Many pet parents prepare their own homemade food for their dogs at home, typically using a nutritionally-balanced base mix which requires adding meat and vegetables as necessary.
Many recipes lack adequate nutrition. For best results, consult with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist for guidance.
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Variety is Key
Main reason to feed your dog a varied diet is to prevent allergies; however, even with careful ingredients selection, dogs have natural sensitivities to certain proteins which should be switched up regularly in order to prevent overstimulation of the digestive system.
Dogs differ greatly from wild wolves in that they have developed distinct diets over time, with certain breeds having specific needs when it comes to nutrition. Simply serving raw food to all your pets could result in nutritional imbalances leading to disease or compromised health issues.
An excellent, gentle cooked diet provides the best of both worlds – all the benefits of whole food nutrition with less risk of pathogens and easier digestion for you and your pet. Look for foods with low moisture content so they can be stored at room temperature; and read ingredient labels carefully so you know where the ingredients come from as well as their percentage breakdown between different protein sources.
Preparation Is Key
Preparing a diet from scratch can be time consuming and require ingredients of good quality that match up closely to your dog’s current nutritional requirements. Otherwise, their vital vitamins and minerals could become depleted leading to health complications in later life.
Recipes should be clear and followed closely, to reduce the chance of substitutions occurring and causing long-term health concerns for your dog. Substituting without thinking will increase chances of nutritional deficiencies which could impact its long-term wellbeing.
Food should be gently prepared rather than boiled to protect its nutrients from degrading under high heat conditions, and is more recommended by veterinary nutritionists as it enables you to add foods not commonly available commercially for added health benefits for your dog.
Meat Is The Star
Dogs are carnivores, and regardless of their different body shapes today, their physiology has evolved so that most of their nutrition comes from raw muscle meat, organs and bones. Cooked food may provide enough calories, but dogs must work harder to extract what nutrients they require from it.
When selecting cooked dog food, look for recipes that are gentle on your pups digestive system and made up of only whole foods (without high carb fillers, preservatives or synthetic vitamins and minerals). Also be sure to verify if it appears in FDA’s Withdrawals & Recalls list prior to purchasing.
Homemade recipes can be great, but always consult a veterinary nutritionist before proceeding to make sure that it contains an ideal balance of nutrients. Be sure to save all liquid from cooking vegetables as this contains water-soluble vitamins that could potentially benefit the meal – particularly important when dealing with greens like spinach!
Nutrition Is Key
Feeding someone a nutritious, home-cooked diet takes more than clicking online or going grocery shopping – clear instructions regarding ingredients, cooking methods, serving sizes and substitutions of ingredients may cause unbalance in a recipe resulting in too much or too little of certain nutrients that may even become dangerous over time.
Veterinarians or canine nutritionists specialize in nutritional consulting to design custom meal plans to meet your pet’s individual needs and help identify foods which could potentially be dangerous or toxic for him/her. They can also advise about foods which could pose potential hazards.
Lightly cooked muscle meats are more easily digested by dogs than whole bones or ground bones, and can even be combined with fresh fruits and vegetables to provide additional nutrition. Since 70% of their immune system lives within their gut, your pup will appreciate having access to diet that includes these digestive-friendly options.
