Can I give my pet human food scraps like eggs, meat, or fish?

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Good question and one that gets a lot of owners into trouble. It definitely could harm to feed some human food depending on the particular pet, what is fed, and of course how much. I would advise staying away from feeding human food to your cat. Many foods can cause GI upset and other problems including toxicity. Please read the following article regarding common foods that are toxic to dogs and cats. https://www.petcoach.co/article/10-common-foods-that-are-toxic-to-dogs-and-cats/ The best advice is to feed a well-balanced diet which is designated as complete for the particular life stage of your cat (kitten, adult cat, etc). I would advise talking with your local veterinarian about this topic also. Good luck and great question.

A poor balanced diet can decrease their life span and lead to secondary health problems such as poor dental disease and GI upset A well balanced commercial diet is best as it is balanced appropriately. You can give plain boiled chicken or cooked salmon in small quantities as something special and this will not harm her

Ideally you would feed your dog consistently the same dry dog food. Some dogs have a sensitive stomach and switching up food/offering table food can cause stomach upset (vomiting, diarrhea), or can lead to a picky eater. Also some human foods can be toxic to dogs (raisins, grapes, and garlic and onion are not recommended). I would try to stick to a consistent dry dog food for your dog, which will also provide a more complete and balanced source of nutrition.

No, that is too many treats and extras for a dog's diet. At most, they should only get between 5-10% of the diet in treats and extras. Too many treats and extras leads to dogs gaining weight. You can could a scrambled egg as a treat once a week.

It is not recommended to feed Gizmo table scraps. When feeding a dog table scraps they can develop intestinal issues, pancreatitis or even more prone to obesity. I recommend sticking with one type of puppy food until Gizmo is a year old. Once he is a year old I would recommend gradually transitioning him to an adult food. If you really wanted to do a homecooked diet for Gizmo then I would recommend a veterinary nutritionist at petdiets.com where they can formulate a diet that has all the nutrients Gizmo needs. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Ideally, a high-quality commercially-prepared diet should make up 90% of a dog’s diet, with nutritious treats making up no more than that last 10%. Commercially-prepared foods are formulated to provide proper balances of vitamins and minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can lead to a host of health conditions. There are some dogs or pet parents who prefer home cooked diets over the commercially available options. In these cases, the recipe for the home cooked food must be carefully balanced to account for any lacking nutrients, and are best formulated by specialists in veterinary nutrition. Examples of such recipes can be found at www.balanceit.com. However, occasional treats of people foods, such as boiled white meat chicken, cooked sweet potatoes, turkey, green beans, or carrots are perfectly fine!

Great question! I will give you links to websites that list foods Oscar can never have, and food that he can have on occasion. It's not recommended to give him too much human food, as that can lead to obesity, which then leads to heart problems, diabetes, and joint problems. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/people-foods-avoid-feeding-your-pets http://www.akc.org/content/health/articles/fruits-vegetables-dogs-can-and-cant-eat/