Happy New Year, Green Spotters! It's a new year, which is the perfect time to look at your pet's diet and see how you can easily boost it! Adding fresh foods is one of the easiest and best ways to boost your pet's diet. Those fresh foods can take many forms, and that's the topic of today's blog!
Did you know that adding just 10 to 20% of fresh food to your pet's dry diet can make a big difference in their health? It's true! Adding fresh food to your dog or cat's dry kibble can help provide them with nutrients and enzymes the dry food is lacking, add moisture to promote better organ function, promote a healthy gut, improve coat and skin health, improve cognition, promote good dental health, and more!
Read on for our favorite ways to add fresh food to your dog or cat's diet!
Raw Goat's Milk
Raw goat's milk is perhaps the easiest and most impactful whole fresh food supplement for dogs and cats. Raw goat's milk is one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. By adding raw goat's milk to your pet's dry kibble diet, you are adding nutrients and probiotics and introducing more moisture to your pet's diet. Adding more moisture to the diet is essential, as dry kibble foods are actually dehydrating to our dogs and cats! You can also ferment raw goat's milk to add even more beneficial bacterial to your dog or cat's gut micro-biome! We carry several brands of raw goat's milk that we love.
Eggs
Eggs are a superfood full of nutrients. For small dogs and cats, we really like feeding raw or freeze-dried quail eggs. For medium and large dogs quail, chicken, or duck eggs are all great to feed. You can feed them with or without the shell, and some dogs will have a preference for eating the crunchy shell or not. The shell and shell membrane contain collagen, chondroitin, hyaluronic acid, and glucosamine - this is why eggshell membranes are included in some joint supplements! How cool is that?! It is recommended to feed a whole egg (yolk and whites) 1 to 3 times a week. If you top your dog’s meals with a whole raw egg every day, this can lead to a biotin deficiency. While it would take a lot of this enzyme to cause serious problems, it can begin to affect your dog’s metabolism, skin, and coat. Eggs can also be served gently cooked (and cooled), but will lose some of their nutrients in the cooking process. Find our favorite raw quail eggs on our website HERE (delivery available in the Omaha area!) or in our store.
Fresh Vegetables & Fruits
For dogs, try adding some blended or lightly cooked fruits and vegetables to their bowl. This can meet two needs: the need for enzymes and the need for whole-food vitamins. The veggies and fruits should be finely chopped, puréed, or lightly steamed (and cooled) to help your dog digest them. Check out our list of dog-friendly veg and fruits below and see what you have in your fridge, or grab a product like Green Juju fresh greens blends to make adding fresh vegetables easy everyday. If you're in the Omaha, NE area, The Green Spot can even deliver your dog's Green Juju straight to your door! Shop our website HERE
Our Favorite Veggies for Dogs:
Broccoli, carrots, green beans, cucumbers, kale, cauliflower, celery, asparagus, spinach, Brussels sprouts, dandelion greens (be sure the plants haven’t been sprayed!), squash, pumpkin, and arugula.
Our Favorite Fruits for Dogs:
Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries, green bananas (ripe banana contains a high amount of sugar), apples (no seeds), avocado, cherry tomatoes (not the tomato plant), pomegranate, cranberries, pineapple, papaya, and kiwi.
Raw Fresh Food
For cats and dogs. Why do we recommend raw food (or gently cooked food below)? Our first reason is "intracellular moisture." Intracellular moisture is the fancy name for moisture that is found in plant and animal cells. In addition to providing the most natural, effective way for dogs and cats to absorb moisture, intracellular moisture helps keep the whole digestive process a well-lubricated machine. In addition to providing intracellular moisture, raw fresh foods provide nutrients and minerals that dry food doesn't provide. This type of food also contains enzymes and beneficial bacteria to help your pet's gut flora flourish. Raw foods are food for our pets in its least processed form, keeping all of the benefits of Whole Foods intact. These foods may be fed as a topper to kibble or as a meal on its own. It even comes in small nugget shapes that are easy to top dry kibble with. Again, just 10-20% raw food can make a big difference to your pet's health! Want to know more about feeding raw food to your dog or cat? Check out our blog on Raw Feeding 101
Gently Cooked Fresh Food
For cats and dogs. Gently cooked foods are raw foods that have been lightly cooked. Avoiding high heat, these foods retain much of the beneficial nutrients and moisture of raw food. They also generally smell delicious (kind of like stew!) and can be a wonderful topper or stand-alone food for older pets or picky pets. Gently cooked foods generally contain meats and veggies, with some containing grains as well.
Raw and Whole Food Chews
For cats and dogs. Adding raw or freeze-dried meat-based chews to your dog or cat's diet can have many of the benefits of the other fresh food items we've talked about in this blog post. In addition to adding enzymes, nutrients, and moisture (in the case of raw), these chews help clean teeth and keep teeth clean! We love feeding raw food items like chicken hearts, duck necks, chicken backs, whole quail, frozen slices of sweet potatoes, and more! Freeze-dried raw chews like turkey necks, duck feet, rabbit heads, bully sticks and more are also a great way to help clean teeth. When feeding freeze-dried chews, please provide access to plenty of fresh water. For more information on picking the perfect chews for your dog or cat, check out our blog post.
Thanks for joining us for another blog entry, Green Spotters! We hope you are now more comfortable with and eager to add fresh foods to your dog or cat's diet.
See you at our SPOT! - The Green Spot Team
The Green Spot is a family-owned, independent pet supply shop. We've been helping pet parents like you aid their pets to a better life via nutrition since 2012. We're glad you found us and hope you'll come into our store for a visit! Our inclusive events, supportive pet-parent community, and certified pet nutrition pros are what set us apart - thanks for supporting local!