Making Your Own Pet Food at Home

[jeffrey]

By Bridget Mwape

As a pet owner, no doubt you want to give your dog or cat the best care possible. And caring for your pet means feeding him the best diet you can. By making your own pet foods, you'll be saving money, up to 80%. And to top it off, it's easy; making pet food at home is probably a lot less time-consuming than you may have thought. With hundreds of websites offering free pet food recipes online, it's now easier than ever to make your own pet food.

To prepare healthy and nutritious food for your pet you should study your pet's natural habitat and food sources, and then prepare foods that most closely resemble their own natural or original diet.

Animals, because they are color blind, choose their foods by smell. Most dogs like gamey flavors best, as well as liver, fat, garlic, onions, horsemeat, lamb, beef, cheese and fish. Cats enjoy chicken, liver, fish, turkey, lamb, and yeast, and prefer fresh to aged flavors.




Cats are fussy eaters and it is not wise to continually feed them their favorite foods. Soon they will refuse to eat anything else; it is your job to see your cat has a balanced diet.

Animals do not need salt added to their diet as the natural salt in the food is enough for them.

Dogs may eat any vegetable they want, but cats should not have any starchy veggies, like peas and corn. Some dogs and cats even enjoy fruits!

It's a good idea to always add a grain, such as Kibble, wheat germ, cooked oatmeal or whole wheat bread to meat dinners. For dogs use 75% carbohydrate foods (grains and vegetables) to 25% meat; for cats use half carbohydrate foods to half meat.

You will find, once you begin making your own pet foods, that it is really relatively simple and you will save some money as well. Remember that all pet foods should be served at room temperature; don't serve food cold from the refrigerator nor hot from the stove.

Homemade pet food should take a ridiculously small amount of your time. As a general guide meats should be raw and vegetables must be finely chopped in a food processor or by a hand grater.

When it comes time for feeding, it is important that you let your dogs and cats eat as much as they want at the time of feeding. Once their body becomes nutritionally satiated, they will cut their food intake, sometimes by half the amount, and go on a maintenance diet. Incidentally, you should know that cats should be fed three times a day, while an adult dog needs only one meal a day.

To get started, find a good book with pet food recipes and use it to start preparing simple meals. You can also get free recipes from many websites online. If preparing your own pet food is not an option for you visit the website below for some healthy pet food.

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Copyright © 2005. Bridget Mwape of Pet Care Supplies UK which offers thousands of products to help you care for your pets.

[shengmei]

Onion can be toxic to dogs and cats in large amounts.

Otherwise, I know plenty of people who make dog and cat foods. However, they usually do it for their pets' health instead of saving money.

I tried to make my own food, but buying commercial is MUCH cheaper. Kitten food is usually the highest quality dry food in a grocery store. Kitten food is also usually the same price as adult food. I get lots and lots of cat food coupons, but the smallest bags of kitten foods, and make my own "Meow Mix" consisting of 12 brands.

Also, most store brand dry foods are crap, but store brand canned cat foods are usually pretty high-quality.

I have five cats, and all of them are pretty healthy and happy.

[funnyvalentine]

I go about half and half with this; I own a catering business, so I always have ends of turkey, chicken, etc, which I mix with rice. My dog will even eat tomatoes, it's weird. I usually also give them commercial dry food, which I only buy on sale.

The cats are both 10 and the dog is 11, so I guess it's working!

c

[Cap'n Rob]

For dogs you must avoid onions as the continued consumption may lead to heart issues - also radishes as they are in the same family.
Aside from this - commercial foods do provide more in the way of a balanced vitamin diet .. the supplements added far outwiegh what you can add.

I'd say - maybe add home made food to the commercial to stretch the bag out some ... but don't forget the importants, fat content - fiber and overall nutritional value ....

we make all our dogs treats at home organically - but for the main food dish - I'd be careful.