Many pet owners would immediately scoff at this statement as raw and home-made diets are seeing an all time high in the pet food industry. However, this is not only my opinion but also the opinion of Vet Nutritionist Joseph Bartges. Dr. Bartges recommends against home-cooked diets as they are commonly missing nutrients and a variety at that.
1. There are many common nutrient problems in many homemade foods
Dr. Bartges in his article on home-made and raw diets, errs on the side of caution when it comes to making Fido’s every meal. He says that in one survey, 90% of homemade diets prescribed by 116 veterinarians in North America were not adequate for adult dog or cat maintenance. He also mentions how many home-made recipes found in magazines, books, and online have rarely been tested to document the nutritional adequacy of the diet.
He says home-made diets usually:
- contain excessive protein
- are deficient in calories, calcium, vitamins, and micro-minerals
- use meat and carbohydrate sources that contain more phosphorous than calcium, resulting in a inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio
- are deficient in fat
“Homemade foods are rarely balanced for micro-minerals and vitamins because veterinary vitamin-mineral supplements are not complete nor are the nutrients well balanced within the product.”
-Joe Bartges, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVN
2. Dogs require vitamins that home-made meals miss
and it’s not as simple as handing your dog a Flintstone vitamin gummy. Dogs need micro-minerals too. These are trace minerals that exist in small amounts in the dog’s body but are essential for optimum health. Some trace minerals that they need are: chromium, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, selenium, and zinc.
“A common problem with homemade diets is that the vitamin-mineral supplement is left out because of inconvenience, expense, or failure to understand its importance – after all, many humans do not take vitamins.”
-Joe Bartges, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVN
3. Many rely on variety to fill nutritional gaps and it’s not working
Eating a variety of foods is nutritionally sound, right? Not particularly. Many owners extend the “variety is healthy” principle to their pet’s nutrition. The problem is not variety. It is that food nowadays is not as nutritious as it used to be. This is why dogs and people need additional supplementation to our diet. Due to soil depletion, crops grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today (I will dive deeper into this in another post).
The point is rotating your dog’s protein source is not good enough. They need a balanced diet that takes into consideration the proper phosphorus to calcium ratio, the appropriate amount of macro and micro minerals as well as adequate fat content.
The bottom line is this: home-made meals work only if you put in the appropriate effort and research. It is not good enough to follow a recipe off the Internet or even trust your vet to formulate a meal plan. It takes immense planning, preparation, and consistency to pull off great home-made meals. Consult a Vet Nutritionist before embarking on your home-made meals for Fido. He will thank you later!
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