Home feeding 101

What is home feeding?

Home feeding is an increasingly popular trend in the relationships between pets and pet parents. Pet parents prepare home-cooked meals that are customised to their and their dog’s needs. These may be raw or lightly cooked foods, which allow the option to avoid certain ingredients such as vegetables or grains depending on the preference of their dog. However, a common misconception of home feeding is the idea that human nutritional levels and dog nutritional levels are the same. In reality, these levels differ and often, home-cooked meals for dogs do not constitute a complete and balanced meal. Failing to provide all the essential nutrients and vitamins for your dog. Breed, age, lifestyle, activity level, and allergies or intolerances all need to be considered to formulate the proper diet for your dog.

What are the benefits of home feeding?

Home feeding is beneficial as it allows for flexibility and control over every ingredient such as the exclusion of artificial additives. While high quality, complete and balanced meals are available in commercial pet food brands in different forms, some people may feel more comfortable preparing the meals themselves. This is a great way to show extra love and care to your pet and can even sometimes be more affordable when planned properly.

What are some of the dangers of home feeding?

Improper home feeding practices can lead to nutrient deficiencies and health concerns. Most commercial pet foods available in pet stores adhere to guidelines to ensure the quality and nutrient availability is up to the industry standard to be complete and balanced. This excludes food items that are intended for supplementary or mixed feed and treats.

If a pet is fed an incomplete and unbalanced diet for a prolonged period, they may develop serious health issues. These issues vary in severity from a lackluster coat to unhealthy skin, digestion problems, as well as affecting joint health and mobility. A 2000 study found that dogs who were fed a home-prepared diet, which was perceived by their owner to be complete and balanced, displayed a higher prevalence of health problems when compared to dogs fed nutritionally balanced commercial diets.

It is extremely important that when home feeding, you take steps to ensure the meal is complete and balanced. This can be achieved using supplements and may require additional, non-traditional ingredients such as offal.

Where can I find more information?

If you currently home feed or are interested in home feeding, we recommend seeking the professional advice of a pet nutritionist or veterinarian.