Feeding dogs and cats: myths and reality. Why feed dogs and cats homemade food? Chicken liver with vegetables

Which is better, dry food or homemade food? Why can't you feed your pet "human" food? How to feed a very small puppy or kitten? You will find answers to these questions here. In addition, you will find out what consequences can have malnutrition- this will help you avoid mistakes and troubles, as well as give your pets good health and excellent health.

Types of feeding

The owner of a dog or cat should adhere to one of two pet diets: feeding ready-made food or food prepared by oneself. Which method is right for you - decide for yourself, and we will give some recommendations for each type of nutrition.

Ready feed

Animals fed commercially prepared rations are provided with all the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Manufacturers strive to ensure that your pet's diet is balanced and healthy. As a result, dogs and cats fed this way are less likely to experience intestinal disorders, less likely weight gain, dental problems, diseases of internal organs.

With this type of feeding, several rules should be followed:

1. Follow the amount of food indicated on the package.
2. Please check the date of manufacture before purchasing.
3. Try to avoid economy class feeds, as well as bulk feeds.
4. Make sure your pet has free access to clean water.

Cooking our own food

If you decide to cook food for your pet yourself, then remember that his digestive system is different from yours, and therefore it is harmful to feed your pet with "human" food. The diet of a carnivore (dog or cat) should not be varied, although many pet owners think otherwise. As a rule, the ingredients of such a diet should not be cooked, mainly include raw meat (and / or offal), dairy products, And moderate amount vegetables.

When compiling such a diet, the owner of the animal is simply obliged to calculate the weekly diet, according to the needs of the dog or cat, balance it, introduce additional vitamin and mineral supplements. The main advantage of this mode is that you will know exactly what your pet eats, and the main disadvantage is the difficulty of compiling balanced diet corresponding to the physiology of the animal.

What not to do:

1. Mix different types of food. In factory feeds, the ratio of nutrients is clearly calibrated. By giving your pet additional “goodies”, you will inevitably break this balance, which can lead to illness.
2. Giving foods like: pork, fish and seafood, sweets, canned food, smoked meats, milk, potatoes.
3. Feed the animal leftovers from the table. In addition to digestive problems, your pet may develop bad habit beg.
4. Overfeed.

How to feed a kitten or puppy?

The answer is simple - there are special diets for animals from the first day of life. If you decide to pick up such an animal, or there is no way to carry out maternal feeding then you can use them. Puppies and kittens from the age of one month are already practically able to eat the diet characteristic of adult animals. You should definitely not feed newborn kittens and puppies with cow or goat milk, this will lead to problems with the digestive system and will not allow your pet to grow into a full-fledged, healthy cat or dog.

At the beginning of the year, the three founders of the Sir Cat Pet Hotel started producing food for animals. It differs from dry food and canned food in that it uses the meat of the entire carcass of the animal - such prey was eaten wild ancestors domestic dogs and cats. Some vegetables are added to this meat, ground and sold in the form of frozen sausages. Daily Portion such food for a small dog costs about 200 rubles. The Village spoke with the co-founder of the company and asked the first buyers if they are ready to switch their pets to a new diet.

Idea

Expenses

On preparatory stage we spent about 300 thousand rubles on research, focus groups and testing. After that, the most expensive stage began: production. Finding and renting a space that meets the requirements of food production took a lot of time and cost more than we expected. But in the end we found great option, and now we have production in the food cluster in Korolev. We spent about 8 million rubles on equipping and preparing the premises. The most interesting and unpredictable part of the costs is marketing: we experiment a lot and look for effective channels, so we don’t know how much we will end up spending on building a sustainable model.

Raw material

Predator in wild nature eats prey with internal organs and even bones. Therefore, we strive to recreate it in every package. We use whole carcass meat (highest, first, second grade meat) and offal of the first category.

As a result, we buy beef in Belarus, meat only in carcasses, and not leftovers, as industrial feed manufacturers usually do. We buy turkey in Russia, in Penza and Rostov regions. With chicken meat, everything is more complicated: there are few suppliers who can guarantee the quality and provide the necessary documents in Russia, now we are working with a farm in Belgorod region. But we are open to suggestions, so we will be glad if farmers from neighboring regions write to us.

Sales

We launched in test mode in December, since January we have been selling on our website. This is our main sales channel. There are also partners, the first was the express delivery of products from the MoscowFresh market. We wrote them an offer, sent products for testing, sent videos of happy pets, and they decided to work with us. In April, Hati will appear in two more online stores and on one e-commerce platform, and from April 10 it will be possible to place orders with delivery in St. Petersburg.

We are careful to add partners because the requirements for storage and delivery are very high, we cannot, for example, work with stores where couriers pick up packages in the morning and deliver them all day. But we will also expand with self-delivery points, now we have four of them in Moscow. In addition, we plan to participate in city markets and exhibitions of dogs and cats. We will also be in offline retail, we need a little more time to prepare.

What buyers say

Olga

Bichon Frize dog owner

The food is excellent: quality - even eat it yourself, the dog loves it. Everything is very convenient: order, delivery, packaging. I used both delivery (everything is very clear), and pickup from the Sir Cat Hotel. We take for a month, it does not take up much space in the freezer. The price practically does not differ from dry food, maybe 20 percent more expensive. But if you saw how the dog meets me with this food! We have a Bichon Frize (small Frenchie) and when promised this food, he behaves like a trained service dog!

We take packages of 150 grams, in the morning we transfer them from the freezer to the main section, and feed them in the evening. Allergies, diarrhea, vomiting and the like have never happened, even in transition period. We spend about 2 thousand rubles a month on Hati, but we also buy dry food. My dog ​​and I travel a lot, and dry food is easier on the road.

Michael

french bulldog owner

It seems to me that the dog perceives this food much better than dry food. There were periodic problems with dry food, he refused to eat, he had to go to tricks (sprinkle with something more attractive). With sausages - always ready! Guards at the bowl in the morning and evening. At the price of Hati, it turns out to be 20–30% more expensive than dry food, we spend about 6 thousand per month on it.

At first, it was not clear to us how much to give and whether the dog was starving or not. At first I followed Hati's recommendations for calories, it turned out 300 grams of sausages per day, but still then I added another 50-100 grams, plus they began to dilute with barley. Maybe I'm wrong, but the dog looks constantly hungry, maybe just because he likes the food.

The packaging is generally comfortable, but, probably, you can still work on it. I open it with a knife in the middle, squeezing out the contents, so some of the meat remains at the edges. It will be great if the guys start using something like vacuum packaging, without metal clips. Plus, you must constantly remember that after feeding you need to get a portion from the freezer for next time. I don't often forget, but it happens. The habit has not yet formed. In such cases, a reserve supply of dry food saves.

Ksenia

Rhodesian Ridgeback owner

Usually the dog does not respond well to food changes. Most often, he simply refuses food for three to four days, and the food in the bowl can stand for many hours until the dog is no longer hungry at all. Hati she ate with great pleasure. No allergies or side effects.

Since my dog ​​belongs to large breeds, it is very expensive to buy pure meat with offal for her. On average, a bag of food for three to four weeks costs 5-6 thousand rubles. And with Hati it would be 13-15 thousand. But a couple of days ago I read a message from the company that they have developed a diet for large breeds at a price of 7 thousand. We will definitely try, because I want my dog ​​to be healthy and live longer. And our veterinarian is a strong supporter of live food for animals. I would also include the issue of storage as a difficulty: it is quite difficult to place an order for a month, since it will clog the entire freezer.

Hey Pushkin!

Pet owners are a solvent audience that does not spare money for their pets, this is exactly what entrepreneur Andrey Pushkin thought, who successfully launched a network of hotels for cats a few years ago. And in 2018, he brought to market New Product- cat and dog food raw meat Hati, counting on high demand. But there is no hype yet, and the entrepreneur has to make a lot of efforts for sales.

35 years old, entrepreneur from Moscow, founder of a manufacturing company natural food for animals Hati. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, after which he worked as a financial analyst at the Airports of the Regions holding, then at the state corporation Rosatom. In 2014 he opened a hotel for animals "Sir Cat" in the center of Moscow, which has grown into a network of four establishments. The Hati project was launched in 2018.

From cats to dogs

In 2014, Andrey Pushkin, who had previously worked as a financial analyst for seven years, launched his first business project, the Sir Cat pet hotel. This was prompted by his desire for self-realization and love for animals.

“In the office, I lacked a complex task that I could carry out “from” and “to”. There you are a cog in a big machine, not an independent unit. In "Sir Cat" it warms my soul that I came up with and made this project with my own hands. Although some said - well, the man quit Rosatom in order to deal with cats, ”recalls Andrey.

This business is developing successfully, today "Sir Kot" is a chain of four hotels in Moscow. But in 2018 Andrey wanted to implement some new project, from another area. “Since I was always moving in the animal world, my thoughts involuntarily went in this direction. In pet hotels, I have seen some owners bring raw meat as food for their cats. And I thought about creating natural feed for animals,” says Andrey Pushkin.

Another reason to turn to this niche was the dog chihuahua breeds, who often visits Andrei. She ate canned food all the time. At some point, the entrepreneur thought about why people consider it normal to feed their animals with canned food, while they themselves eat as fresh food as possible. And why, when choosing products for themselves, people look at the expiration date, but do not do the same with food for their pets?

Andrew thought that the rules healthy eating that people apply to themselves must also be applied to pets. We need food that will become an alternative to ready-made feeds of industrial production.

Andrei hoped that food made from natural raw meat would be in demand among Moscow dog and cat owners. Therefore, he decided to start production for the production of such food - and founded the Hati project.

step by step

When developing his product - sausages in a polyamide casing made from raw meat and offal (there are options with the addition of vegetables and cereals) - Andrei Pushkin relied on the requirements for feed that exist in Europe and the USA. Together with Russian veterinarians, the project team worked out the recipe and the ratio of ingredients.

After that, it was necessary to decide in what packaging to produce the food: to sell raw meat in pieces, in the form of nuggets or sausages. When working out each option, the idea with sausages seemed to be the most optimal.

“Determining the form of release was important even at the investment stage in order to buy the right equipment. If you change your mind later, it will be too late. We had to take responsibility, although we did not know whether our customers would like the sausage format,” says Andrey Pushkin.

The necessary equipment was purchased in Belarus. But the project team had to suffer with it before it was possible to produce sausages of the required weight.

“The equipment arrived, so shiny and beautiful, and at first we looked at it like sheep at a new gate. They didn't know what to do with it. While we were setting up the equipment and making the first experimental batches, we used about 100 kilograms of raw materials,” says the entrepreneur.

All sausages in the first batches were of different weights. And in accordance with GOST for the production of food for pets, the deviation in the mass of each product should be no more than 1%. Here, some sausages were obtained weighing 90 grams, the next - 120 grams.

“I looked at all this, and I was not well. We have not had time to think about sales yet, but with production we have already stepped on such a rake. Although, according to the passport, the equipment should have produced an error within 1%, ”recalls Andrey.

It was possible to correct the situation after a call to the manufacturer. Its representatives explained that they needed to make some changes to the design of the "syringe" that feeds the meat into the package. When this was done, sausages of the desired weight began to be obtained.

Andrey first offered to test the finished products for free to his friends and acquaintances who have pets. He asked them for an honest evaluation of the food. The response was positive, but a number of changes were made thanks to the feedback. We switched from a 7-layer casing to a 2-layer one and reduced the diameter of the sausages from 45 to 32 millimeters. As a result, the product freezes faster in the blast freezer (30 minutes), thaws faster at the customer's home and is easier to remove from the packaging.

Supplier search

For production, it took about 3 months to look for a suitable room, since there are certain requirements for meat shops (for example, the presence of flushing in the floor, tiled floors and walls up to two meters, electric power 50 kW, etc.). Andrey Pushkin looked through only the finished premises, so that at the start he would not have to spend money on repairs. The necessary workshop was found in Korolev near Moscow.

A lot of time was spent on the choice of suppliers. The HatiFood project was not suitable for private traders offering to buy meat in small quantities. In this case, it would be necessary to independently organize the slaughter process to obtain a veterinary certificate, or do without it. Therefore, we were looking for only large and reliable suppliers whose meat is accompanied by necessary documents. The founder of Hati selected only those farms that do not use antibiotics and growth stimulants.

Although domestic animals that are carnivores have natural defense mechanisms against harmful microorganisms, however, each batch of products is sent to the laboratory for research - for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. As a result, in order to find reliable suppliers, I had to change several dozen enterprises. “Those with whom we are working now were searched for by trial and error,” adds Andrey.

How and from what food is prepared for four-legged

The entire animal carcass is used to make Hati products. Not trimmings that are no longer suitable for cooking for people, but all parts of the carcass. The first butcher of the project could not come to terms with this.

“He was horrified. How is it to use tenderloin or loin for animal feed? For a long time he did not agree that meat should not be salted and peppered, that water should not be added to make the mass elastic. He suggested adding an onion that dogs should not eat. In the end, we didn't get along. This man was haunted that we feed the dogs good meat", - says Andrey Pushkin.

As a result, another butcher was hired for this place, who at first also asked similar questions, but still managed to overcome his previous professional habits and now clearly follows the cooking recipe.

Hati sausages are made with chicken, beef, turkey and rabbit. Offal of the first category is added to the composition, and in some varieties - whole vegetables. The production does not use dyes, flavors, preservatives, gluten, grains and synthesized additives.

It takes one working day to produce one batch. First, the butcher removes the meat from the bones of the carcass. Then the meat and offal are chopped, after which they are mixed with the rest of the ingredients. After that, the product is injected (packed) into the shell, clamped with clips and enters the shock freezing chamber. The process of packing 200 kg of product takes about 3-4 hours.

Hati food is stored in freezers. To feed the animal, the food must first be thawed and placed in a bowl, freed from packaging.

Issue price

Now Hati sausages from chicken cost 49 rubles per 100 grams, from turkey - 59 rubles, from beef - 79 rubles, from a rabbit - 99 rubles.

Some buyers ask again if there is a mistake here. “They are surprised that this price is per 100 grams and not per kilogram. But beef of this quality cannot cost 79 rubles per kilogram. Even kits for dogs, which are “non-format” for human consumption, are more expensive, ”Andrey quotes the calculations.

Some buyers compare the cost of Hati food with the cost of canned meats and commercially produced dry food. They cost less than the products manufactured by Andrey Pushkin's enterprise. “But there is either no meat in this feed (used meat and bone meal, an animal protein hydrolysate), or eating “dog-grade” meat, i.e. stringy trimmings, minced meat and anything that can’t be sold unprocessed for human consumption,” he explains.

After the launch of the project, the project website became the main platform for selling Hati products. Now, when ordering from 2500 rubles, delivery in Moscow is free. If the order is for a smaller amount, then delivery will cost 189 rubles.

Over time, social networks began to bring more purchases. The project has pages in almost all in social networks, but Instagram turned out to be the most selling. The founder of Hati suggests that this is due to what a potential buyer sees here. real reviews other buyers. So it is easier for him to decide on the purchase of a new product. In order to increase the number of sales through social networks, it is planned to increase activity in them, primarily on VKontakte.

The project cooperates with the MoscowFresh online store, which purchases Hati products and then sells them on its own. Now it is planned to master offline sales: an agreement has already been signed with one pet store, negotiations are underway with another.

“We put our Hati food freezers in the store and see how sales go. For us, this is a new economy (you need to recoup the cost of a freezer) and a new channel. So far, we have no such experience,” says Andrei.

Hati cooperates with breeders - they are authorities for those who buy dogs or cats from them. Therefore, their recommendations on choosing pet food are listened to. “They are sometimes trusted even more than veterinarians. We can motivate breeders to cooperate with us with a one-time payment for an attracted client or a percentage of sales. Such a sales channel shows itself well, but the problem is that there are only a few breeders who know how to sell, and most importantly, know how to do it in social networks, ”concludes Andrei Pushkin.

Most often, Hati food is bought by owners of small dogs. Feed large dogs such food for their owners is too expensive. Cooking porridge is cheaper, to which they add a little meat. Now the buyers of the project are only residents of Moscow and the Moscow region.

Startup mistakes

Andrey Pushkin says that his first project, Sir Kot zoo-hotel, quickly became popular. And to attract customers, he and the team of this project had practically no effort. Andrei expected that this would be the case with Hati.

“We assumed that now we would offer the market a new product - natural animal food, and it would immediately be torn off with our hands. It was our mistake, of course, just turning on ads, nothing happens. Each buyer must be "accompanied," says Pushkin.

“There are two cases where sales occur as if “without our efforts”. The animal does not eat its food well, and the owner is forced to constantly change food, and then finally finds us. Or the owner is already feeding his pet natural raw food, and we just make it easier for him and save time, ”Andrey Pushkin shares his observations.

"We thought we'd publish beautiful photo meat, and everything will fly in terms of sales. We are used to "Sir Cat" that people correspond in the comments to our posts, and we "sleep". Now at Hati we immediately respond to comments as soon as they appear. It seems obvious that this is how it should be, but for us it was a discovery, ”explains Pushkin.

Its founder invested about 8 million rubles in the launch of the Hati project. For a faster payback, he plans to launch new products in the near future - cookies made from natural meat. In their composition, they will be the same as sausages. For their production, you will need to buy an oven in which they will be baked and dried.

Another novelty in the assortment is jelly for dogs. For its preparation, bones will be used, from which meat is cut for Hati sausages. Now these bones are thrown away, and in the production of jelly they will become an ingredient for it, and not waste.

“It is too early to talk about payback periods. We exist recently and are only studying the market. To break even, we need to grow in terms of sales at least six times. And we will try to reach this figure by the end of the year, ”Andrey Pushkin cites the figures.

What to feed your pet prepared feed or food own cooking, you must choose yourself. The main condition is not to switch abruptly from one type of feeding to another.

If you have taken the baby, be sure to feed him the food he is used to for the first few days, otherwise there will be digestive problems.
If you want to switch your animal to prepared foods, do it gradually over 10 days. It is best to ask your veterinarian for advice about the quality of feed and which feed is best for your pet.
Adding vitamins and mineral supplements to your pet's food is allowed only on the advice of a veterinarian. Do not feed dogs and cats from your table, sausage and sweets! These redundancies lead to serious illnesses animals!
Frequency of feeding puppies and kittens:
* At 2.5-4 months of age - 4 times a day;
* 4-6 months of age - 3 times a day;
* from 6 months and adult animals - 1-2 times a day.
If an animal suffers from food allergies, kidney and liver failure, urolithiasis and other diseases, it needs a diet. Be sure to consult your veterinarian about this.
Feeding old, weakened, pregnant and lactating dogs and cats also requires correction. What to add to the diet, and what to exclude, will tell you veterinarian. And remember! Proper nutrition- the health of your pet!
Some of the most common misconceptions
(All of the following is incorrect)
- The cat must eat fish and drink milk,
- Dogs need bones
- Milk is a substitute for water,
- Dry food is a vitamin supplement for an animal,
- The best porridge for a dog is oatmeal,
- Animals should eat the same as their owners,
- A dog should eat only meat,
- Animals need a varied diet,
- The animal itself knows what and how much to eat.
Feeding dogs and cats
This is about feeding healthy animals. Some diseases require special dietary nutrition.
The first thing the owner of the animal should decide on is the type of feeding.
There are three main types of food:
- "home food" - that is, the same products as people (meat and dairy products, cereals, vegetables, etc.). In order for the animal to feel good with this type of feeding, it is necessary to carefully balance the diet in terms of key nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals) and energy.
If you still decide to feed your dog or cat food of your own preparation, then here is a list of products that are suitable for animals:
* cereals - rice, buckwheat, corn. They should be boiled in water.
* meat - beef, chicken, turkey, lamb;
* white fish;
* offal and eggs - no more than 2 times a week; Meat and fish should be without bones, without fat. It is advisable to stop at one or two types of meat (beef, poultry, rabbit meat, lamb). For a variety (and cheaper) diet, you can give the dog offal: heart, lung, liver (1 time per week), scar.
* vegetables - (carrots, cabbage, zucchini) must be in the diet. Vegetables can be any, except legumes and potatoes;
* fermented milk products with no more than 4% fat content (milk should only be given to animals under the age of 4 months);
* vegetable oil- corn and sunflower.
At home food to provide the animal with vitamins and minerals, it is necessary to use appropriate industrial top dressings (not to be confused with ready-made feeds!). You can choose vitamins and mineral supplements in the food of an animal only on the advice of a veterinarian.
If you chose natural type feeding, then it will have two dishes - meat and sour-milk.
The meat dish is easy to make. Lean beef, without bones and lived, chilled (preferably not frozen at all, so the blood is more and tastier), raw, it is not necessary to scald, cut into pieces the size of a nail (later, as the cat grows, the size of the pieces can be increased to, say, pieces 2x2x2 cm ). Add half a spoon to it. olive oil, some vegetables (mashed boiled cauliflower, plain white cabbage, mashed boiled beets, spinach, lettuce, cat grass, cut like “onions in a salad”) or buckwheat or rice, in the proportion of 3-4 parts of meat per 1 part of the “filler”, there are also mineral supplements agreed with the veterinarian, vitamins, probiotics.
If you want to diversify the assortment of meat absorbed by the cat, you can give a beef heart cut into pieces once a week (with all the additives indicated above). Cats can't have liver. It is undesirable to give chicken as the main meat component.
Fish can be given once a week. Raw, "noble varieties" (cod, pollock, haddock, without bones, skin and films).
Fermented milk products acceptable for a cat are more diverse. The basis is one percent kefir and low-fat (up to 9%) cottage cheese. Attention, about fresh kefir, the animal can "weaken". You can also give unsweetened fruit-free yogurt, sometimes 2 times a week - 10% sour cream diluted with boiling water (warm food is obtained, even postoperative animals do not refuse it), as a treat - you can give ryazhenka. But remember that the base is kefir!
Most cats can drink milk only in young age, adults from it most often weakens.
Grass for cats should be within reach of the beast at all times. It can be grown from a special bag with the same name, or - germinate and sow oats, wheat in sand or earth. When eating "nature" it is necessary to take a urine test every three to four months.
- industrial feed - dry and canned. Exists a large number of animal nutrition companies. It is better to use the feed of well-established companies that have research centers or cooperate with them.
Dry pet food
There is no single classification of dry animal feed, however, in general, the following groups of dry lumps are distinguished:
1. Super premium class.
These are the most complete and balanced feeds produced taking into account the latest scientific developments large nutrition centers. Components used in the production of feed High Quality. The meat used for the production of feed is dietary, an egg is also used as a protein source, and rice is used as a vegetable component. The preparation of feed of this class is carried out using special technologies. Due to this, the nutrients of the feed are closest to natural ones and are well absorbed by animals. Although these foods are expensive, they are easily digestible and have a high nutritional value, so their consumption is economical.
2. Premium class
In the manufacture of feed of this class, high quality products are used. The meat included in their composition is dietary (chicken, lamb, turkey meat). plant component the feed is usually rice. Feed is well digested, and their consumption is economical.
3. Conventional food.
These feeds are balanced, complete, but contain food colorings and flavor additives. Feed is made from raw materials of low quality. The protein in the feed is mainly of plant origin; dietary meats are usually not included in the feed. Although these feeds are inexpensive, the nutritional value and digestibility of these feeds is low, so their consumption is higher.
Conventional pet foods are classified by some companies into the following categories:
middle-class feeds that have good palatability, but are not always completely balanced,
economy-class feeds that are affordable to the widest range of consumers and are the cheapest and of the lowest quality.
For a cat, it is desirable that dry food is always freely available. The approximate feed rate is indicated by the manufacturer on the package and is measured with a measuring cup, different for each manufacturer. When feeding dry food, the cat should always have fresh water within reach. In a day adult cat on dry food should drink 120-150 ml of water. Milk (kefir) is not considered water.
Up to 8-9 months (or even up to a year, if there is no obvious excess weight) the cat is supposed to be fed kitten food. After a year - the usual "adult" food. The transition should be carried out gradually, within 7-10 days, reducing the portion of kitten food and increasing the adult dose.
Canned food should not be left to the cat for the whole day. They put it down, ate it, that I didn’t eat it - it’s put in the refrigerator.
You can combine dry and canned food only within the same line of one manufacturer.
When feeding with ready-made feeds, it is necessary to take a urine test either after changing the feed, or every six months - a year.
- mixed type nutrition - feeding both prepared feeds and homemade food. In our society (after the appearance of ready-made foods on the market), this type of feeding has become the most common, although no scientific justification for him no. On the contrary, all serious manufacturers of complete ration prepared feeds do not recommend adding anything other than water to the industrial ration.
Here we should stop and remember that in addition to the widespread complete feeds, there are non-complete ones. So read food labels carefully. They always tell you how to use the food and whether it can be combined with anything else.

A huge number of dogs and cats on the planet eat only artificial dry or canned food. Since the forties of the last century in the world, and in our country since the nineties, dry food for animals has become so widespread that many people believe that such feeding is the only correct one. In this article we will consider all the advantages and disadvantages of feeding natural food.

Why feed dogs and cats homemade food?

There are several objective reasons, because of which the owners feed their pets with homemade food. For example, some animals cannot eat artificial food for health reasons or because of allergic reactions, or due to intolerance to certain feed components. Some owners feed their pets homemade food because they want to be completely sure of its quality and in the absence of harmful additives, chemical preservatives and other ingredients present in artificial feed. And finally, the third group of animals that are fed homemade food. It includes service dogs that need a high percentage of fat and protein to work, which artificial food is not able to provide.

Why do so many owners feed their pets with commercial pet food?

This is due to the fact that cooking is a rather laborious process, and pets feel quite good about eating. In addition, today there is a wealth of information about feeding pets with commercial pet food. It has been proven that due to improved nutrition with artificial feed, animals began to live longer than before. In addition, commercial foods are widely available and very convenient.

Three types of home diets

There are three different types homemade diets.

The first type is a completely homemade, carefully balanced diet. It contains high quality protein sources, a balanced ratio of fats, proteins, carbohydrates and fibers, as well as complexes of minerals and vitamins that best meet the needs of the animal. Owners who feed their pets with such a diet actually care about their well-being and health, because this species Diet requires a lot of material and time costs.

The second type of diet is mixed meals consisting of artificial feed with the addition natural products. Quite often, waste from the master's table acts as natural products. It must be remembered that if the content of natural food in artificial food is more than ten percent, the balance in the diet can be disturbed.

The third type of homemade diet - in full involves food from the human table, and unbalanced in fats, proteins and carbohydrates. This is the worst type of homemade diet. Usually, In a similar way feed especially fastidious animals in food. To please the pet, the owner specially prepares chicken breasts and other meat delicacies, without thinking that because of this, the animal will have a deficiency of vitamins and carbohydrates.

It's important to know

Before giving preference to feeding homemade food dogs or cats, consider these facts:

Cooking homemade food for an animal is a rather laborious process and takes a lot of time.

Homemade food can be more expensive than commercial food.

Vitamins should be added to homemade food minerals, and it is necessary to carefully calculate the dosage. In some cases, enrichment of homemade food with antioxidants and fatty acids will be required.

Keep in mind that information about better food for pets regularly appears. People who feed their pets with homemade food should constantly be aware of latest research and developments. What was considered normal for five years may be hopelessly outdated today.

It must be remembered that an unbalanced home diet can harm the health of the pet.

Special attention must be paid proper storage home food.

If you train your pet to home diet, it will be quite difficult for you to transfer it to artificial food.

Remember, homemade diets are usually too soft and do not provide chewing, which is harmful to the teeth and gums of the animal.

If you wish to transition your pet to a homemade diet, do so gradually over a period of at least three weeks or a month to prevent upset. digestive system animal.

Remember - even the most balanced diet in the world will not be effective if the animal is not provided with daily walks.