Human Food vs. Dog Food: Why The Same Recipe Doesn’t Always Work for Both
You’re thinking of tossing your dog a chunk of chicken. Acting on this thought may be fine if you’re cooking plain chicken. But chicken seasoned with onions and garlic may not be as kind to your dog’s stomach. The same consideration applies to dairy, mushrooms, beef, and other food items humans and dogs can eat.
That a food item is safe for both you and your dog to eat doesn’t mean you can prepare it for them the way you’d cook it for yourself. And while a dinner of grilled chicken breast with brown rice and steamed vegetables may be a balanced meal for you, it may not contain all of the nutrients your dog requires.
When cooking for your dog, keep the safety and nutritional value of recipes in mind.
Some Spices Aren’t Safe for Your Dog to Eat
Take onion and garlic, for example. You’ve probably savored the meals you prepared with them. However, the ASPCA says that both onion and garlic can irritate dogs’ stomachs and damage their red blood cells.
So if you season meat with onion and garlic, don’t place even a tiny chunk of it in your dog’s food bowl. Picking out the pieces of these ingredients before serving the meat to your dog doesn’t make any difference, either, because the flavors from the ingredients would’ve seeped into the meat by then.
Your Dog May Need Nutrients in Different Proportions Than You Do
Revisit the dinner example above. It might fit into your diet, but for your dog, it may supply plenty of phosphorus and too little calcium. So it’s not sufficient for a recipe not to send your dog vomiting. It must provide the nutrients your pup needs at their age.
If you want to start feeding your dog homemade meals, discuss potential recipes with your vet.
On Mushrooms
According to the ASPCA, both humans and pets can eat mushrooms sold at the grocery store for human consumption. If you’re thinking of giving your dog mushrooms, sticking with the store-bought variety might be safer.
On the other hand, the addition of a mushroom to a dog supplement doesn’t mean that it’s safe to feed your dog that mushroom raw or cooked. For example, Pup Labs’s K9 Belly Bliss contains reishi, lion’s mane, turkey tail, and cordyceps. But their inclusion in that product doesn’t indicate you should fill your dog’s food bowl with as many of these mushrooms as you’d normally eat. If you want to have an idea of how much of these mushrooms are included in the product, shop here. Pup Labs lists the quantities of each ingredient and provides a weight-based feeding guide on their K9 Belly Bliss page, but for advice on how much of these mushrooms your dog can safely eat, consult your veterinarian.
Dairy and Baked Goods
Dogs’ digestive systems don’t have a lot of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. As a result, they might carry on with their day after eating a bite of cheese but get a bad diarrhea episode after drinking milk. If you aren’t lactose-intolerant, don’t assume that your dog isn’t.
Omitted sugar from a recipe for a homemade pastry but used xylitol? Don’t let your dog near any of those goodies. Xylitol can cause a dog’s blood sugar levels to drop and potentially damage their liver. As a general guideline, if you didn’t prepare human food yourself and you don’t know exactly what went into it, don’t allow your dog to eat it.
When You Cook for Yourself and Your Dog
You’ll need to prepare separate recipes: a set for yourself and a different one for your dog. Simply cooking a large pot and giving your dog some of it may not be healthy for them. Even if you haven’t used any ingredients that are toxic to them, your meals may simply not contain the nutrients they need in the proportions they need.
You may also want to purchase toppers and supplements to enrich their diet. Discuss the complete feeding plan with your vet before going ahead.
Conclusion
You don’t have to stop cooking for your dog or sharing your food with your dog. But while at it, recall that some ingredients that are safe for you might be poisonous for them, so don’t feed them something just because it tastes good to you.
If you want to feed your dog homemade meals, ask a veterinary nutrition specialist for suitable recipes and run any recipe you’re considering with your vet.
