Good nutrition is as important for your pet, as it is for you. Do the best you can to buy a good quality food that fits in your budget. But even if your budget is tight, you can still add nutritional boosters to your pet’s food whatever you feed him. It doesn’t have to be store-bought; it could be a bit of healthy fresh foods you can prepare yourself.
There are a number of options available to you to boost your pet’s food. A good wet food in a can, pouch or tetra pack (carton) usually has more meat than dry food, and has moisture or gravy that will make dry food easier to digest. Actually, ALL dry food should be moistened with a little with warm water, at the very least, for easier digestion. You can kick it up a notch with broth, packaged stews and wholesome toppers in tetra packs. These are a good option for picky eaters too.
Freeze dried topper 
Home made broth 
Wet pouch food
There are many companies that make a freeze dried food in a patty or nugget form, that can be crumbled on dry food. With warm water added, this will boost nutrition and protein. Freeze dried foods are also sold as “toppers” or “mixers”. You don’t need to add much as a topper, and a small bag will go a long way. Many sites will give you a coupon if you sign up for their newsletter.
You can find pre-packaged pre-cooked dog food in the refrigerator section of your favorite pet store. It can be an add-on, or fed as a complete meal. I can come in rolls that you slice and serve, or as smaller nuggets in bags.
Bone broth for dogs is a great nutritional supplement and tasty treat for your pet! You could buy it at a pet store, but it is much cheaper to make it yourself. I have previously written about bone broth benefits in a blog article on my site. *Do not give broth for humans to your dog. Onions are very bad for dogs!!*
At Thanksgiving, a local market sells free range turkey parts such as necks, backs, wings and giblets for next to nothing. I paid less than $10 for 3 pounds of turkey parts as well as some carrots, celery, and kale, which made about 4 quarts of delicious broth overnight in a crock pot!! (Yes, I had some myself-this is a basic broth for turkey soup or chicken soup for people!) The meat market I go to for bones also sells a pre-mixed dog food. If you find something like this, although it is raw, you can portion it out and cook it in batches to add to your dog’s food.
BONE BROTH FOR DOGS
This super simple bone marrow broth recipe for dogs makes it easy to add important nutrients and minerals to your dog’s diet. Boost your dog’s immune system, relieve joint pain, improve liver health and support healthy digestion with bone broth. (from thebark.com)
INGREDIENTS
- 3 to 4 pounds (or more) raw bones with marrow (chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef, pork or oxtail)
- 3 inches ginger root, sliced
- 2 ounces parsley, chopped
- 4 ounces Shiitake mushrooms
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- ¼ cup organic raw apple cider vinegar (it helps pull the minerals and marrow from the bones)
- 6 quarts water
Place all prepared ingredients in a large soup pot or slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 12 to 24 hours (12 on the stove at simmer or 24 in the slow cooker on low).
Allow to cool. Remove and discard bones (never feed cooked bones). Place broth in the refrigerator and allow the fat to rise to the top. Skim fat and discard. Put broth in freezer safe containers to store for later.
Bone broth can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator up to one week and frozen up to 12 months. I recommend freezing in ice cube trays. Freezing in trays is a great way to have single servings readily available. Just warm the frozen stock up before feeding.
You can also buy a little extra meat and veggies when you are home-cooking for yourself, and put aside some un-seasoned, un-salted cooked meat and chopped vegetables to add to your pet’s meals. Although cooked veggies are easier to digest, some pets will also gladly accept some raw veggies like carrots, celery, kale, spinach, or even apples and blueberries on their food.
Other inexpensive alternatives you can cook and add to your pet’s meals are:
Spinach, shredded carrots, pumpkin, squash, peas, green beans, chicken, low fat ground chuck, brown rice…
All discussions about feeding pets needs to include what NOT to feed your pets. From the American College of Veterinary Nutrition: “There are many foods that should not be fed to pets because they are toxic or because they may cause other health problems. Examples include very high fat items such as chicken skin, grapes and raisins, bread dough, macadamia nuts, chocolate, garlic, onions, and foods artificially sweetened with xylitol. More information can be found here: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/.”
More links to great info:
If you are interested in cooking properly balanced nutritionally complete meals for your pet, check out the following links. You MUST add a vitamin mineral supplement if you are feeding only a home cooked diet! Your pet’s health will suffer without it!
https://mypetgrocer.com/blogs/recipes/canine-chicken-and-rice
For The Love of Dogs 