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Homemade Dog Food
As dog owners, we want to take the very best care of our beloved pets. This includes feeding them the best food we can.
Most dog owners feed their dog a commercial kibble, often with canned food, raw meat or leftovers from their own meals.
With recent concerns about the safety of commercial foods, more people are choosing to feed their dogs homemade dog food. This sounds good in theory, but it too can be fraught with danger if it isn’t balanced.
For example, a diet low in calcium can affect bone density, leading to fractures. Similarly, a diet high in calcium in a growing dog can lead to orthopedic problems such as osteochondrosis dissecans.
Dogs predominantly use fat as an energy source, and their diet needs to meet all their energy requirements for their life stage. For example, a growing pup will need a different balance of nutrients than an adult dog that spends his days dozing on the couch.
A homemade dog food diet must also include trace minerals and vitamins, as well as essential fatty acids. It’s important to keep in mind that different oils vary markedly in the fatty acids they contain, so feeding the wrong oil may result in fatty acid deficiencies.
Homemade diets for dogs are usually more expensive than feeding a commercial food, and can be more labor intensive to prepare.
If your budget allows you to formulate a homemade diet for your dog and you have the time to prepare and cook it correctly, you need to find a balanced recipe for your dog’s dinner. This is one area where you must not just turn to the internet for advice. There are many free dog food recipes online, but most are unbalanced, and can make your dog unwell due to nutrient deficiencies or excesses.
The best way to find a homemade dog food recipe is to ask your veterinarian for help. They will refer you to a veterinary nutritionist who will formulate a homemade diet for your dog that meets all his nutritional needs. Veterinary nutritionists not only have a veterinary science degree, but have gone on to further studies specifically in animal nutrition.
Alternatively, choose a website that custom makes diets for dogs, and is managed by a veterinary nutritionist. You may need to pay for these recipes, but that’s no different to paying a consultation for your veterinarian’s knowledge and expertise. It will also be a lot cheaper than paying for treatment if your dog develops a nutritional disease.
Dogs often enjoy a homemade diet more than kibble, and it is fun cooking for them. Just make sure you follow the advice of a specialist veterinary nutritionist, and your dog will thrive.
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