The hassle of finding the best diet for dogs
I started cooking for my dogs around 12 years ago, when I first rescued Elliott and he was devoured with red mange. I opted for a natural approach since he needed a yeast-free diet, so that meant no commercial dog food. But once he was cured, I looked at “prime” dog kibble to what I believed was best to get to balance from my home-made food (I’ll explain in the end why I didn’t opt for the so acclaimed raw diet), in case it had not all the necessary nutrients dogs needed despite the vitamins and minerals I was adding. Being a dog parent was new to me and although I made plenty of research, I still felt like a rookie. After all, the pet food industry knew best what’s good for our pets, right? And well, it was also an easy solution, since cooking and storing large quantities when we later had a substantial crew with the organization became a little more complicated. They were served two meals a day, so that easily added up… I felt like splitting up, premium kibble in the morning, home-made meals in the evening, was a good balance.
But, I later became more and more concerned about my choice. I was aware of the fraud of so many food brands, even the most supposedly high-end (and expensive) food. Royal canin, Purina, Hill’s, Iam’s, etc. Food recalls made me really dig into the question: am I unknowlingly poisoning my dogs? They did have stomach issues from time to time and few itches here or there, which is why I regularly switched brands to try and find the more appropriate one. I already stayed away from the dubious packages with plenty of colors and knew, for the most part, what their catchy words were hiding. Still, I didn’t know how much crap they were concealing. The pet food is a business, and regrettably, low-cost ingredients prevail. But low-cost is an undestatement. Do you know exactly what they hide behind those well-chosen misleading marketing terms? Hope you don’t have a sensitive stomach, because here it goes in case you didn’t:
“meat meal” and “meat by-products”. These terms are not what you may expect. “Meat” is no chicken breast or beef steak, those are choice cuts trimmed by the slaughterhouses and sold for human consumption. In fact, all muscle meat and even the leftovers once the pieces are cut are sold for humans (ground meat and sausages). The rest still attached to the carcass is what is processed for pet food. Not much muscle meat at all. “Meal” means it’s been overly processed to get that delicious powder that will make the kibble, removing the nutrients. “By-products” are slaughterhouse waste that consist of heads, feet, hooves, beaks and organs like intestines that have been '“cleaned” of faeces (when you’re lucky), yuck! But that’s not all. In the mix, you can find cancerous tissues, ear tags and meat (ah, finally) that’s been contaminated (ah yes, seemed too good to be true). But these rendering plants do not only process slaughterhouse waste (that is picked up for free and then dumped right on the ground, sometimes left in the sun for days, welcoming maggots), but also diseased farm and zoo animals, road kills, and quite sickening, euthanized cats and dogs, from the vet or the shelter, still in their plastic bag, the toxic drug stuck in their system. Not unusual for id metal tags that were attached to their collar to be also grinded in the process. And again, anything unfit for human consumption, like spoiled supermarket products, rotten meat & fish, all of them processed, without having bothered taking them out of their plastic or cardboard wrapping. This is “meat” in the pet food language, perfectly fit as protein source for our beloved pets according to the industry. A disgusting concoction rendered into an overprocessed powder that will be shaped into delicious kibble!
“grains” are in fact cereal rejects (again unfit for humans because of mold, contaminants and poor quality) and remnants swiped from the floors that serve as cheap fillers. Corn, wheat and soy that are hard for dogs to digest, leading to serious allergies and diseases in the long run.
“no preservatives added” is a very tricky shtick! Synthetic preservatives are added to make sure the “food” will not perish for years. Quite comical when you know this is mostly rotten meat and other garbage stuff that’s been processed! But if they have been added prior to being packed by the manufacturer, the latter has the legal right to say they didn’t add any preservative because, well, technically, they didn’t themselves.
Sickening, right?! Wait, there’s more. Manufacturers, to make that crappy kibble more appealing to our four-legged, add restaurant grease, animal fat and other rancid oils for taste! And of course, chemical flavors and coloring agents, mostly for the humans’ appeal. All that crap in shiny sales-oriented packaging and misleading marketing! Pet parents are downright taken for dupes! More appalingly, the industry puts our furry kids’ health at risk for profit! Who can you trust? Vets get money from companies if they advertise this crap and the FDA is also bribed to keep those real ingredients a secret. Arrgh!
Digging into that mess, I looked at grain-free kibble, and “natural”, which seemed to be a healthier option, the best-known brands. I tried so many, like Orijen, Taste of the wild, Acana, Merrick, Instinct, Blue Buffalo, etc. Some were better tolerated than others, some seemed to be of better quality, but again, I was not fully sold. It also seemed like a big scam; more food recalls, even scarier when I later got aware of the fact that a grain-free diet could in fact potentially be causing serious heart problems in dogs (dilated cardiomyopathy). I even wondered, in hindsight, if that was not the main cause for our beloved Wallace’s precipitated death… And the kidney diseases in other seniors. Dammit, is it all just a big scam? After all, food brands were surfing on a trend, people were becoming more savvy and wanted the best for their pet, so the industry had to adapt and attract that new kind of customer to keep afloat, raving about the benefits of their top of the line recipes. So I again made my research and found out that a new trend emerged, more “honest'“: the raw freeze-dried dog food. No overprocessed food where the nutritional value is destroyed. Finally I thought, people who really care! Some were also promoting human-grade food, frozen to be shipped to you safely, you just had to defrost, open the bag and voilà! But since I was still cooking for them, I didn’t really look at that option. Why pay for something I can make at home, unless I become too lazy to do so?
Yummy food bowls patiently awaited at the time of the organization.
Still a winner today: beef, sardines, liver, broccoli, eggs, carrots, apples, ginger and brown rice toppled with cottage cheese and natural supplements.
Although it seemed like that freeze-dried thing might be a better choice at first (even Gurky who has a sensitive stomach and can be finicky, was eating with gusto), after several tests, a few regurgitations and diarrheas later despite the appropriate transition, I had to face the facts: there is nothing better than making your own food and making sure what’s inside. Time consuming, but so worth it. Depsite the appealing ingredients stated on the back, many bags had very little meat or fish, bits of vegetables or fruits too big for the dogs to properly digest (Sojo’s, Only Natural Pet), raising the concern of them getting all the benefits of it. Do they get the vitamins if the whole piece of apple or carrot decorates the poop like a bauble on the Xmas tree? Also, many bags received had either been handled too much or it was a strategy from the brand itself to hide the lack of ingredients, but it contained mostly powder, so how could you make sure the gooey magma once water added was as balanced as supposed to be, with enough proteins? Other brands had way too much potatoes or chickpeas (Grandma Lucy’s), making some of them sick or, even more shocking when it came from the gluttons, not wanting to eat! Again, the less expensive stuff prevailed, athough it seemed more honest overall than kibble, which brought me back to thinking that even the best brand supposedly caring for our pet’s well-being are running a business and, unfortunately, cut down on quality.
What a headache! I was already making most of our pack’s treats myself (buying a dehydrator was a such a smart idea), because again, even the no wheat, corn, soy, salt or sugar, preservatives, fillers or artificial flavor, made with 100% real meat, could be dodgy at times. Gurky is our best tester with his wrecked digestive system: if he has issues, it’s that something is not fully natural… OK, I really had to stop taking shortcuts for their meals and make it all myself! It may not be cheaper, and it does require some time (a little disheartening when you spend hours cooking and they gobble their bowl in seconds!), but at least, I know exactly what they put in their system!
These is nothing better than freah and homemade food!
No teeth, no problem, everything is ground!
Dehydrated chicken feet, yucky but yummy!
So today, I still don’t cook for myself (I’m lucky to have a private chef at home, my hubby :)), but I enjoy coming up with recipes for my doggies and don’t mind juggling with pans and pots and grinders (we have toothless seniors and besides, fruits and vegetables are better digested when ground down) to serve them healthy and quality homemade meals. Although I must say, their daddy enjoys cooking so much that he very often helps a lot, I just clean the mess! But no matter who cooks, let me tell you, our crew enjoys it! Those who were once quite good at quietly waiting for their feast now can hardly contain themselves when I’m preparing their bowl.
I know some may wonder why I didn’t choose a raw diet since I am so concerned about their health, known as BARF. I know, it’s how nature intends, wolves don’t get cooked meals in a bowl, blah, blah blah. Although it does keep all the nutrients, it is also super risky in terms of pathogens. And with senior dogs and those who have health issues, it’s a risk I didn’t want to take. Besides, I didn’t feel comfortable with that idea of feeding them like animals in the wild, maybe it’s silly, but I don’t see a toothless Chihuahua fighting for a deceased boar and suck on the bones, even if they remain, well, animals… I know Gurky with his sensitive stomach and many allergies couldn’t handle a raw diet. Raw is not suited for all dogs, even if they all descent from the gray wolf! I do have doubts about Gurk though, he seems to be from another planet. But I digress… Yes, I chose to feed my dogs cooked food instead of a raw diet. I choose fresh ingredients and cook them so that it keeps most of their nutritional advantages (steamed, boiled or oven baked), and they are very healthy!
These days, you can find plenty of home-made recipes for dogs, so I won’t add mine here, but I’ll just mention a few tips to make sure the meals are well-balanced:
Vary as much as possible: switch the kinds of meat, fish, organs, vegetables, fruits and sorts of grains if you don’t opt for a grain-free diet. I personally like quinoa or brown rice and alternate with lentils or beans for variety. I found that they didn’t digest barley so well.
Add supplements if they are not present in the ingredients you chose to cook, like calcium, vitamins, minerals and omega 3 & 6 fatty acids. Dogaware.com is very detailed and has plenty of tips for the right dosage and alternatives.
Test! See what your dog likes. I was quite disappointed once with a very though-out recipe including kale and celeri that was not successful at all! I had rarely seen so many sulking faces!
Don’t freak out! It’s ok if one meal is not as balanced as it should be, as long as it’s not long-term. If you vary enough and make sure you add all the necessary vitamins and minerals, your dog will less likely have deficiencies. It can be daunting to make their food yourself, not add too much or too little, but if you make your research properly, it’s not so rocket science.
Use your blender. Not just because you have toothless dogs or because they just gobble everything and it is safer to have everything in tiny pieces, but because many vegetables and fruits will not be properly digested if they’re not ground, so they just won’t get all the benefits.
I do understand not everyone has the time (and to be honest, courage) to cook for their dogs. So here are my substitute choices:
Stella & Chewy’s raw blend, with baked kibble and pieces of freeze-dried raw. I particularly love their freeze-dried raw meal mixers & treats made of more than 90% meat and organs.
Sojo’s is still my choice when I don’t have the time to cook, even if pieces of fruits & vegetables are too big and are found straight in the poop. Sometimes you get lucky with a bag that is not all powder.
The Honest Kitchen’s whole food clusters. Human-grade clusters made in small batches, cold pressed, than slow roasted and dehydrated to keep all the nutrients. Much better than kibble!
Fromm has only be tested on my cats and they really like it!
As for treats, I love (I mean my crew loves) Pure Bites freeze-dried treats (also for the cats, they are obsessed with the shrimps!), Bixbi jerky treats (liver & lungs, they crave for it) & Tylee’s, American Journey’s jerky treats and oven-baked biscuits, any of the Honest Kitchen. I already mentioned Stella & Chewy’s above. Old Mother Hubbard’s biscuits. Dogswell jerky treats are fine, a good value. I was never convinced by Full Moon or Prairie Dog (some either threw up or had loose stools). Bones & Chews was not a favorite either. But again, the best treats are the ones I make myself! I never thought I would dehydrate chicken feet (super yucky), but it’s super healthy for them and they crave for it!
But, please stay away from rawhides! Check what they’re made of (just a hint, leather, glue and bleach). When I had no idea, I gave it to my dogs only to rapidely stop when one almost choked. That was more than ten yars ago and learned since then. Bottom line is, please be aware; dogs should not eat crap and if you think the stuff you bought doesn’t look good or has a weird smell, throw it away, better be safe than sorry! And choose stuff you would eat! I always taste the food I make for them (except where there’s something I don’t like like sardines or liver).