I am about to be mother to two Cavalier King Charles spaniels. They are currently fed on Beta puppy food and don’t have any feeding problems. I would like to feed them a healthy diet in view of the Cavs’ history of heart disease. Does anyone have some healthy suggestions for doggy dinners that I might make myself. Also, what are best low fat kibble type I could feed?
Hello and welcome to the forum. It’s best to keep them on Beta puppy food until they are settled. You can feed puppies on home made food but you need properly formulated recipes, preferably from a canine nutritionist. Some of the recipes found on the Internet are not well balanced and do not include the correct supplementation. All home made dog food needs this, usually calcium and omega oils’. Have a look at our home cooking section for information about cooking for dogs. Puppies have specific dietary requirements so it might be better to feed a good quality commercial food until they are a bit older. Don’t consider low fat foods for now because dogs need fat, particularly puppies as they are growing fast and have higher calorie requirements…
If you want to buy commercial fresh cooked food there are just a few choices. The ones that spring to mind are Different Dog, Butternut Box, Marleybones and the new company, Tuggs, It usually costs more to use this type of food though.
You could also consider a quality dry or wet food which can be sourced via the Dog Food Directory - if you need help with that, please ask.
Re the heart issue, we have various threads about this - just use the search box and type in ‘cardiomyopathy’. There is a resource article about it here.
Thank you Dottie, I can’t find a reply link to thank you for advice which was really helpful. I understand that the Cavs’ parents are fed on the same dry food (for adults) and they look happy and healthy. I will continue with the same food for the pups. There is so much information out there about good and bad food, it can be confusing. I recently read a doggy meals recipe book which seemed to show a high fat content in a lot of the recipes, so not too impressed. My late Border Collie lived to almost seventeen on dry food with added sardines on alternate days.
Beta Puppy is reviewed here. It has a nutritional rating of 64%. If you wish to eventually look for something with a higher nutritional rating with no red or yellow ingredients, you can use the Dog Food Directory to source something. Many of the higher quality dry foods are for all life stages because the protein content is above the standard for puppies, therefore changing food as they grow older is not necessary.
Higher protein foods usually contain a higher fat level too but don’t worry about that for now. Your pups are growing fast and need the best nutrition you can offer. Fat only becomes a problem when dogs are overweight, usually due to lack of exercise and overfeeding.
Sardines are a good enhancement to dry food. More about enhancing dry food here.
For an adult pet dog home made cooked food is usually 60% protein (meat/fish/poultry) but some people go up to 75% which may be useful for working and very active dogs.