Are you a DIY thinking D-I-WHY? The downside to home-made dog and cat food.

We have lots of D-I-Y feeders and pet parents that love to meal prep that get in touch when their circumstances change and they need reassurance that we can feed their pets a nutritious, balanced diet.

One of the main reasons people switch from D-I-Y to D-I-Why is time. Work has increased, they have baby, sourcing ingredients is time consuming, whatever the reason, time is often the biggest motivation for their switch.

When it comes to quality and processing of pet food, if you have the time, the ingredient availability and the equipment, we say go for it and make it yourself. This gives you full control and visibility over your pet's diet.

Home-made with love

If you’re making your own or considering making your own, or perhaps you just want to incorporate some of your own home-made meals, you’ll need to make sure you get the balance right.

Suitable levels of macro and micronutrients are vital to a healthy diet, but some are fundamentally more critical than others. A key example in our pets’ diets is calcium and phosphorus in the correct ratio for proper health and development.

Muscle meat is rich in phosphorus and bones are rich in calcium.

Too much of either, particularly during a pup’s growth and development can result in improper skeletal development and problems later in life including hip dysplasia and some arthritic conditions. A 1:0.7 ratio of calcium to phosphorus ensures proper orthopaedic development and a raw diet made up of 80% meat (including offal) and 10% bone will result in the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio.

A complete and balanced diet for your dog will look like this:

Varying the types of protein sources and the choice of plant matter is important for maximum nutritional exposure over the course of your pet’s life. Just like us humans, pets need variation in their diet to ensure it is balanced. Also, by feeding a varied diet, you’ll be reducing their chances of developing an intolerance, sensitivity or digestive upsets from new foods. Read more about the importance of mixed protein diets here.

Trusted Raw Feeders Since 2000

If you’re worried about getting the balance right or you don’t have the time to make your dog’s food, we offer fresh, raw meals that are

-           100% human-grade ingredients

-           100% Australian produce

-           Complete and Balanced Naturally without the use of synthetic nutrition

We are trusted raw feeders and have been manufacturing raw pet food diets for over 20 years in alignment with BARF feeding principles. We take product quality and safety seriously with a dedicated QA team testing and supervising all batches from delivery of raw ingredients through to delivery to pet stores.

You can see what goes into our food here

You can see how we make our food here

You can see an interview with our QA Manager here

You can get in touch with us here if there’s anything we’ve missed

More helpful links:

Complete and Balanced by Nature (no synthetic vitamins or minerals)

Discussing a raw diet with your vet

Animal Nutritionist, Narelle Cooke’s, Raw Feeding Run Down

DIY Balanced Raw Food Diets

If you liked this article, sign up to our Big Dog Fam Mail to receive more great pet health and happiness advice.

If you liked this article, please share on Facebook.