This ancient breed, which appeared more than 3 thousand years ago in Mexico. There are many legends about her special needs, so many owners do not know how to feed a chihuahua at home. In fact, they eat ordinary dog food, and its quality directly affects their health and life expectancy.
Material Content:
General tips and tricks
A chihuahua dog can be fed using dry food, wet canned food, or organic foods. The most convenient way to buy ready-made feed, balanced in its composition for all components. The high cost of super-premium products can only be justified by a good composition, it must be carefully read on the packaging. Some manufacturers unreasonably raise prices.
For an adult small dog, it is advisable to leave a small amount of dry food in the bowl if the owner is not at home all day. Small individuals weighing up to 1.5 kg are very vulnerable. They are disturbed by thermoregulation with a prolonged lack of food, and even fainting may occur.
How to feed a chihuahua puppy
When buying a puppy, you must ask the breeder what kind of food he ate. A sharp transition from one type of nutrition to another will lead to problems with the gastrointestinal tract. In the nursery, most often animals are given dry food. If you do not like the food that the baby is already used to, you can transfer it to a new diet gradually, over the course of a month.
When buying food in the store, pay attention to the mark "For puppies from 0 to 12 months." Before 4 months, dry food must be soaked. For one feeding for 1 small sneeze will take about 2 tbsp.tablespoons of soaked granules.
Pour dry food in cold water in a small amount, so that all the liquid is absorbed, and it does not need to be drained. Granules quickly absorb water: 5 minutes after soaking, they can be poured into a dog bowl.
If the puppy refuses to eat, and this is not caused by the disease, it is better to leave him alone until the next feeding. From 3 months to six months, dogs are fed 4 times a day, then transferred to 3 meals a day, after 1 year they are given food 2 times a day.
Desiring to raise a puppy on natural food, they make up a daily varied diet. Do not panic, thinking that the dog should receive everything in a strictly balanced form every day. It is enough that within a week the baby will eat everything necessary for his growth. He needs about 100 g of protein food per 1 kg of weight per day. Meat, fish, poultry account for 50–70% of the daily diet, about 20–35% of the food is vegetables and 10-15% of cereal. Sour milk products (low-fat cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt) can be given daily in one feeding.
The right and healthy diet for an adult dog
The choice of feed always remains with the owner. For the animal organism, ready-made dry and canned food of high quality is most suitable. Some chihuahuas may overeat, therefore you must observe the daily feed rate corresponding to the weight of the dog, it is usually indicated by the manufacturer on the package.
Dry food
The better the food, the better it is absorbed by the animal’s body, which means less is required. A small pet deserves good nutrition, which is easy to provide by buying holivics.
The best dry food:
- Innova EVO;
- Orijen;
- Acana
- Canidae.
By prefix to the name, you can determine for whom the feed is specifically intended:
- Small Breed - for small breed;
- Puppy - for puppies;
- Senior or Senior Dog - for older dogs over 8 years old.
It is important to choose food for small breeds, it differs not only in composition (contains less protein), but also in granule size. Chihuahas are finicky, so it’s better to buy a small amount of new food for them.
Low-quality feeds, unlike holistic ones, contain corn grits, which are difficult for digestion, bone meal instead of meat, soy, a lot of food additives, preservatives. Constant nutrition in this mode will reduce the activity and quality of life of the dog.
Wet food for chihuahua
There are two types of ready-made dog food - canned dry and wet. You can only feed dry or canned food. If you combine them, then the first should be 75%, the second - 25%.
Properly feed dry and wet food from one manufacturer or at least one class. Choosing something new for the pet, they look at the composition of canned food, give preference to those in which there is real meat. Leave wet food in a dog bowl for a long time is impossible, it quickly deteriorates.
How to feed a dog with natural food
Natural nutrition, based on fresh meat, not porridge or vegetables, will cost the premium dry or super premium food. In addition, the dog should receive all the necessary vitamins and minerals. If her menu includes only natural products, you will have to add dog vitamins to them for the proper formation of joints, coat and skin health.
If the owner decided to feed the dog with natural food, she should receive the following ratio of products in the daily diet:
- 70% of meat;
- 20% of vegetables, fruits (carrots, beets, potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, apples, greens);
- 10% cereals (rice, buckwheat, millet, barley).
If you express the amount of food in grams, then protein products (meat) should be 50 g per day per 1 kg of body weight. After a day, you can give a raw quail egg, 3 times a week - low-fat cottage cheese and 2 times - fillet of sea fish without bones. Each new product must be administered carefully, as for a small child. To rule out poisoning and indigestion.You can’t give a dog food from your table.
What you can not enter into food
In dogs, the body is arranged differently than in humans. Some foods that are constantly present in the human diet can do great harm to the animal.
List of prohibited foods:
- fried, smoked, salted, fatty meat;
- onion;
- grapes, raisins;
- mushrooms;
- chocolate;
- sweets and other sweets;
- fat sour cream:
- tubular bones of birds;
- raw fish;
- nuts.
The meat that the dog eats must undergo low-temperature or heat treatment. You can’t give pork, it is too fat, beef, rabbit meat are useful. Some dogs may have an allergy to chicken, which manifests itself in different ways: eyes leak, itchy skin or diarrhea appears.
Some products are not strictly prohibited, but it is undesirable to introduce them into chihuahua feeding - these are bread, corn, celery, shrimp, peas. Adult dogs lose the ability to absorb milk, so puppies older than 6 months old are replaced with kefir or natural yogurt.
The better to feed an elderly dog
For older animals there are special feeds that take into account changing needs. With great pleasure they eat wet canned dog food.
Sometimes with age, dogs acquire diseases that require a special diet. Then a veterinarian can help in choosing food. Dogs requiring a special diet should not be given natural products, this will lead to irreversible consequences.
If a chihuahua spent her whole life in natural life and does not have any particular health problems, then at an advanced age it is inhumane to introduce dry food into her diet. An elderly dog must be given vitamin and mineral supplements, dairy products. A lot of useful substances contains meat scar. If a dog in youth did not try this treat, you can enter it in the diet after 8 years. In case of problems with teeth, the meat will have to be minced to the state of mincemeat, vegetables and cereals should only be grated.
The choice of feeding type always remains with the owner. Most often, even experienced dog lovers prefer mixed food. In addition to high-quality dry feed, adding kefir, raw meat, fresh vegetables to the dog’s diet. The best indicator of the right choice of food will be the health and activity of the pet.
