Natural dog food feeding your dog the natural diet
Ask The Vet Home > Dogs > Dog Care > Nutrition
First of all, what would you consider to be a natural diet? Are you intending on feeding your dog a raw diet with fresh ingredients you concoct yourself or are you going for the commercially available 'natural diets' that are out there eg Wysong comes to mind? For a start, just because you are feeding your dog a natural diet doesn't necessarily mean that your dog is going to end up healthier than Fido next door who's being fed the supermarket dry dog food. Just like all nutrition, if you embark on diet based on natural ingredients, you need to ensure that your dog is getting a well balanced nutritionally sound meal each time, otherwise you run the risk of nutritional deficiencies or long term problems in your dog.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has established feed regulations and ingredient definitions and developled nutrient profiles for pets. Whilst it's not set in concrete and the guidelines and recommendations can change as more studies are conducted, it's a good place to start.
At this point in time, the AAFCO has recommended the following for adult dogs - unless otherwise listed, all values are minimum requirements:
Protein.........18%
Fat..............5%
Calcium......0.6% (maximum 2.5%)
Phosphorus...0.5% (maximum 1.6%)
Potassium.....0.6%
Sodium........0.06%
Chloride.......0.09%
Magnesium.....0.04% (maximum 0.3%)
Iron............80 mg/kg (maximum 3,000 mg/kg)
Copper.........7.3 mg/kg (maximum 250 mg/kg)
Manganese........5 mg/kg
Zinc...........120 mg/kg (maximum 1000 mg/kg)
Iodine.........1.5 mg/kg (maximum 50 mg/kg)
Selenium......0.11 mg/kg (maximum 2 mg/kg)
Vitamin A.....5000 IU/kg (maximum 250,000 IU/kg)
Vitamin D......500 IU/kg (maximum 5000 IU/kg)
Vitamin E.......50 IU/kg (maximum 1000 IU/kg)
Thiamine.........1 mg/kg
Riboflavin.....2.2 mg/kg
Pantothenic Acid..10 mg/kg
Niacin..........11.4 mg/kg
Pyridoxine.........1 mg/kg
Folic Acid......0.18 mg/kg
Vitamin B12.....0.022 mg/kg
Choline.........1200 mg/kg
Growing puppies, pregnant and lactating bitches require more calories and have increased requirements for certain nutrients, so unless stated below, the above list would apply.
Protein...........22%
Fat................8%
Calcium............1%
Phosphorus.......0.8%
Sodium...........0.3%
Chloride........0.45%
Vitamin B12....0.022 mg/kg
As you can see, it's not an easy thing to work out. I would suggest that if you are a tad overwhelmed by the information and still want to feed your dog a natural diet, then start off with established brands who make natural diets. Books are a great place to start - the BARF diet has been well received. Ian Billinghurst has written a gem of a book called Give Your Dog A Bone which is worth a read - click here. Or take a look at Dog Food Secrets and Healthy Food For Dogs - Homemade Recipes. Last but not least, check out Only Natural Pet Store which has a range of natural foods and snacks.
Related Articles
|
Past dog health questions
|
- Sign Up for Membership $19.95/month
- Ask the online vet a question $8.95/question
- Find answers to common pet health and behavior questions $3.95/article
- Read up on previous ask the vet pet health questions for just $3.95
Vet question of the day
Add to
Dog digging carpet
My dog (5yo female neutered Blue Heeler mix) is outside during the day and inside at night. I've only had her for 6 months- I got her from a friend. During the past month, she started scratching at our carpets ruining them. She only scratches them around the walls never in middle of the floor. Why is she doing this and what can I do to get her to stop?
- Click
here to read the answer
More
pet
health questions
Pet Care Articles and Pet Supplies Deals
| Dogs - dog care | 
Sign
up for the Ask the Vet newsletter
- Click
hereWe're in the news! Read full article here. |
