Is it OK to give dogs table scraps?

[wildeyed]

Using common sense, of course. Nothing too fatty, salty, sweet or highly spiced.

I made chicken soup today, and at the end, I had a leftover plate of cooked carrots, celery and bits of ugly looking meat (no bones or skin). I let it cool and gave each dog a small bowl. Seems like food like that would be a nice supplement to commercial dog food. Or maybe not. I am anxious to get some other opinions.

[Sanity Claws]

1. If that's what you're giving them,

that's great. It's probably much better quality food than what's in commercial dog food.

[wildeyed]

2. That is what I thought.

I have been seriously considering switching to super premium dog food after some of the discussions here. Need to sell my husband on it first. But it seemed like some high quality table scraps might be a good idea, too, and they would go to waste anyway if the dogs didn't get them.

[atommom]

19. If you have a Costco membership, Kirkland food is affordable and more

highly rated than many other brands.

[livetohike]

3. I give mine similar scraps from time to time plus

they love raw carrots, apples, pears, etc. I don't think any of it will hurt them if given in moderation.

There was a list posted sometime ago about what not to give them. I know that onions and grapes/raisins are on that list.

[IndyOp]

4. Did you want an answer from me, or my dogs?

The dogs say: OH YEAH!!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

I would say - yes, I think so, so long as the table scraps are being fed 'on a base' of a well-balanced good quality dog food.

Reading this forum convinced me to try a change in food: Changing foods helps reduce the likelihood that dogs will get allergies. I switched from Sensible Choice Lamb & Rice to Innova (White Meat) - and so far, so good. Lorien has recommended Innova Evo - but I wasn't up for the premium cost. I do beleive that paying more for the food will keep the vet bills (and suffering) down.

:toast:

[wildeyed]

6. My dogs approved, too.

Where do you purchase the Innova? I have been feeding the Costco house brand, which isn't awful. But the Innova sounds better, and it won't completely break the bank.

[IndyOp]

8. I got the Innova at the local pet food store -

they have a lot of different brands and it is nice to support a local business (even though they are military-worshipping fundies!).

:hi:

[wildeyed]

9. We have a local pet store near by.

I don't know about their politics, but they are local at least. :hi:

[newsguyatl]

5. i certainly hope it's ok,

b/c i CONSTANTLY feed my siamese cat, jesse, table scraps... he begs and if that doesn't work, he helps himself.

so i figure to make us both happy, i just split my food with him...lol

[sweetheart]

7. table scraps and human food

My dogs love milk (not american cow's milk with hormones).
They can drink 2 liters of milk the pack of them, and their
coats shimmer and shine.
As well, i feed them sardines and macarel from cans. The oily
fish, mixed with dry dog food gives them the skin oils their coat
needs...

Of course they eat all the table scraps too, if there are any,
but that usually amounts to "pre-wash", where all the plates
and pans get pre-cleaned by tongues before going in the
dishwasher.

Dogs are 75% smell 20% hearing and 5% vision... and even a tiny
bit of good-smelling food warms their gourmet noses... so i give
them a tiny nibble of everything so they can taste it.

A big favorite as well, are carrots. The dogs chew them up like
bones, and they are cheap and a great snack food for muching
woofers.

Well, at least that is how this slave feeds the masters...
:-)

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Big fat raw organic carrots are just about the only treat my GSD gets.

He loves it. Sometimes I will cut up slices and put them into his chew ball and he then has fun trying to get them out. Either way..it it healthy stuff.

The "scraps" that you described above are damned good, and if that is what you mean, the answer is yes.

Here is an excellent thread on what to feed your pet if you love them

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=243&topic_id=4388

[sweetheart]

11. "the missing link"

I also use a food supplement that has proven outstanding for older
dogs with hip problems, and one of my old dogs who was limping is now
walking around on all 4 at age 15 years.

Its called "the missing link"

http://www.sitstay.com/store/health/healtha.shtml
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/B0009YWE4M/ref=dp_nav_0/104-9918640-0739132?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen

Its a bit expensive to feed all the dogs all the time, so i feed it
to the older dogs, pregnant bitches, and puppies to adulthood... where
the food supplement will impact their development most.

If you have a limping dog or cat and you have NOT tried this food
suppement, every case i've heard of, every single one, the dog stopped
limping after using this supplement... great for hips and breeds with
back-end problems.

[wildeyed]

13. How much do you give the dog?

It is expensive, but sounds helpful. My small brown dog is getting older. I notice he limps occasionally for no obvious reason. He also had some dry skin patches a few months ago. I put a little olive oil in his food, and the patches cleared up. But his needs are clearly changing, I need to address that.

[sweetheart]

15. worth it to see a friend not suffer back end pain.

www.designinghealth.com is the missinglink website. It has on there somewhere
the story of the inventor, who suffered himself from diabetes, and he found
as a vet, that many of the pets he was treating suffered similar symptoms.

I just use a 3 fingered pinch every morning less than a teaspoon.

[Lorien]

18. And probably healthier than what's in the dog's commercial food

depending on the brand. It's a common myth that "human food" is bad for dogs; certain foods are dangerous, yes, but human quality meats and veggies are far better for your pet than the literal garbage that goes into most commercial pet foods (those ingredients aren't "human food" because diseased and rotten meat is illegal to sell as USDA grade meat-but it's considered OK for pets :eyes: )

One of the healthiest animals I've met is a wolfdog named Nakoma who only gets homemade meals. Her owner really knows a lot about dog nutrition, so the meals are complete. It's tricky to make a homemade diet for cats that is truly complete, but it's fairly easy to do for dogs. A google search will help you to find many online recipes if you're interested.

[auburngrad82]

12. My SO makes homemade dog food

It's got lamb, carrots, brocolli and rice. It looks like a stew and then she just puts a little on their kibble to dress it up. They love it.

One word of warning, though. Never ever give dogs anything containing onions. Onions are toxic to dogs and can cause all kinds of problems, including death.

[wildeyed]

14. My neighbor used to do that.

She would leave little packets in the freezer for me to defrost and give her baby while she was on vacation.

[auburngrad82]

16. My SO feeds the dogs better than she feeds me

:evilgrin:

Not really, but she does spoil the dogs. And they love her for it.

[Coyote_Bandit]

17. Be Very Careful

I have a small dog that developed pancreatitis and went into secondary renal failure at five months of age - after being fed a very small amount of human food. He wasn't fed anything that most of us here would think twice about feeding - no fat, skin, bones, onions, chocolate, raisins, grapes or other foods thought to cause renal problems in dogs. Turns out his kidneys were very slightly undersize and he may have had a genetic predisposition to develop pancreatitis. Nonetheless, the renal damage is permanent and he now must eat prescription protein and phosphorus restricted food for the rest of his life.

The vet does allow him to eat some people food as treats since most commercial treats have far too much protein for him. He eats raw carrots and apples and banannas (restricted due to potassium content) and vanilla wafers. The vet has also given me recipes to cook for him - which I try to do on a regular (but not daily) basis. Because of his health I've been advised not to feed him a raw diet. He likes people food and I think it is probably better quality than the commercial diets that are available. There are similar recipes available to prepare a wide variety of homecooked foods for dogs. I would consider using them as a nutrition guide in feeding people food.