This post is sponsored by VetChef – for more information about Vetchef founder Joe Inglis read our Q&A article.
Our dogs are increasingly part of the family, enjoying all the comforts of home life, from sharing our sofas to watching TV with us. So, it’s unsurprising that more and more pet parents are starting to wonder why we still feed these beloved family members on monotonous diets of bland processed biscuits when the rest of the family enjoy freshly cooked meals.
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Why not home-cook for dogs?
At first glance, the idea of home-cooking for our dogs seems like a wonderful one. What’s not to like about the idea of feeding our canine companions a diet of fresh food, lovingly made with high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients.
However, when starting to think about feeding a freshly home cooked diet, many owners quickly come up against obstacles. This makes moving away from processed foods much harder than it should be. Years of advertising by the big pet food companies have conditioned owners to think that feeding the same complete and balanced food every day is the only responsible way to feed a dog. Scare stories abound with tales of malnourished dogs and health problems linked to inappropriate homemade diets. And then there’s the thought of all the time and effort involved in home-cooking compared to the convenience of kibble or tinned foods.
Understanding nutrition
By far and away the biggest obstacle that owners face is nutrition. How to cook meals which are safe and provide all the necessary nutrients each dog requires. Pet parents (quite reasonably) worry about causing nutritional deficiencies or imbalances that will impact their dog’s health. This puts off so many people from ever trying a fresh diet for their dog.
Until recently, this issue was very hard to overcome; there are countless websites offering recipes for dogs. But very few providing detailed nutritional information. Even fewer putting that analysis into context in a way that is practical and useful for pet parents. How many owners know how much zinc a 3 year old Labrador needs, or how many grams of protein are ideal for a working collie?
VetChef – fresh, made easy
Thankfully, there is now a solution that is making home cooking a viable option for all pet parents, by creating and managing bespoke recipes that are tailored to each dog’s specific nutritional requirements. With the free VetChef online platform, creating a safe and perfectly balanced diet for your dog is quick and easy. Simply enter your dog’s details and the system (which was developed by a team of vets and nutritionists) presents a selection of recipes. The recipes are individually tailored to match your dog’s individual requirements and preferences. The feeding diary and nutrition dashboard features then allow you to manage your dog’s diet on a daily basis. Also allowing you to keep a close eye on every aspect of their nutritional health.
Supplements
In addition to the bespoke recipes, VetChef offer a range of nutritional supplements designed to complement the recipes. They ensure complete nutritional balance, providing nutrients which can be hard to source from fresh ingredients such as calcium, copper and iodine. In addition, the range includes supplements designed to deliver additional nutritional support for dogs with specific health or life-style issues. Ranging from joint and skin problems to obesity and digestive upsets.
Taking the hassle out of homemade
The other major issue that puts people off home-cooking is the time and hassle involved. Cooking a batch of fresh food from scratch can be laborious and time consuming. So that’s why the development of the VetChef Buddy fresh pet food cooker is so exciting. This ground-breaking new kitchen appliance is designed to revolutionise the process of cooking for dogs, by making it as quick and easy as baking a loaf of bread in a bread maker.
With a Buddy device, cooking up your dog’s favourite dinner is as simple as adding the ingredients and hitting ‘cook’ on your phone. Buddy then takes care of all the work. Weighing, chopping, mixing, and cooking – allowing you to get on with your day, and your dog to look forward to a perfectly cooked meal for dinner, alongside the rest of the family.
To cook or not to cook?
So, in conclusion, the answer to the question ‘is it ok to cook for my dog?’ is a resounding ‘yes’. Cooking for your dog is a wonderful way to provide your best friend with delicious, healthy fresh food. And by using a service such as VetChef, you can be sure it is delivering the ideal nutritional balance for their individual requirements. Add in a Buddy pet food maker, and suddenly fresh homemade food becomes almost as easy as processed food.
Head over to www.vetchef.com/vethelpdirect to find out more and start your home-cooking adventure.
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