Thanks to pet cookbooks and recipes on the internet, homemade food preparation for your dog or cat has never been so accessible. But ensuring he has a nutritionally balanced diet is trickier and requires understanding some key points of canine and feline nutrition.
Are you drawn to the idea of preparing meals for your dog or cat at home? Many people have gone this route because it is a way to control the foods and ingredients their pets eat, helping to ensure healthier diets. But to succeed, you must first know the canine and feline diet, and know how to prepare balanced meals that meet the needs of your companion. Otherwise, your dog or cat could end up missing some nutrients while ingesting too many others. In this article, we’ll look at some key points you need to be aware of when preparing pet food at home.
#1. Know that home-prepared diets involve more than muscle meat
Home-prepared pet foods can be raw or cooked, depending on preference. Just keep in mind that dogs and wild cats eat all prey, not just muscle meat. Many people are disgusted at the thought of donating organs, eyeballs, intestinal contents and hair to their dogs and cats. not to mention that most of these body parts cannot be found in grocery stores! Still, they provide trace amounts of vitamins and minerals not found in muscle meat, so a replacement source should be added to home-prepared meals (more on that below).
#2. Understand that preparing meals at home is not an exact science
Although you should strive to do your best to provide your dog or cat with all the essential nutrients they need, keep in mind that preparing pet food at home is not an exact science. Tables describing the nutritional composition of individual foods and ingredients are helpful, but each batch of meat or vegetables will have different levels of vitamins and minerals, depending on their growing conditions, age at harvest, and many other variables. . You can compensate for this by giving your dog or cat plenty of variety, as well as adding supplements (again, more on that below). By doing this, it is not that difficult to feed your pet high quality food that will improve its health and longevity.
#3. Work with a veterinarian to detect potential nutritional imbalances
No matter how knowledgeable you are about preparing food for your dog or cat at home, it’s always a good idea to have your vet examine him and do some lab work on him. at least twice a year, just to make sure he’s not in pain. any nutritional deficiencies or excesses. These problems will not be immediately apparent because dogs and cats are resilient and will survive for long periods of time, even years, on diets that are not fully balanced. However, cats can develop poor health faster than dogs when fed diets that lack essential nutrients.
Provide the veterinarian with a printed list of the ingredients you use to prepare your pet’s meals. Try to work with a holistic or integrative vet if you can – many mainstream vets are unfamiliar with the formulation of homemade dog and cat food and may even caution that it’s impossible to make your own balanced pet food of company.
#4 Include These Essential Ingredients
Here is a list of four ingredients that are often missing from home-prepared pet food recipes. Use this information as a guide; you can also consult with a veterinary nutritionist or dietary therapist to ensure your dog or cat is getting a complete and balanced diet.
Calcium and phosphorus
Dogs and cats need more calcium than phosphorus in their diet, with a ratio of about 1.2 to 1 being appropriate. However, meats are high in phosphorus and low in calcium, the opposite of what is needed. green tripe (the first stomach of ruminants such as cows, sheep and goats) is a good source of protein with a balance of calcium and phosphorus, although the smell puts off many people.
Calcium is usually added to food in the form of bone mealground eggshells* (1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat in the recipe), or 10% to 15% crushed bone in raw diets. About 500 mg of calcium should be added for every pound of meat in the recipe.
Contrary to popular belief, milk and dairy products do not provide enough calcium for home-prepared canine and feline diets. Most general vitamin supplements don’t contain enough calcium either. Look for supplements specifically designed to balance home-prepared meals for dogs and cats.
*Use a coffee grinder or food processor to ensure the eggshells are ground as finely as possible.
Vitamin D
Unlike humans, dogs and cats cannot convert sunlight into vitamin D. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) must be provided through food. This fat-soluble vitamin is found naturally in egg yolks And fish. Diets that contain one of these ingredients daily will come closer to providing proper vitamin D levels for your pet. I don’t recommend using cod liver oil as a source of vitamin D because it’s also very high in vitamin A, which can be toxic in high amounts.
Vitamin D helps regulate the balance of calcium and phosphorus and contributes to bone growth and density as well as the functioning of the immune system. It also helps in cancer prevention. However, excess vitamin D will lead to toxicity, causing kidney and bladder stones and possibly kidney failure. Human vitamin D supplements are too concentrated for animals. The average requirement is 227 IU of vitamin D per pound of food.
Vitamin D testing should be done at least twice a year for all dogs or cats fed a home-prepared diet.
Trace elements
Selenium, zinc, copper, iron and manganese are important nutrients for healthy skin, blood, tendons, immune system and ligaments. When not provided in adequate amounts, animals can suffer from poor coat, anemia, decreased wound healing, weak immunity and ruptured ligaments.
Many of these trace elements are found in the organs of animals. Feeding your dog or cat’s liver, heart, pancreas and kidneys will provide minerals not found elsewhere. Organs can be hard to find and many people don’t like handling them, but the diet will be incomplete without them.
Chlorella, spirulina and kelp are good plant sources of trace elements. They are not a substitute for organ meats, but feel free to include plant and animal sources in your dog or cat’s diet. Molds And Oysters are also fairly good sources of trace minerals. Feeding one mussel or oyster a day should be enough.
Vitamin E
The amount of unsaturated fatty acids in the diet will determine the required level of vitamin E. Diets high in fish, or fish and vegetable oils, will require more vitamin E. Average requirements are around 25 IU to 50 IU of vitamin E per pound of food per day.
Alfalfa meal, ground sunflower seeds, And wheat germ are good sources of vitamin E, unlike milk and dairy products.
When collecting recipes for your dog or cat, make sure they are complete and balanced and/or that you are familiar with the supplements needed to make them complete. Although it is not imperative that every meal be balanced, it East imperative that each essential nutrient is offered each week.
Preparing your dog’s or cat’s food at home can be very satisfying and, when done correctly, can contribute greatly to their health and longevity.