Is it safe to feed my puppy homemade food instead of kibble?

Homemade foods are tough because they are almost always deficient in vitamins and minerals without a supplement. It is not impossible, however. I like the website balance it.com. You can set up an account, look for recipes, and they can even analyze the nutrients in your current recipe. The key is a meat+ grain+ fruits and veggies for nutrients. Good luck!

Hello. By homely, do you mean a homemade diet? If so, it is very difficult to prepare a diet that has all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids & proper balance of protein, carbohydrates & fats that meets a dogs nutritional needs. Royal Canin is an excellent food, so I would really try to maintain this. If you truly want to do a homemade diet, then I encourage you to visit this site that will help you to develop a nutritionally sound diet plan. Thanks for using PetCoach. https://securebalanceit.com/

I would not recommend trying to feed a home-cooked diet to a growing large breed puppy like Buddy - this is because nutritional balance is extremely important at this age for proper growth and development. It's extremely difficult to properly balance a home-cooked diet for a growing puppy like this - not as simple as just following a recipe and adding some supplements, I'm afraid. Nutritional imbalances in young puppies can cause severe orthopedic issues later in life such as hip dysplasia, growth plate abnormalities, and other types of joint problems. For this reason, I would strongly recommend feeding a good quality puppy food for large breed puppies - my favorites are Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin, but there are many options available. Once your dog is fully grown, you can revisit the idea of a home-cooked diet if you wish, since it's much easier to balance this type of diet for an adult dog :)

A balanced diet for a puppy has many key nutrients which are vital to their health, and which are available in good quality commercial puppy food. A homemade diet that is not balanced can have severe consequences for your pet’s health, as it can lead to nutritional deficiencies or malnutrition. There are many types of prepared pet food out there, some of them better than others. A good quality food with veterinarians and nutritionists developing the food and lab data showing that it is providing necessary nutrients is a good bet to make sure your pup is getting what he needs out of his meals. Because puppies have different nutritional needs than adult dogs, and large breeds have different needs than small breeds, your puppy should be on a large breed puppy food until he reaches a year old, then slowly transitioned over to a large breed adult dog food. That being said, many people now choose to cook for their pets at home, and this can be a good alternative to commercial pet foods if done right. If you wish to prepare your puppy’s food at home, I recommend booking an appointment with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist who can give you recipes for a nutritionally balanced homemade diet tailored to the needs of your puppy. If you are in the U.S., you can visit www.acvn.org to find a board certified veterinary nutritionist in your area. If this is not possible, you can check https://secure.balanceit.com for free recipes for meals for your puppy that will provide him with the nutrition he needs.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Mio. No, homemade diets are not recommended for puppies. It's very hard to get the correct balance of nutrients. You should feed him a commercial diet like Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina Pro Plan, or Iams. He needs a puppy food. Vomiting blood is a medical emergency, so he needs to see a vet now. Best of luck.

No, meat is not a balanced diet. Even raw meat is not balanced. Balancing a home made diet is difficult and is not recommended unless you work with a veterinary nutritionist. When online, home made recipes where tested, 97% were found to be unbalanced and lacking in 1 or more essential nutrients. Unless you plan on working with a nutritionist, I recommend to feed a normal commercial diet that is AAFCO certified. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hi there. It should be fine to start feeding Blacky a home-cooked diet now, if you want to - you'll just need to make sure that it's nutritionally complete and balanced for growing puppies. I would recommend using either www.balanceit.com or www.petdiets.com to put together appropriate recipes for him.