Add Fresh Food To Kibble
Fresh Vegetables Added To Kibble Reduces Risk of Disease
By now many of you are thinking about adding some nutritional whole-food content to your dog’s bowl.
You can add up to 10-20% of the total food intake in fresh food options.
One of the first things you should consider is fresh steamed veggies. Adding rotational veggies can increase your vitamin & mineral sources without adding a lot of extra calories and without starting to create a major imbalance in nutrients. Since many kibble brands have synthetic vitamins and minerals in their foods, using rotational veggies from real food is awesome!
You should still be careful if you’re adding lots of calcium-rich foods or too much fiber for example — but a dollop of fresh veg in the bowl is a great choice & your dog will love it!
If you start feeding lots more volume of fresh foods, there’s a whole lot of math and sourcing you may need to do to keep the bowl balanced. We don’t have to balance every single bowl, but we do need to keep it in mind, even if it’s balanced over the week.
If you start adding meat to the bowl on a regular basis — it’s even more important to keep the math and nutrient balance in mind. Many people think adding some fresh raw meat is a bonus for your dog. And it is — your dog will love it. But you could easily create an imbalance in the diet if you are not careful. Read More Here: Why Feeding RAW Meat To Your Dog Might Not Be Working. You also run the risk of problems if it’s cooked meat with carcinogens, fats, or other factors you may never have considered.
If you’re thinking about transitioning to a home-prepared diet (cooked or raw), check in with me to review and make sure you have the basics and some resources that will help you keep things in balance. See our Blog on Common Home Prepared Dog Food Mistakes
Being out of balance for a long period could lead to health problems.
So the best suggestion I can give you is to keep it simple with some veggies. Don’t get in a food rut and don’t do too much of a good thing. Schedule a review of your diet plans & your dog as an individual to get a fresh diet plan together - or start doing lots of research and math before you make big changes.
“In some cases we see an addition of up to 20% fresh leafy greens, reduce disease risk significantly. Some say as much as 70%”