The benefits and naturalness of commercial dry food is in very great doubt. Meanwhile, pets just adore him. To be calm about the health of your four-legged friends, prepare dry food for them with your own hands.
What you can make dry food for cats and dogs
For the production of dry food at home, not only meat, but also by-products (heart, stomachs) can be used as the main ingredient. It is better to refuse the liver, since it contains a lot of biologically active substances, which can lead to metabolic disorders.
If we talk about meat, then it is better to stop your choice on chicken, turkey or beef. Lamb and pork are too fatty. Experienced breeders do not recommend including them in the diet of pets. From frequent feeding of pork in pets, in particular in cats, pancreatitis, renal failure, and cirrhosis of the liver can develop.
It is also better not to make food based on fish. Seafood is rich in protein, which is remarkably digestible, but also puts an increased strain on the kidneys of the animal. In addition, when cats eat fish, the mineral balance is disturbed, which leads to the development of urolithiasis. It is also undesirable for dogs to include fish in the diet, especially river fish.
The role of auxiliary ingredients is usually oatmeal, bran, fish oil, herbs, eggs and even honey. In no case should you salt dry food of your own production! Pets do not need salt at all.
How to make dry food at home
The technology for preparing homemade dry food is simple. It is necessary to pass all the products used in the recipe through a meat grinder and beat with a blender into a doughy mass.
Then you should put the "dough" on a baking sheet, previously covered with parchment, and send it to the oven to dry. The oven must be warmed up to 100 degrees, no more, otherwise the "dough" will treacherously bake and not dry out. It usually takes 20 minutes to dry.
After that, you need to get the "dough" and divide it into small pieces, and then put it back in the oven for further drying for 1, 5 hours. From time to time, you should open the oven and check the food for readiness. This is best done with a toothpick. From the finished feed, it will come out dry and clean, without adhering particles.
Ready dry food must be cooled and stored in the refrigerator. Before that, you need to put it in a jar with a lid, which is screwed tightly.
Dry food for cats and dogs: three easy recipes
Recipe number 1
You will need:
- 1 kg of beef or chicken (can be taken in half);
- a glass of rolled oats;
- 1 egg.
Meat and eggs must first be boiled, and the rolled oats must be steamed. Further, the feed is prepared according to the above technology.
Recipe number 2
You will need:
- 1 kg of beef heart;
- a bunch of greens;
- 1 tbsp. fish oil.
The heart also needs to be boiled. Instead of a beef heart, you can safely take chicken hearts. Fish oil will make your pet's coat shiny. You can use olive oil instead.
Recipe number 3
You will need:
- 500 g of chicken hearts;
- 2 tbsp. l. honey;
- a bunch of greens.
Chicken hearts must also be boiled first, then do everything according to the usual technology.
Homemade dry food will ideally fit into the diet of those animals that sit on the so-called "nature" - natural nutrition. There are no ingredients that are dubious and dangerous for the health of pets in it, which is why purchased dry food is so sinful.
