Alice White
No question about it: the main ingredients in barfish are meat, bones, and offal or even fish. Nevertheless, vegetarian components belong in the bowl. They provide important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Some owners also have one veggie day a week. But while some vegetables are good for your four-legged friend, others are difficult to digest or even poisonous. Dog lovers also need to know one important thing when it comes to preparation.
How Do the Vegetables Get into the Bowl?
Raw, cooked, grated, or pureed? There is one key point to keep in mind when preparing vegetables for dogs. Four-legged friends lack the enzyme that enables the cell walls of the plants to be broken up. A whole carrot, for example, is delicious chewing fun for the fur nose, but not a nutritious intake.
Mashed
If the owner chops the vegetables with a hand blender, the cell structure is destroyed. Now the dog can absorb and process the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals better. If you don’t have a hand blender, mixer, or smoothie maker at hand, you can finely grate the vegetables with a grater. This is a little more laborious in terms of effort. Four-legged friends who do not perform a dance of joy at the sight of salad, parsnips, and the like usually accept the veggie portion in pureed form. It is simply mixed with the feed.
Cooked
The cell structure problem can also be remedied by lightly cooking the vegetables. For some vegetables, longer cooking is compulsory or recommended. You can read more about this below.
As a Flake Mix
For dog owners of stubborn vegetable refusers, there is a solution. Ready-made vegetable flakes can easily be served by most dogs. Barf manufacturers offer various vegetable mix products or individual vegetable components.
The following applies to all variants: In order to better utilize the vegetables, they should always be served in combination with a high-quality oil.
Dogs Can Eat These Vegetables Raw:
First, come those types of vegetables that can easily be fed raw when barfing:
- Carrot;
- Spinach;
- Beetroot;
- Cucumber;
- Lettuce, such as lollo rosso, iceberg lettuce, or chicory;
- Parsnip;
- Zucchini on the market;
- Chinese cabbage (the only cabbage that does not usually cause flatulence when raw);
- Swiss chard;
- Numerous herbs such as basil, parsley, and dill (they provide important phytochemicals).
Vegetables That are Only Allowed Under Certain Conditions:
- Red, yellow, and orange peppers are harmless under one condition: There must be no green areas.
- It is the same with tomatoes as with peppers. The green areas are poisonous to dogs. Therefore, they should only be fed overripe.
Dogs May Only Eat These Vegetables Cooked:
Barfen means “biologically appropriate raw feeding”. However, some vegetables have to cook in boiling water. This either neutralizes the toxic effect or the vegetables are better tolerated by the four-legged friend.
- Peeled potatoes or sweet potatoes contain solanine in their raw state, which is poisonous for dogs;
- Pumpkin (only Hokkaido pumpkin with skin, all other types of pumpkin peeled);
- Types of cabbage such as savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.
Note: Despite cooking, gas and gas may occur when eating cabbage and peas. It is therefore important not to give more than the specified amount in the respective Barf recipe. At first, even less should end up in the bowl to test the tolerance step by step.
Warning: These Vegetables are Poisonous for Dogs
Now for the vegetables that are poisonous or unhealthy for dogs and that are never mixed into the food:
- raw potatoes;
- onions;
- raw eggplant;
- leek;
- green peppers, hot peppers, and chili pods;
- raw legumes, such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas;
- garlic (only very small amounts can be given from time to time, larger amounts or daily feeding is poisonous).
Soy – Good or Bad for Dogs?
Soybeans are increasingly being put on people’s plates. For dogs, on the other hand, it is generally not advisable to put soy products in the bowl. Four-legged friends find it difficult to digest tofu. As a result, there is uncomfortable flatulence. In addition, allergies can occur with soy products. It is therefore by no means advisable to incorporate soy into your dog’s diet.
Avocado – a Fruit, Nevertheless Worth a Mention:
Many already know: Avocado is not a vegetable. Strictly speaking, the green “superfood” is a fruit from the laurel family. Hence it is assigned to the fruit. However, some associate avocado with vegetables. So it doesn’t hurt to also write in the vegetable guide: Avocado contains persin, which is toxic to dogs – a clear taboo for four-legged friends.
Which Vegetables Can I Give My Dog? Conclusion
If dog owners give their darling suitable vegetables, you make a significant contribution to their health. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of vitamins and nutrients. It is best to buy the vegetables fresh and regional. Canned vegetables should of course not end up in the bowl. At the end of the day, it should be mentioned that every dog tolerates certain ingredients differently. It is therefore always advisable to keep the portions small at the beginning and to observe the compatibility of carrots, cucumbers, and the like.
