Supplements & The Fresh Food Diet
A common question newbies to fresh food feeding will ask is what supplements do I need and it's not a straight forward answer.
The first thing you need to ask yourself is "is there a specific reason I think I might need to add supplements" i.e. for a medical condition such as arthritis or maybe something to cover nutrient gaps in my dogs diet.
Medical conditions
Supplements either for medical conditions or that are being used at the same time as medications are best discussed with your Vet because some supplements may interact in a negative way with your dog's medication.
Supplements vs nutritional boosters
Supplements are generally a product you give to enhance your dog's health in a specific way such as a joint support supplement whereas a nutritional booster is generally a powdered form of food such an organ powder that simply "boosts" your dog's nutrition.
What works for others may not work for you
Members of our community will have their favourites but that doesn't mean what they use is right for your dog, sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find the perfect fit for your dog.
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Don't go crazy
Some pet parents who want the best for their dogs add every supplement/booster that they hear is good and then their dogs end up with more supplements in their dogs bowl than food. Food should be an enriching experience, so please be careful not to add everything and anything and try one day a week to have no powders in a bowl unless it's medication or it would be detrimental to your dog not to have that product for one day.
Joint Support
A couple of favourites in our community are Antinol Rapid and Rose Hip Vital, these two can also be given together, they do different things and are different ingredients - both are safe and appropriate for most dogs except Antinol Rapid is not suitable for dogs with a shellfish intolerance/allergy. Discount codes for both of these can be found here.
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Nutrient Gaps
If you are worried about nutrient gaps in your dog's diet, we would recommend you first learn a bit more about balance as you may be concerned without needing to be. Next, I would refer you to our community's tools that include our 'Start Here' file and our web app that helps you learn how to put together fresh food diet and identify potential nutrient gaps.
Balancing Supplements
These come in either synthetic or whole-food nutrients.
The most popular ones in our community are typically wholefood supplements that help fill potential nutrient gaps in wholefood diets because they are not synthetic, they can be expensive, and may not be viable for pet parents with large+ dogs.
Hunde Essential Blend
Bestie Balancer
McDowells Roar
Wellbeing for dogs
Non-wholefood supplements are much cheaper because they include synthetic nutrients.
CEN Multivitamin
Multi-Vite for Animals
Predamax
Feramo-D
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Base Mix
A base mix is a food in a dry format that usually looks like a muesli in which you add your own food to i.e. your meat. A base mix is convenient and easy for many pet parents who are new to fresh food feeding.
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Lenny's Kitchen - my current favourite
Vets All Natural Complete Mix - Different varieties available
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Nutritional Boosters & Supplements
There are a huge amount of boosters & supplements available for dogs, Google will be your playground! The best way to use nutritional boosters if you don't have a specific reason why you're using them other than simply boosting the nutrition in your dog's diet is to rotate through them and that way you get to experience all the benefits they have to provide and an enriching experience of taste and textures.
Here's some to start with (Australia):
My Doggie Boosters
Canine Ceuticals
I love a dog
Green Pet
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