Can pet owners safely feed their pet an unbalanced diet short term?

Background: Pet owners in Florida recently went through two hurricanes in two weeks (Helene and Milton). We are taught here in Florida to be prepared for storms, including preparing for our pets. I have learned that some pet owners, while trying to be prepare for our two storms, went back to kibble pet food for their pets (from feeding a fresh food diet) in advance of the storms. They believed their pet must have a balanced diet for every meal, and that a highly processed complete and balanced diet (kibble) was better than their pet eating an unbalanced diet.

I disagreed with these beliefs, so I went to experts for their opinions.

My question to them was: If something prevented a pet owner from having a balanced pet food available to provide their pet, and all they had was eggs or hamburger and a few vegetables to prepare for their pet…how long can the pet eat an unbalanced meal without a worry of health concerns? A week? Two weeks?

Dr. Donna M. Raditic DVM, ACVIM (Nutrition), Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist shared with me veterinary posts regarding allergies in pets where pets are fed an unbalanced diet for 2-3 months (to confirm an allergy and/or confirm non-reactive ingredients). Such as in this post sent to me by Dr. Raditic the author (Dr. Wendy Brooks DVM) states “Most veterinary dermatologists recommend 8 to 12 weeks, which is a long time to be strict on the diet, but that is the only way to detect food allergic dogs.”

Dr. Raditic shared she has worked with clients (pets) with severe adverse food reactions “by starting with a protein, then adding ingredients one at a time to get them to a complete and balanced diet over months. But this is done with me supervising.” In other words, long term un-balanced diets must be done with veterinary supervision.

Dr. Karen Becker shared something that I personally have never thought of before: “You’ve just described an AAFCO feeding trial.” (Very good thinking!)

When a pet food manufacturer wishes to formulate their products different than meeting AAFCO Nutrient Profiles (for a complete and balanced pet food), they perform a feeding trial. The trial lasts for six months with blood work being performed at the beginning and end of the trial, with only minimal requirements needing to be met in those blood tests to pass as a complete and balanced diet. Dr. Becker shared that most of the time, in a small feeding trial, all eight dogs or cats survive the six-month trial with some nutrient deficiencies; “with the most noticeable symptom being really poor hair coat/excessive shedding.”

Dr. Becker continued with “Veterinarians regularly suggest a bland diet (for gut issues) or an elimination diet (for allergies) between one and three months, again, knowing there will be nutrient deficiencies that will be made up with a nutrient dense meal plan at the end of the trial. My limit for my clients is a month.”

Do NOT try this at home…

Dr. Judy Morgan and Dr. Laurie Coger both shared stories of clients that fed an unbalanced diet to dogs for “years.” One had a client that fed their dog hamburger and peas, and the other has a client that has fed their dog a breakfast sandwich in the morning and shared the human’s dinner every night. Both veterinarians stated pets are amazingly resilient, and both do not encourage anyone to try this long term.

Dr. Morgan shared that “canned sardines mixed with eggs” are a great substitute meal that is pretty close to balanced. And shared “We try to get people to store freeze-dried food and some bottled bone broth or water to rehydrate it” for emergencies.

So…the consensus of experts is…

Try to be prepared for an emergency. Have shelf stable food such as a freeze dried or dehydrated food in storage (replacing every six months). But if you are caught off guard, please know that you do NOT need to provide your pet a complete and balanced diet every meal every day. Based on the information shared by experts, in an emergency – you can give your cat or dog an unbalanced diet safely for a week to ten days.

If you are without electricity, choose canned meats and fish (look for low sodium no sauces), and eggs for protein. Vegetables can be given to dogs raw or you can use canned (but again, low sodium).

And even when it is not an emergency situation, know that you can feed your pet an unbalanced meal ever so often without concern.

One more personal story: Andi Brown, the author of The Whole Pet Diet and the founder of Halo Pet Foods (which she is no longer affiliated with – when Andi owned the company it was a human grade canned pet food, today it is a feed grade pet food) lives in the same area of Florida as I do. We have met for lunch several times (yes, to talk about the pet food industry) and once she brought her dog along. We sat outside in the patio area of a restaurant, and along with her lunch – she ordered a plate of scrambled eggs for her dog (just plain scrambled eggs, nothing added in). The waiter could not understand…what? Eggs for your dog? After several times of repeating the order, he begrudgingly went to the kitchen to relay the order. When the food was delivered, Andi put the plate of scrambled eggs on the floor and her dog enjoyed lunch at the same time we enjoyed our lunch. While I knew the dog was perfectly safe eating scrambled eggs, other patrons of the restaurant were shocked.

While a balanced diet is SIGNIFICANTLY important, short-term feeding of an unbalanced diet is perfectly safe. Educate yourself to what foods need to be avoided, pay attention to sodium levels in canned foods and do the best you can in emergency situations.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com