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Is homemade food paws-down the best for pets?

6 October 2023

Homemade food and your pet’s wellbeing

The goods on homemade pet food

The fresh pet food market is booming, with more and more pet owners making their pet food at home. But are homemade diets truly the best diet for your pet, or is that idea a load of fluff?  If you look at recent studies on homemade pet diets, it’s mostly fluff.

95% of homemade dog food recipes found online are deficient in at least one essential nutrient1. 

Some of the more common deficiencies include calcium, vitamin E, zinc, and copper. But it’s not just deficiencies that are a problem; some diets can have too much of a nutrient, like vitamin A, which can lead to toxicities. Both nutrient excesses and deficiencies can seriously impact your pet’s health.

Even if you manage to find a truly complete and balanced diet, changing ingredients can tip that recipe out of balance. The slightest change or even the cooking method will affect the nutritional profile of the food2.

Complete and balanced homemade diets do exist.

It is possible to make complete and balanced pet food at home.  You just need a recipe from a trusted source and follow it to the letter. That said, in a world where anyone can call themselves a pet nutritionist, how do you tell if a recipe is right?

One thing you can do is look for recipes that have been tested against The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) profiles3. This organisation has established a minimum standard of nutrient requirements for dogs and cats at each life stage.

At Nosh, we believe everyone who wants should be able to cook complete, balanced, and delicious food for their pets. That’s why we provide recipes for free on our website. Each one has been designed and tested by world-leading pet nutritionists to meet AAFCO profiles, so you know your pet’s getting the best there is.

Check out our recipes here

 

Want to learn more?

  1. Evaluation of recipes of home-prepared maintenance diets for dogs by J. Stockman et al. Journal of the American Veterinary Association. 2013;242(11):1500-1505.
  2. Evaluation of owner experiences and adherence to homecooked diet recipes for dogs by L.N. Jonson et al. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 2016;57(1):23-27.
  3. World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s Global Nutrition Guidelines.

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