Providing a well-balanced diet can be a difficult task and some owners find it challenging to meet the nutrition requirement of the dog. However, homemade foods are quite popular as it is true that the dry dog foods do not contain high-quality ingredients and meet the requirements. To be on the safe side, the owners have started making homemade meals for their pets.
Reasons to Offer a Homemade Meal
Lack of quality
The most crucial reason why one should switch to homemade foods is the lack of regulation in pet food industry. With no benchmarks or perfect standards, the customers hold a blind faith that what the labels indicate is true. The scariest fact is that the amounts of various nutrients and composition printed on the label are not always correct. It will benefit the manufacturer, not the dog that can suffer from multiple problems due to insufficient nutrition.
Personalize what dogs consume
Like all the food products, commercial food also contains additives to improve flavor, enhance smell or to boost up the chemical composition. These additives adversely affect the digestive system of the dog. Cooking food will reduce these uncertainties, and the owner will know what the dog is eating. If any health problem occurs, one can trace dog’s diet. It also ensures addition of extra vitamins and minerals which the dog requires. If the dog suffers from some particular ingredient, it will be easy to change the food. It also allows skipping the unnecessary components. Like they do not require wheat, corn, rice, these grains are known to cause digestion problems, but some the commercial foods use them as fillers.
High quality with low costs
Most commercial foods have poor quality but cost very high. Comparing the quality of dry food against homemade food shows a huge difference in regards to the cost and the value received. Homemade foods have fresh ingredients which are readily available in the local market. Sometimes cooking can be a hassle, but it gets high-quality meals which are chemical free. Vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidants and will provide the pet with protein from different sources.
Providing the dog with only homemade foods will not provide sufficient nutrient. Hence, the owners can switch to commercial dry dog food which is high quality and have the nutrient profiles established by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) or has passed the feeding trials which are designed to the standards of AAFCO.
Pros & Cons of Homemade food
Pros
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Fresh Foods, No preservation
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Not Costly (sometimes)
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Eradication of Allergy (allergy-causing ingredients can be controlled very quickly & reduce the trace of allergens)
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No wastage (gives the opportunity to use the leftovers that are dog-friendly)
Cons
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Deficiency of Nutrition (Not all owners are of this fact and do not include the crucial vitamins & supplements)
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Unsafe Components (Inclusion of components like raisins, grapes, onions, chocolates, grains, etc.)
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Time-consuming
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Unbalanced Calories (does not allow the owner to know any nutritional information)
If one chooses to make homemade food or opt for dry food, they should think twice if it is the right choice as its entirely related to the pet's health. It is vital to do a thorough research and know about the nutritional needs as well as important ingredients.
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