Homemade Pet Nutrition: Why DIY Meals Benefit Your Dogs (and Your Wallet)

A couple of months ago I switched my dogs’ & cats’ diets to a homemade one. Every Saturday I spend an hour or two in the kitchen cooking brown rice, vegetables, chicken, and various giblets. I measure vitamin supplements with care.  Every week is the same: I cook, measure, mix, puree (for the cats), and generally stink up my house. I was beginning to wonder if it was all worth it. Sure, making homemade food is less expensive than buying a quality dog food that passed my rigorous inspection of the ingredients and nutritional content, but was it really worth all the effort?

In short, yes, I would say it is totally worth the effort. First of all, I know exactly what is in the food that I feed my animals. I know that the mean they are eating is a quality cut and that they are getting every bit of nutrition that they need. In the last few weeks I’ve noticed a lot of changes that justifies (to me) all the effort I put in to making my pets’ meals. The first changes I noticed were a reduced number of bowel movements, which were a smaller and a lot less offensive smelling. The dogs smelled better and needed bathed less frequently. Among other improvements I noticed Gatsby’s fur becoming less greasy and straw-like and much softer with less shedding. Who can complain about less shedding?

One change that I had hoped to see (but have not) was a reduction or end Gatsby’s repeat ear infections and itchy paws.  I read that removing corn, soy, preservatives and other allergens while adding Omega 3 and 6 supplements to his diet might alleviate his frequent ear infections and other allergy symptoms. It hasn’t happened yet, in fact, Gatsby just had another ear infection last week. So, it’s off to the Vet’s office again to discuss our next move.

The cats didn’t take to their new food as well as I had hoped. They still prefer dry cat food. I switched them to a higher quality brand of cat food and continually try to supplement their food with fresh meat, fish and greens. Their fur is much softer, though they still shed enough hair to create a new animal every week or so!

Golden Retriever eating treat image referenced from wikipedia and originally posted by Denhulde