Bev I don’t believe in diet foods at all and have never seen them work to get weight off of dogs, or cats, for that matter. I really recommend using a high fat diet as the staple but controlling how much food that dog gets. The high fat diet keeps the dog feeling full much, much better than...

My female poodle has allergies and our vet says she may be allergic to chicken.He recommended that she eat dog food with only a few ingredients which contains mainly duck and potatoes and it has worked for her. Would your dog food with chicken cause my poodle allergies? Dana Dana, there are 3 ways to tell if an animal is allergic to an ingredient in the food; food trial/elimination diet; blood allergy testing and skin allergy testing. When I suspect an animal maybe allergic to food, it will be an animal that has skin issues on a year round basis,...

Question I work in a pet store and we learn as much about the choices so we can help our customers choose the best food for their pets, and lately Dr. Tim’s has become of the ones we feel confident about recommending to our customers. I have a question for you. We often have cats with UTI and other symptoms of renal disorders whose owners are tired of paying for the prescription diets, which seem to run counter to today’s findings that a high protein, low carb diet is optimal for such compromised kitties. We usually recommend high protein, low carb...

I have been looking for a nutritional dog food or supplement for my 10 year old Jack Russell Terrier. Everything that I find lately, has garlic powder and or Oregon Grape Root in the ingredient list. I have always heard dogs shouldn’t have garlic, nor should they ever eat grapes. Is Oregon Grape Root in the grape family? Charlotte Great questions. I tend to avoid anything grape for dogs these days as they can cause kidney problems in rare cases. Question is why? Not sure. Some also ask if the different types of grapes (red versus purple) could have an...