What can go wrong with homecooking?

I have been contacted by so many owners feeding their dogs plant-based and some of their dogs have had issues with painful urinary crystals

Home Cooking

Updated on August 2024 by Just Be Kind Dog Food Arielle

When we choose to homecook, we have complete control of which ingredients we are choosing and reassurance of what we are feeding to our pets – wholesome healthy and nourishing ingredients with no additives.

Homecooking for your dog offers the most cost-effective way of feeding plant-based and it is also the most palatable way to feed your dog if they happen to be extra fussy with their food.

It is possible to homecook without the addition of any supplements as a plant-based diet is so healthy, but as a dog owner and the knowledge I have acquired as a vet, I am also so aware that we could get it wrong too and that is the last thing I want for my own plant-based dog.

I have been contacted by so many owners feeding their dogs plant-based and some of their dogs have had issues with painful urinary crystals and urinary tract infections, heart conditions or lack of calcium – all of these were corrected by simply adding in supplements to the homemade food!

18 year old Border Terrier eating homemade vegan dog food diet

"If you are not using a commercially prepared complete vegan dog food, with a formal analysis that you can check for nutritional completeness, be very careful that you are meeting a dog’s nutritional requirements.

Months after starting to feed Nancy on home-cooked meals without a supplement (and thinking that we had researched and understood her nutritional requirements), she started to become unwell.

She had increasingly worrying congitive and physical symptoms that could have been put down to her age (doggy dementia). It turned out that she had insufficient Vitamin D in her diet, causing her to have problems with processing of available Calcium (which WAS already present in her vegan diet in sufficient quantities). Tested calcium levels in her blood samples were worryingly low.

Some of our misunderstanding about Vitamin D was thinking that it was present in things such as tofu (it’s not in the UK, unless fortified). From this point on, we have always added a supplement to her meals.”

- Steve, West Yorkshire Nancy, 18yr old Border Terrier

WHAT CAN GO WRONG WHEN CHOOSING TO HOME COOK?

The last thing that you want as a dog owner, and me as a vet, is to cause harm to your pet. Any unbalancing of nutrients, deficiencies or excesses of nutrients can cause harm. For example:

The main source of protein in a vegan dog food diet comes from legumes, peas or soya and these tend to produce phytates that lower the absorption of important nutrients such as Zinc and Selenium. These need to be supplemented but in just the right proportions to make up for this shortage.

The main proteins lacking in dogs on a plant-based diet are the Sulphur amino acids and these can be safely added as supplements they are to so many complete dog (and cat) foods - even freshly cooked human-grade meat-based dog foods need supplements added. Certain dog breeds may be more prone to developing Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) or other heart conditions without the addition of lysine - a precursor of L-Carnitine, and Methionine which is a precursor to Taurine, as well as Omega 3 fatty acids.

A plant-based diet tends to result in a very alkaline environment in the intestines, and in the bladder. This can result in your dog suffering from urinary tract infections with resulting bladder stones, and this condition is extremely painful for your dog.

Some owners add apple cider vinegar to homemade food to attempt to balance this, but cider vinegar actually turns alkaline in the intestines so has the opposite effect!

The addition of one of the sulphur amino acids methionine, is the most important way to acidify your dog’s urine. This is found in the foods we recommend as well as in the supplement we use in our homemade recipes.

There is enough calcium in many of the green leafy foods that we recommend in our homemade diets, but it can only be properly absorbed with the addition of just the right amount of Vitamin D. Your dog may get enough Vitamin D if taken for a few hours walk a day, but for most of our dogs (and us too) this just does not happen.

A lack of calcium in your dog’s body can cause so many painful arthritis issues as well as heart issues and again, it is SO important to supplement correctly.

Why we made our JUST BE KIND supplement

As a vet and Mum of our own family dog, getting it wrong with turning him onto a 100% plant-based diet was not an option. Only once I felt that I had it 100% right for him, did I feel that I could offer my advice to you the owner as I know just how important it is.

We turned to science and made up a batch of his favourite homemade recipe – Feed the Rainbow and we sent it off to a laboratory for a full analysis (at a cost of £2400 for the one recipe!)

We thought it was nutritionally complete made with brown rice, oats, beans, soaked and cooked red lentils, peas, sweet potato, Algae oil capsules, sesame oil, kale and mushrooms…..but the results we received from our pet nutritionist who analysed the results for us were astounding, as it was lacking in so many nutrients (as shown in the chart here)

The results, prompted us to produce our JUST BE KIND supplement to make up for all the deficiencies shown to be lacking through intensive nutritional analysis of a homecooked diet. Our main concern centred around the need to add in those extra proteins shown to be lacking in the homemade food such as Tryptophan, Valine, Methionine, Cysteine; as well as Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Copper and all the B Vitamins that just like humans on a plant-based diet need to be supplemented.

We even went one step further and we have added in pre and probiotics to our JUST BE KIND supplement to support your dog’s gut microbiome and ensure increased health and vitality!

Please note that there is no addition of Vit D3 as we recommend Omega 3 Algae oil that perfectly complements our supplement to supply your dog with all the natural Omega 3’s that they need as well as plant-based Vit D3.

DOWNLOAD OUR PDF CHART HERE WITH HELP WHEN HOMECOOKING

LEARN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOME COOKING SAFELY IN OUR PLANT-BASED DOG NUTRITION COURSE HERE

Vegan Sprockerpoo Molly “We’ve just tried all the new recipes and JUST BE KIND supplement. Molly loves them all, especially ones with peanut butter in – The little bits of icing are great for hiding her tablets in!”