THE WOOF AGENCY had the privilege of chatting with Chukus Kitchen, a company whose mission is to bring transparency and awareness in industry by engaging with board certified veterinary nutritionists to formulate our recipes.
Read along to learn about their tips and tricks when it comes to providing your pups with a well-balanced diet, along with some common misconceptions by fellow pawrents about pet diets in general.
Balanced Diets (Nutrition, Health & Wellness)
This should be an easy topic – we’ve all heard how nutritious carrots and sweet potatoes are when it comes to nutrition. Mixing these ingredients with a main meat protein would surely result in a hearty and healthy meal for our dogs, shouldn’t it?
Well, wrong! But wait, we forgot to mention the importance of supplementing a piece of bone or egg shell powder for that indispensable source of calcium… perfect! Sorry, wrong again!
Unfortunately, there isn’t a magical 50:25:25 (meat:vegetable:grain) ratio that will make a meal nutritionally balanced, it’s not that simple. With today’s blog, our goal is to build more awareness on what a “nutritionally balanced” diet for pets means and lightly cover its implications.
Nutritionally Balanced for Dogs
Dogs have very particular needs when it comes to nutrition, and when pet food formulators and veterinary nutritionists talk about dog nutrition they are in fact referring to very specific vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
Do note that I strictly mentioned veterinary nutritionists (not pet food specialists) and pet food formulators, as both of them are qualified experts with a Master’s degree or PhD in nutrition, trained to understand the nutritional requirements of animals.
Implications Today
One of the concerning realities in our industry is that it is far too easy to start a business in selling food for pets that haven’t been formulated or reviewed by experts with proper credentials. Just as with humans, nutritional deficiencies over a prolonged period can be the cause of observable issues on the skin, haircoat, mood, energy levels and eventually even compromise our pet’s immune system.
Take Home Message
Ensuring dogs eat nutritionally balanced food is paramount and doing so will reduce the number of visits to the vet. Our industry can always benefit more from transparency and building awareness.
As with humans, our dogs follow the timeless phrase – “We Are What We Eat”.
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THE WOOF AGENCY would like to thank Chukus Kitchen for their contribution and insights towards providing our pawrents with dieting knowledge!
* This blog is designed to be a community where pet owners can learn and share. The views expressed in each post are the opinion of the author and not necessarily endorsed by Pawjourr. Always consult your veterinarian for professional advice.
