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CHENNAI: They can be as different as chalk and cheese. Like human beings, animals have their own food habits and they differ with breeds. Talking to City Express about the ideal diet pattern one must set for their pet pooches, Senthil Sadasivam, founder of petwish.in, an online portal for high-end food for pets, shares some insights into the ideal diet for pets.

Must Haves

Primarily meat-based diet consisting of chicken, fish and lamb with a good balance of fruits and vegetables to give sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. Its better to avoid those foods that are produced by the byproducts of meat. Ideally, home-cooked food is the best for your pet. As when it’s cooked at home, it has the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates and the essential fat.

Have Nots

For dogs, one must avoid chocolates, coffee, alcohol, onions, garlic, among others, which would trigger vomiting and diarrhoea. It might also cause damage to the nervous system and heart. It might also affect the red blood cells and make your dog anaemic. Fish bones should also be avoided as it might cause injury to the dog’s digestive tract. Also avoid raisins or grapes as they contain a toxin that causes kidney failure. Raw eggs should also be avoided as it contains an enzyme called ‘avidin’, which reduces the absorption of Vitamin B.

Making the Right Choice

It is better to make sure that the food contains fresh meat or meat meal so that the quality of protein provided is very good. It should be ensured that the food does not contain corn as a primary ingredient, as its used as a filler and binding agent and it does not much nutritional value, just trans-fats. Corn is also difficult to digest and in some cases it would cause allergy to pets

Health Watch

One should ensure that the pet is active always and also check their stool periodically. It should be firm. If found to be otherwise, there could be a chance of worm infestation, which will be shown in the stool. They must be given proper medication if found infected.

Different Diet, Different Breed

Yes, it differs based on the activity level of the breed. Though the overall diet remains the same, the amount we feed varies. For example, a breed like Great Dane, we need to feed about 400 gms of processed food per day, whereas for a smaller breed like Lab, around 250-300 gms per day would suffice. It also depends about upon how active the breed is. Agile dogs need more protein, whereas less agile dogs need lesser protein and lesser fat content as Labs tend to put weight easily.