DIY Dog Food: The Importance of a Dog Food Vitamin and Mineral Supplement to balance home cooking
These days, many dog parents are opting to create their own homemade fresh dog food. While this isn’t necessarily a bad idea, it’s wise to add a dog food vitamin and mineral supplement at feeding times to ensure they are receiving a complete nutritional profile every day, and here’s why.
In general, cooking your own fresh dog food is a much better option than feeding your dog canned food or kibble, which is made with feed grade ingredients, is heavily processed, contains preservatives, and often contains high levels of sodium and carbohydrates. However, though you might be selecting the high-quality meats, grains, and vegetables, most homemade foods require added vitamin and mineral supplements in order to be complete and balanced.
Typically, homemade foods cover your dog's nutritional needs for protein, vegetables and a small amount of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, homemade diets tend to have gaps in nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and other crucial minerals, as well as Omega-3 fatty acids.
At Chi Dog, we know that some dog parents prefer to make their own food, so we offer veterinary nutritionist-formulated dog food vitamin and mineral supplements that are safe for daily use and can balance home-cooked meals based on our easy, limited ingredient recipes.
Our Chi Dog Macro-Min supplement provides calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, and magnesium in safe amounts, while Chi Dog Multi provides an assortment of essential vitamins and trace minerals, including Vitamin A, Vitamin D, iron, zinc, and Omega-3s.
If you are using our vitamin and mineral supplements, we do not recommend adding any additional multivitamin supplements, as you may end up feeding your dog higher amounts of certain vitamins and minerals than they need, which can cause health issues. We offer three home cooking recipes on our website, and when used with our supplements, they can provide excellent nutritional support for many adult dogs.
What About Bone Meal?
Bone meal is nutrient-rich, containing calcium and phosphorus. Both of these minerals support bone and joint health, as well as dental health. Many people will add it to homemade food as a supplement, but it’s not always a good option.
With bone meal, it is crucial to ensure the quality of the product, as not all bone meals are meant for consumption. For instance, bone meal is commonly used as fertilizer for gardens, but this type of bone meal is highly toxic for dogs.
Additionally, some dogs may end up with a diet too rich in calcium or phosphorus, and this can cause health issues. For instance, especially in older dogs, too much phosphorus can put too much pressure on your dog’s kidneys. Older dogs and dogs with kidney issues typically benefit from a low phosphorus dog food, and bone meal may contain more phosphorus than they need.
Is Homemade Dog Food Your Best Option?
The main reason why people choose to make their own dog food is quality control. When you make it, you have 100% control over the quality of the ingredients. You can avoid processed foods and even opt for organic proteins, grains, and veggies.
Additionally, if your dog is picky or has very specific food sensitivities, you may be able to cook a completely custom diet. You can choose proteins, vegetables and grains that your dog tolerates well and enjoys.
However, there can be disadvantages to creating homemade dog food. First and foremost, you have to be very careful to ensure that you are meeting all of your dog’s nutritional requirements, and this can be tricky, especially if your dog has special dietary needs. Adding too much or too little of a certain ingredient can create gaps or overloads in your dog’s diet.
In general, if your dog has conditions such as kidney problems, allergies, or is prone to issues such as pancreatitis, it is best to stick with a vet-formulated dog food created specifically to address their health issues, such as opting for a vet-formulated low sodium dog food, a low carb dog food, a novel protein dog food or perhaps a low copper dog food.
Additionally, preparing food from scratch is time-intensive. It’s not just the cooking time, but also the planning and portioning, especially if your dog is a picky eater.
Many people opt to make homemade food because of the cost savings. However, when you factor in the time it takes to plan, shop, and make the food, likely, you won’t notice much of a cost difference between homemade food and using a cooked, vet-formulated fresh dog food.
Obviously, canned food and kibble can be the most convenient and least expensive option, but we do not recommend these diets for any dog, even young, healthy animals. Processed food is pro-inflammatory, and does not nourish a sensitive gut. Opting for a real food, cooked, fresh dog food with human-grade ingredients is always the best option, whether you buy pre-made food or make your own.
Why Choose Chi Dog?
There are many fresh dog food options available, so what sets us apart from the pack? Chi Dog is owned and operated by veterinarians, and we carefully cooked each of our five holistic dog food diets according to principles of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). One of the core aspects of TCVM is using food as therapy to address each dog’s unique needs and restore balance.
A TCVM-based, holistic food for dogs focuses on whole, functional, nutrient-dense foods that support digestion, immune health, and overall vitality. Each diet is gently cooked to preserve nutrients and moisture, and we use only human-grade ingredients prepared in USDA-inspected kitchens.
One of the main aspects that sets Chi Dog apart is the type of proteins we use. Unlike many fresh dog food brands, including some very high-end brands, we use no organ meats. Our food does not contain liver, kidney, or organ concentrates.
The liver and kidneys are filtration organs, and these organs work to eliminate everything that the body does not need, including toxins such as environmental contaminants, heavy metals, and agricultural residue.
By not using organs, we can lower the risk that your dog will be exposed to any of these toxins that might still be present in the liver or kidneys. Liver also is very high in copper, which can be concerning for dog breeds with copper storage sensitivity.
Additionally, these organ meats are extremely high in fat, and this is associated with weight gain as well as digestive stress and pancreatic stress. If you are searching for a low fat dog food for pancreatitis, for instance, feeding your dog organ meats can be a bad option.
Instead, we use lean muscle only, such as lean cuts of turkey, pork, and chicken. These proteins ensure that fat content is controlled and that copper levels are low, which is an important consideration for many breeds.
We also do not use choline bitartrate in our food, as this has been linked to the formation of bladder stones in some dogs. Instead, we use whole food choline chloride sources as these are easier on your dog’s system.
Of course, we also offer a dog food subscription service, which means food is shipped directly to your door when you need it, providing dogs with tasty, healthy food and dog parents with the ultimate level of convenience.
In the final analysis, creating homemade dog food is not always a bad option, but it is inconvenient and easy to get wrong. If you do decide to go this route, please talk to your veterinarian about ingredients and aspects such as calorie needs and portion sizes, and we strongly recommend opting for a high-quality dog food supplement, such as the ones we offer on our website.
FAQ's
1. Do homemade dog meals need a supplement?
Yes. Most homemade dog diets lack essential nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, vitamins (D, E), and Omega-3 fatty acids. Adding a dog food supplement helps ensure meals are complete and balanced.
2. What nutrients are commonly missing in homemade dog food?
Homemade diets often fall short in:
- Calcium and phosphorus
- Vitamin D and Vitamin E
- Trace minerals like zinc and iron
- Omega-3 fatty acids
These nutrients are critical for bone health, immune function, and overall wellness.
3. Can I just use natural ingredients instead of supplements?
Even high-quality meats and vegetables typically don’t provide the precise nutrient balance dogs need daily. Supplements help fill those gaps in a controlled, safe way.
4. Is it possible to give my dog too many vitamins or minerals?
Yes. Over-supplementation can lead to health issues, including toxicity or organ strain. That’s why it’s important to follow dosing guidelines and avoid stacking multiple supplements.
5. What is a dog food supplement, and what does it do?
A dog food supplement is a formulated blend of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients designed to balance your dog’s diet—especially helpful when feeding homemade meals.
