Can you mix JustFoodForDogs with kibble

Can You Mix Kibble With Homemade Dog Food?

If your dog is not fond of kibble, you might want to mix it with food he finds appetizing. And given that your dog seems to love anything you eat, it might as well be something you cook that goes into his kibble. But is that even healthy?

You can mix kibble with homemade dog food as long as the meal is nutritionally balanced and the home-cooked food is not unhealthy. Homemade dog food recipes approved by vets make cost-effective toppers for kibble and can encourage your dogs appetite and facilitate digestion.

In this article, you will learn more about mixing homemade dog food with kibble, including:

• Portions
• Alternatives
• Pros and cons

By the end of this post, youll know if mixing homemade food with dry food is the best choice for you. So, lets get started with a deeper look into the main subject.

Can You Mix Homemade Dog Food With Kibble?

You can mix a wide range of food items with kibble provided they are not individually harmful to dogs. If a dog can eat something solo, he can consume it alongside kibble.

Homemade dog food can be delicious and healthy for dogs, but it can overshoot in calories or lack nutrition (depending on the recipe).

Even though it may be difficult to imagine, many homemade recipes are typically not particularly nutritious for dogs. Astudy of 200 homemade dog food recipesfound that most lacked vital nutrients. In fact, only 10 of the recipes had the correct canine nutrients.

Mixing a small portion of home-cooked food with kibble can help your dog take an interest in kibble. If your dog wont eat dry food and is a fussy eater, you might take his rejection of kibble at face value. But if youre wondering whether kibble can be mixed with dog food, you are on the right track.

Heres how a mix of home-cooked food with kibble fares against dry kibble and homemade dog food as solo servings.

The right mix of kibble and homemade dog food can be appetizing, moist, and nutritious. However, the inconveniences of both kibble and homecooked dog food can also compound if you decide to serve a mix of both.

Thats why you need to consider the pros and cons of mixing kibble with homemade dog food to get the complete picture.

Should You Mix Kibble With Homemade Dog Food?

You should mix kibble with homemade dog food if your dog is a fussy eater and youre willing to cook homemade food at a regular enough frequency for him.

Whether you should serve a mix of cooked food and kibble depends on your situation. As mentioned earlier, a look into the advantages and disadvantages of this approach will help you make a better choice.

Lets get started with the pros of mixing kibble and homemade dog food:

• Mixed food is more nutritious Especially when compared to homemade food alone, mixing cooked food with kibble is more likely to hit your dogs dietary requirements.
• Mixed food is more appetizing Kibble is nutritious but dry and lacks flavor and aroma compared to cooked food.
• Mixed food can improve digestion A pure kibble diet of low quality can lack fiber and vitamins, which homemade food can add to your dogs diet.
• Mixed food can be good for your dogs confidence When your dog watches you cook food for him, he can feel more valued. This effect is the opposite of what happens when a dog is fed scraps.

The cons of mixing kibble with homemade dog food:

• Mixed dog food is more expensive You have to purchase kibble and additional ingredients to cook homemade food. This makes the mixed food option the more expensive one.
• Mixed dog food takes more time to prepare/serve Aside from buying extra ingredients, you have to prepare the homemade dog food as well. Because of this, the mixed option is more time-consuming.
• You can get the mix seriously wrong This is a potential drawback. If you dont use a vet-approved recipe, you might accidentally prepare food that can upset your dogs stomach, make him sick, and cause nutritional deficiencies.

With all of the above in mind, you have to decide whether a mix of kibble and homemade dog food is right for you. It is best to mix kibble and home-cooked food when its drawbacks are not as relevant.

You should mix kibble with homemade dog food if:

• Buying extra ingredients isnt a serious financial concern
• You have the extra time to prepare the food and mix it at feeding time
• You can mix the food in proper proportions to balance the nutritional value
• You know enough about what a dog can and cannot eat

At this point, you probably know if youre going to mix homemade dog food with kibble or not. If you are, then you can skip the next section and go to the how to section of this post.

But if this section has convinced you not to mix kibble with homemade dog food, you can check out the alternatives below.

Alternatives to Mixing Kibble with Homemade Dog Food

Please refer to the table below to figure out an alternative that works for different reasons you might not want to mix home-cooked food with kibble.

How To Mix Kibble With Homemade Dog Food

Mixing homemade dog food with kibble requires a basic knowledge of whats good and bad for your dog. Onions, chocolates, grapes, raisins, avocados, cooked bones, anything with xylitol, and macadamia nuts can all be toxic to dogs. You have to be sure that the homemade dog food is 100% okay for your dog.

Thats why the first step is to get the right recipe.

Step 1 Get a vet-approved recipe

You dont need a vet to tell you that your dog can eat steamed chicken. However, most homemade dog food recipes arent single-ingredient ones. If you get your recipes online, it is always a good idea to get a second opinion. While dog food recipes online dont include items toxic to dogs, they can be unhealthy.

The American College of Veterinary Nutrition has adirectory of pet nutritionists, where you can have a remote consultation to get you on the right track.

Step 2 Prepare homemade dog food

The next step in mixing cooked food with kibble is actually cooking the food. Make sure to cook no more than a weeks worth of food. Homemade food doesnt have preservatives and can go bad relatively quickly. Even when stored in a refrigerator, homemade dog food has a short shelf life.

Learn How To Make Homemade Dog Food In This Video

Step 3 Add 1 part homecooked dog food to 3 parts kibble

I have tried various proportions of homemade food with kibble and have found a ratio of 25% homemade food to 75% dry dog food to be the best. It is palatable enough to get even the fussiest eaters to accept kibble.

At the same time, the homemade portion is not large enough to cause weight gain. Still, you might have to exercise your dog more if the homemade recipe is calorie-dense.

Step 4 Add the mixed dog food to your dogs bowl

The final step, of course, is to serve a mix of kibble and homemade dog food. You have to pour the mixed dog food into his bowl, and he will start eating, thanks to his standard conditioning.

If youre using homecooked food at a topper, then you should add the kibble first, followed by a 25% portion of homecooked dog food, so it completely covers the kibble.

What To Do If Your Dog Doesnt Like Kibble Mixed With Homemade Dog Food

If youve tried the approach above and your dog is still unwilling to eat his kibble, then you can try one of the following solutions.

• Increase the homemade food portion in the bowl Since homemade dog food is more appetizing, reducing kibble volume compared to the homemade food content might help spark your dogs appetite. Remember that the more homemade food there is in his diet, the more careful you need to be about its nutritional value.
• Change the food recipe If it is the homemade food that your dog has a problem with, the solution is to change the recipe of the cooked food. Sometimes the recipe isnt the problem but the way you store it can make the food dry.

Final Thoughts

Homemade dog food can make a great topper for kibble since it is more flavorful and appetizing. But since home-cooked meals arent regulated, some recipes can be harmful, and others may cause weight gain.

When you mix homemade dog food and kibble, make sure that the home-cooked food is in a proportion smaller than 25% of the mix. Above all, use recipes from approved sources such as your vet or a canine nutritionist.

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Can You Mix Raw and Kibble Dog Food?

You cant get two types of dog food more different than raw dog food and dry dog food (otherwise known as kibble). One isnt cooked at all, while the other is the most cooked form of dog food.

Theres also a price difference, with raw food generally costing considerably more than kibble. Quality is the biggest selling point of the former, but affordability is a pull for the latter.

This makes you wonder: Can you find a balance by mixing raw and kibble?

With so many types of dog food available and debate over which kind of dog food is best, you might think no two are compatible. Thats not the case according to Amy Zalneraitis, the CBO at 5-star-rated We Feed Raw.

Is it safe to mix raw dog food and kibble?

Absolutely. We see it done each and every day with complete success. For many pet parents, especially those with multiple dogs in the home, mixing kibble with raw food can be a convenient and cost-effective way to integrate fresh, raw food into their dogs diet.

Dogs are perfectly capable of digesting different types of food at one time. And, yes, this includes the digestion of kibble and raw in the same meal.

Will the blend cause digestive problems?

Nope. Digestive problems are typically a result of a sudden change in diet and not a steady mix of kibble and raw. A dogs gut bacteria will adapt quite easily to a mixture of both kibble and raw.

What are the benefits of mixing raw dog food and kibble?

While well always believe a fully raw diet is best, we understand that this isnt a feasible option for every pet parent all of the time. Adding even 10 percent raw food to your dogs diet can have amazing and life-changing health benefits.

Feeding raw as a topper, a base, or even just swapping a few fresh raw meals into your dogs diet a few times a week can improve digestion, reduce allergies, boost immunity, and more. The goal is to get raw into as many dogs bowls as possible.

For some pet parents that means feeding raw for every meal and for others that means feeding a raw percentage and supplementing with kibble.

What ratio of raw and kibble should you use?

Theres no right or wrong way to do this. Do what works best for your budget and lifestyle and remember that some fresh, raw food is always better than none.

Should you stick to this ratio?

You dont have to. If there are times when you can increase the raw food youre feeding, great. If there are times when you have to scale back, thats fine too.

How do you transition to a raw-kibble blend?

If youre currently feeding a fully kibble diet and you want to, say, increase to a 50/50 ratio of both raw and kibble, youll introduce the raw slowly over a 4-6 day period. By day six, you should be able to feed 50/50 ratio with no problem at all.

How much cheaper is it to mix raw and kibble?

It really depends. But if youre feeding a fully raw diet and need a more cost-effective solution, you can usually cut your costs in half by switching to a 50/50 diet.

Are there any myths about mixing kibble and raw food?

Oh, yes. Im not sure if these myths are an innocent result of misinformation or if theyve been perpetuated by kibble companies or all-or-nothing raw feeders. Sadly, the myth that kibble and raw are dangerous to feed together has caused well-meaning pet parents to avoid adding fresh raw toppers to their dogs kibble bowls.

A dogs digestive system is thoroughly equipped to break down different food structures. In the words of our PhD nutritionist, A dogs metabolic machinery is perfected by millions of years of evolution to thrive on variety just fine.

In fact, a fitting analogy would be to look at how we humans eat: we mix foods that digest differently (meat and bread, for example) all the time and our digestive systems handle it just fine. The same goes for our dogs. A healthy dog can handle foods that digest at different rates with no problem at all.