Homemade Meals for Dogs; Are They a Good Idea?
Nothing is better than coming home to a homemade meal after a long day. They are more nutritious, contain fewer preservatives, and generally satisfy a human’s nutritional needs. However, are they just as good for our dogs?
Homemade meals for dogs are a great idea when each meal gets carefully planned per your dog’s nutritional requirements. The problem is that dogs need a specific set of nutrients to stay healthy, and the impact of a deficiency can be a serious health risk.
A diet lacking the right nutrients can easily lead to severe and sometimes life-threatening conditions. That begs the question, are homemade meals for dogs worth it? Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of homemade dog food.
Why Choose Homemade?
There are many reasons one might decide to make your dog homemade meals. We would do anything for our four-legged fur babies, and it can feel unfair to deny them a hot meal while we eat tasty food.
But are good intentions a good enough reason, or is there more information that warrants homemade doggy meals?
Fewer Chemicals and Preservatives
There is a good reason why we at Vondi’s advocate for only the freshest ingredients.
Preservatives are not the evil they get made out to be. Billions of people would have no access to food without them; those who have the means naturally want to do right by our pups.
And it is true preservatives are bad for our dogs and us. So, the biggest advantage when you are preparing a homecooked meal for your dogs is that you can choose the ingredients carefully.
The same goes for artificial colouring and pesticides.
Quality, Fresh Ingredients
Unless one believes in the benevolence of big corporations, it’s hard to trust that they don’t cut costs at every corner.
For the most part, the ingredients in kibble are not fit for human consumption, making for a cheap source of food they can boast on the packaging.
You get to decide on the source and quality of the ingredients you put into a homemade meal. That way, you are certain of the real-world nutritional value of the meal you serve.
Processing
Extrusion is to a dog’s health what carbon dioxide is to the climate. The process by which kibble gets made involves using extreme heat to process the ingredients.
That process is extrusion. You may ask, what is so dangerous about extreme heat?
What happens during extrusion is more chemistry than nutrition: amino acids and proteins bond in long molecular chains. But, at the same time, other molecular bonds get broken.
The result is neither safe to eat nor is it food anymore. As a result, the most nutritional value gets lost.
Specially Made For Your Pup
Another benefit of homemade dog meals is that you can customise them to your dog’s breed, weight, and size.
Every dog has unique dietary needs. Here, age and breed play the biggest roles. But every dog is unique, so it helps to have full control over its nutritional intake.
Remember, there is also a risk of providing too much of certain nutrients. Your dog may face serious health problems if they are overfed or ingest too much of certain nutrients.
Meeting their needs
We have looked at the benefits of homemade dog meals, but there is one major challenge that we have yet to cover. What exactly are your dog’s nutritional requirements? That is a simple question with no easy answer.
Most importantly, the ideal nutritional intake can get categorised into three groups: large, medium, and small breeds (teacup breeds are more challenging).
Of course, basing a dog’s diet on the breed’s size is always a safer bet. However, we recommend consulting a pet nutritionist to help get your dog’s diet perfectly balanced.
Things to Keep In Mind
There are a few important facts that you need to keep in mind when cooking a homemade meal for your dogs. Only a nutritionist can guide you when ensuring that these meals are nutritious. However, there are several things to avoid:
Chocolate
We all know that chocolate is ‘bad’ for dogs. Although it is a little worse than ‘bad.’ there are stimulants in chocolate that are very toxic to dogs.
These stimulants, or methylxanthines, can shut down your dog’s digestive system. So, naturally, the results can be fatal.
Onions
These are easy to miss among various recipes. Furthermore, they are superfoods for humans. But, unfortunately, they are deadly to dogs.
They cause severe anaemia. If your dog ingests too, the consequences may be fatal.
Because the risk of harm is so high that this point alone justifies making use of professionally prepared meals, Vondi’s does not allow traces of onion in or near our dog meals.
Grapes and raisins
Grapes and raisins pose a serious health risk to your pups. A study shows that the primary culprit is tartaric acid, which causes kidney failure in canines.
So by extension, you should ensure the ingredients you choose for your dog’s meals don’t contain tartaric acid.
Caffeine
Caffeine is potentially lethal to dogs. That is because they are far more sensitive to the effects of caffeine.
Therefore, their heart rate can spike to dangerous numbers while their blood pressure shoots up. It is a bad coupling of symptoms.
Anything Raw that Ferments Easily
For example, raw batter or dough that contains yeast can ferment in your dog’s belly. The process of fermentation is not the problem.
The serious health concerns are down to the result of fermentation: alcohol.
Alcohol
Speaking of alcohol, it is a straight-up toxin.
There is a reason we call an overdose’ alcohol poisoning.’ While we seem to ingest small doses of alcohol without problems, your pup’s body can’t handle the toxicity.
There are many more foods that we eat that dogs can’t. The American Kennel Club provides a more comprehensive list of human foods dogs can’t eat.
Are Homemade Meals For Dogs Expensive?
The cost of feeding your dog home-cooked meals depends on your chosen ingredients. Of course, depending on what you regularly feed your pup, it could mean big savings. But that is all subjective.
Companies that specialise in natural meals for dogs benefit from buying power. That is their ability to buy in bulk.
That, in turn, allows such companies to sell at a lower profit margin. As a result, the products may be less expensive than when you try to source the same ingredients.
Adding Nutrients
If you are concerned that you might overlook an important detail in your dog’s diet, there is peace of mind in supplements. There are some amazing supplements in the form of unobtrusive nutrient-rich powders specifically intended as a food topping.
Perhaps Best As An Occasional Treat
Are homemade doggy meals worth it? If you are committed to preparing homemade meals for your pups.
It just takes a lot of research and help from a nutritionist to formulate a meal plan that provides your pup with everything they need.
Alternatively, it might be best to use premade dog meals and save homemade meals for special occasions.
The Case For Professionally Prepared Dog Meals
- Considering all of the information we’ve covered today, it is clear that the most important part of preparing homemade doggy meals is meeting your pup’s specific and essential nutritional needs.
- Ironically, homemade meals that don’t meet your dog’s needs can do more harm than some of the lowest-quality dog food brands.
- In addition, store-bought food contains many foods, additives and pesticides that are relatively safe for human consumption. But unfortunately, many of them could pose a fatal risk to your dog’s health.
- Healthy, professionally prepared dog food is less expensive than trying to make the same meal at home. In addition, it saves money you could spend on other aspects of your dog’s well-being.
- Premade dog meals have none of the hassles. You may feel guilty for not putting all your energy into preparing your pup’s meals. However, buying prepacked meals is more convenient.
- Most important is the peace of mind you get when you feed your furbaby professionally prepared, balanced meals designed by professionals.
